Leadership Without Accountability Is Nigeria’s Greatest Scam.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

Nigeria must reject failed politicians and demand true accountability.

Nigeria’s politics is haunted by a PECULIAR HYPOCRISY: men and women who abandon the problems in their own backyards (moral failings, patronage, broken promises, dodged responsibilities) suddenly reappear on the national stage with grand plans to “SAVE THE NATION.” The truth is blunt and unforgiving: leadership does not teleport. It is forged in character, measured in responsibility and tested in the small, daily arenas of family, community and local institutions. If you cannot solve the crises closest to you, you have no business asking for the keys to a complex, fractious, 200-MILLION-PEOPLE state.

This is not SENTIMENTALISM. It is POLITICAL REALISM. Nations do not transform because someone declares themselves a savior; they change when leaders demonstrate competence, integrity and a habit of accountability; virtues first practiced at home. Scholars have long warned that social trust and civic virtue are preconditions for prosperity and stable government. As Francis Fukuyama reminds us, societies that cultivate trust avoid the heavy “TRANSACTION COSTS” of coercive enforcement; trust is not mystical; it is a measurable advantage.

Look at Nigeria today: we are economically vital (Africa’s largest economy in many respects) yet our public life is rent by weak institutions, corruption and chronic impunity. Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Nigeria 140 out of 180 countries, a stark metric that should alarm every voter who still believes slogans are substitutes for governance.

To be clear: we are not arguing that no one from a difficult background can rise to national leadership; rather, we insist on consistency. If you were a local council boss who could not balance budgets or discipline cronies; if you ran away from accountability in your constituency; if you always pointed fingers but never fixed the leaking roof at the community clinic, why should we trust you with a federal budget, a foreign policy portfolio or the security of millions?

Those who recycle themselves into power without institutional reforms are asking us to gamble our future on a personality rather than a plan. That gamble has consequences. For every headline about GDP growth or loan approvals, there are countless stories of public resources diverted, services unprovided and citizens betrayed. Consider that, even amid reports of macroeconomic recovery, corruption remains acute enough that law enforcement agencies still devote huge resources to recover stolen assets and sometimes win notable recoveries, but only after years of loss. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reported recovering nearly $500 million in one year; a welcome figure, but also a reminder that immense sums had to be chased down.

International partners continue to bankroll crucial projects precisely because our institutions struggle to marshal domestic resources reliably. In 2024 the World Bank approved a $1.57 billion financing package for Nigeria to strengthen health, education and power; funds that underscore both opportunity and dependency: opportunity because development remains possible; dependency because we still need massive external support to plug gaps created by domestic governance failures.

And yes, even where macro stats look better, the lived reality for many Nigerians remains grim. The World Bank noted strong headline growth in late 2024, but that same report stressed high inflation and the incomplete transmission of reforms to ordinary citizens. Growth without equitable distribution is a hollow victory.

So what must we do in 2027? First: reject recycled politicians who treat office as a family heirloom and accountability as optional. Look for candidates with three non-negotiable traits:

Demonstrated local competence. Have they shown the ability to manage resources, oversee projects to completion and accept blame when things go wrong? Small-scale success (fixing a primary school, ensuring transparent procurement in a local council or holding party officials to account) is a meaningful predictor of larger performance.

A record of public accountability. Leaders fit for national office have histories of EXPLANATION not EVASION. They invite audits, answer tough questions at town halls and accept judicial processes rather than subverting them.

Moral consistency. This is not moralizing, it is practical: a leader who tolerates corruption at home will tolerate it at scale. As Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala once said, “No one can fight corruption for Nigerians except Nigerians. Everyone has to be committed from the top to the bottom to fight it.” Commitment must begin at home and radiate outward.

We must also hold institutions to higher standards. Free speech, an independent judiciary, a transparent electoral commission and robust civil society are not luxuries; they are the scaffolding that prevents power from calcifying into privilege. Professor Attahiru Jega, who supervised two of Nigeria’s most scrutinized elections, has long emphasized the indispensable role of electoral integrity in making leadership legitimate. When elections are credible, politicians who fail locally have fewer ways to cloak their incompetence in national rhetoric.

Let us not ignore culture. Comedians, satirists and public intellectuals have an outsized role in puncturing the pretensions of recycled politicians. When Gordons lampoons politicians for their double standards or I Go Dye calls leaders “bad actors” their ridicule is not mere entertainment; it is popular truth-telling that keeps elites honest. Those truth bombs have the moral power to move conversations and mobilize voters.

Finally, citizens must translate outrage into disciplined choices. Voting is not a moment of theatrical loyalty; it is a transaction in which we exchange our future for competence and integrity. Use primaries, run local watchdog groups, support investigative journalism, demand transparent manifestos with measurable targets and (crucially) refuse to normalize failure. A candidate who cannot explain how they fixed a broken streetlight in their neighborhood should not be allowed to explain how they will fix national electricity.

This is not petty gatekeeping. It is survival. Nigeria’s potential remains immense, youthful workforce, diverse resources and entrepreneurial energy. But potential without structure is raw material; structure requires leadership that starts small and scales honestly.

So to every politician who insists Nigeria needs them while they have left their own political home in ruins: repair your house first. Attend the town halls. Answer the audits. Fight corruption in your backyard. If you cannot do that, stop asking for a larger stage. Nigeria deserves leaders who pride themselves on the mundane courage of responsibility, the courage to do the unglamorous work of fixing what is nearest.

2027 offers us a choice: RE-ELECT the THEATRICAL or choose the ACCOUNTABLE. We must be wise. We must be ruthless (against hypocrisy, not people) and demand that leadership begin where it always should: at HOME.

~ George Omagbemi Sylvester