…from military rule to mismanaged democracy, Nigeria’s crisis runs deeper than any one president.
By Femi Oyewale
In the flurry of discontent sweeping across
Nigeria today—rising costs, worsening insecurity, and public distrust—many fingers are pointing at President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu. But in our desperation to find a scapegoat, we risk missing the bigger picture. Tinubu is not the architect of Nigeria’s ruin; he is the latest occupant of a broken system built on decades of policy failure, corruption, and elite impunity.
Let’s be clear: Tinubu’s administration deserves critique—no leader is above accountability. But it is intellectually lazy and politically shortsighted to isolate him as the root cause of Nigeria’s dysfunction. Our real enemy is the structure—a web of systemic errors that has entangled Nigeria for over 60 years.
A Brief History of Institutional Collapse
Since independence: Nigeria has struggled with the ghosts of colonial division, regional distrust, and leadership that prioritized personal gain over national development. From military dictatorships to flawed democratic transitions, every administration contributed bricks to the wall of dysfunction we now face. Policies came and went, but accountability remained a myth. The oil boom brought riches, yet poverty deepened. Institutions became shells of power, riddled with incompetence and fueled by patronage.
By the time democracy “returned” in 1999, the nation had already normalized bad governance. Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari—all had chances to reverse the rot. Instead, they either sustained it or worsened it. Now Tinubu inherits a house built on sand, and we expect him to walk on water.
Structural Injustice and a Culture of Rot
The real crisis lies in how our political, judicial, and economic systems are wired. We run a federal system that behaves like a unitary state. Governors act as emperors. Elections are transactional. Justice is for sale. And our security architecture is outdated and overwhelmed.
Tinubu did not invent fuel subsidy scams. He didn’t start the tradition of bloated governance or underfunded education. The poverty and infrastructural decay tormenting Nigerians today are the cumulative results of 60+ years of elite failure. If not him, the system would have found another operator.
A People Conditioned to Tolerate Failure
Nigerians have also been conditioned—through survivalism and repression—to accept bad leadership as fate. We cheer tribalism over merit, and we normalize inefficiency as long as it wears our ethnic or religious label. This collective silence is what emboldens political actors, not just at the top but across all tiers of government.
TIME TO FIX THE FOUNDATION
Removing Tinubu won’t fix Nigeria. Electing a messiah won’t work if the system crushes reformers. What Nigeria needs is institutional restructuring, civic awakening, and a hard reboot of its political culture. We must de-emphasize personalities and focus on process. We need less of “who’s in power” and more of “how power works.”
Blaming Tinubu alone is like blaming the final domino in a long-fallen chain. He is a reflection, not the cause. If Nigerians want a better future, we must stop hacking at branches and start digging out roots. This is not just Tinubu’s mess—it is ours too. And until we fix the system, no president, saint or sinner, will save us.