OPINION: Nigeria is at a crossroad. It would be nice if no one attempts to rig the election. The loser should accept the verdict of the people and go home

By Ike Mgbatogu
Staff Writer

Onumba.com,USA ——— We’ve all heard it before.

“This is the most important election of our lifetime.”

All politicians say that. That’s just standard stump speech in America.  It stokes a sense of urgency and encourages voter turnout.

It actually grew out of a Pennsylvania gubernatorial election back in 1805, but has since devolved into a boilerplate campaign staple in the United States ——- a worn out cliché politicians roll out every election cycle.

But while that shibboleth has lost its inaugural essence in the United States, it would hold true for Nigeria in the looming 2027 presidential election. This, my friends, will indisputably rank as the most consequential presidential contest in the history of Nigeria.

And boy, it looks set to be a grueling, bare-knuckle, drag-out brawl, too.

Never before has the cost and perils of corruption, ineptitude, leadership paralysis and a labyrinth of other elements of mis-governance been so high. This will not be just another ballot. Rather, it could be a fundamental turning point to decide whether Nigeria rises or falters, whether it remains together or disintegrates and whether the three ethnic pillars of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba will stand together as one vibrant mosaic defined not only in terms of geographic landscape but as a cohesive nation under the great banner of ‘wazobia’ brotherhood despite ethnic differences.

Man, the stakes have never been higher.

To cut through the noise, Tinubu’s presidency is completely empty of substance for Nigeria. He is entirely clueless, insular and profoundly detached from reality.  Therefore, he must disengage from power if he is tossed out, again, at the polls. No ‘and’, ‘if’ or ‘but.’ It is time to put the shenanigan on pause. No tampering, no funny business allowed this time. Unquestionably, under fair electoral conditions, his shellacking is all but certain as Nigerians hope to put a kibosh to the Tinubu nightmare.

But then again, this is Nigeria. Anything can happen. There’s still a solid chance Tinubu will manipulate the outcome as before, and emerge the winner. But this would be a grave mistake with potentially highly explosive consequences. It would demolish the last remaining bridge of trust left between his bumbling administration and the deeply frustrated citizens.

Is this all Tinubu’s fault?

Nope.

Let’s not forget that Nigeria’s lorryload of woes didn’t just pop up overnight. This staggeringly multi-layered mess predates Tinubu. The train wreck was already in motion long before he took office. Let’s face it. He inherited decades of economic vandalism, entrenched social squalor, a running legacy of public melancholy, and a relay of inept leadership ——- all of which have caught up with Nigeria. Tinubu is only running the last lap of a doomed race involving his predecessors.

Before him, each successive regime served up a fresh dose of optimism for a flourishing Nigeria, only to crush it every single time. Now, the simmering anger in the country has hit a critical and volatile peak. The stability of the country is increasingly fragile. Nonetheless, the upside remains that Nigerians are characteristically docile in nature, always embracing a dovish posture of patience and resilience, often to a fault. ‘Suffering and smiling,’ as the late singer Fela Kuti would say. But for how long?

Whispers of national split have given way to open debate. Never in the nation’s history has the possibility of disintegration been so overtly discussed by the Nigerian public —— either through restructuring, ethno-regional autonomy or complete dissolution. Again, the political risk of all this will intensify if any unlawful actions are taken to retain a highly unpopular Tinubu in power.

It is worth emphasizing, again, that the blame for Nigeria’s difficulties does not rest entirely on Tinubu. No. Don’t get carried away by the collective broadsides being chucked at him.  He is just the latest cog in a locomotive of incompetent leaders stretching back to the start of the fourth republic. Everyone of them bears a measure of accountability for where we find ourselves today. They ——- Obasanjo, Jonathan, Babangida, Abacha, Buhari —— all have their fingerprints on the total collapse of Nigeria.  It is rarely said, but let’s be brutally honest about it. Don’t be swayed by their carefully curated aura of statesmanship. Still, though, unquestionably, the current president’s unhinged paralysis and incompetence as the nation crumbles makes him the ultimate emblem of Nigeria’s rapid decline.

What’s the prognosis for all this? Datti Baba Ahmed’s take

During a recent interview on Inside Sources, the outspoken former Labor Party Vice-Presidential candidate Datti Baba Ahmed regurgitated these same anxieties laced in an apocalyptic warning:

“If APC were to continue, if Tinubu were to continue beyond 2027 [pause] sometimes I wonder if I should discuss this even in the living room, not to talk of discussing it in the public.”

Then this.

“I tend to see the end of Nigeria as a nation.”

Ironically, Tinubu himself expressed the same feeling years prior.

Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party weighed in.

“There’s a lot anger,” he said, warning that this government is not “addressing the needs of the people.”

A smorgasbord of problems not being addressed

A toxic convergence of economic anxiety, soaring unemployment, stagnant youth opportunities, and deep-seated insecurity has brought Nigeria to the edge of the abyss, leaving its citizens struggling under immense hardship.

These are not merely routine growing pains easily absorbed by citizen resilience and acquired grit for endurance. But rather, Nigerians are trapped between an incompetent government with no strategic vision and a pantheon of corrupt and greedy oligarchs looking out only for themselves. In short, the Tinubu administration has shown a complete lack of urgency, failing to offer even a flicker of optimism to a demoralized nation on edge.

Nigeria’s status as the giant of Africa demands leaders of exceptional competence and eloquence. To truly fulfill its role as a continental beacon, the nation must be guided by leadership that matches its imposing stature and inspires other African nations looking up to it.

Take home message: Nigeria must not go from being the face of Africa to a disgrace to Africa. Whispers of that are already out there.

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