₦airaland Forum

The Nigerian Messiah Who Will Never Come

In 2015, I wrote an article in which I described the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, as the 'same old wine in a new bottle'. In 2021, I also penned down an Independence Day opinion editorial in which I likened Nigeria to a young, beautiful, but highly vulnerable lady who has been taken advantage of by crafty men. Fast forward to 2023, and I predicted that the Tinubu administration would look good on paper but would be hellish in reality. I asserted that Tinubu's strength was not in governance but politics. Bear in mind that I am not blessed with the gift of divination, at least to the best of my knowledge. It's just common sense. The best way to predict the future is by undertaking a vivid analysis of the past. It's 2025 already, and the politicians are regrouping. Their primary goal is to exploit that beautiful lady named 'Nigeria' again. The strategy is simple - rebrand, wear an empathic mask, pretend like you care and over-promise. By the time you know it, her legs will fling open again, and it's goodnight, Irene!

The failures of the Tinubu administration are not new; we all expected it. Nigeria is a highly complicated political terrain. Some of Tinubu's initiatives, like the Fiscal Restructuring, Support for Businesses, Infrastructure Development, Student Loan Scheme, Exchange Rate Unification and others, seem well-intentioned. Every government in Nigeria, except the military regimes, look good on paper. The execution of plans and strategies has always been the major challenge. This might not be far from the fact that these politicians operate like businessmen out to make a profit at all costs. They want to profit unimaginably from any policy or proposed capital project. This parasitic and exploitative mindset cripples the efficacy of developmental initiatives. Nigeria is a well-laid bed heavily infested with bed bugs. Any occupant of that bed space is at risk of invasion.

Politics is very lucrative in Nigeria. The money involved is inconceivable. Today, you are a pauper; tomorrow, you are rich enough to set hard currencies on fire to heat your home. The politicians know this. There is no other more lucrative and viable thing to do. Even some of the biggest businesses in Nigeria are tied to politics, just like we have in China, where the Chinese Communist Party controls everything. The Nigerian political space, like other climes, can't accommodate everybody every 4 years. A set of political actors will be the ruling elites, while another party will constitute the opposing or counter-elites/anti-elites. The ruling elites eat bountifully at the dining table while the opposition watches uncomfortably. The opposing elites then regroup, find a lethal strike force and formation, aimed at displacing the ruling elites from the dining table. The quest for power has led to coalitions amongst political actors/parties to birth the APC, All Democratic Alliance (ADA), and the African Democratic Congress (ADC). This is the foundational factor.

I doubt if any of these politicians honestly care about the poor masses. All of a sudden, you hear conversations like: 'Nigerians are unhappy', 'Nigerians are hungry', 'Nigerians are dying', 'The economy has collapsed', 'They are all corrupt', 'There is no infrastructure' and so on. when most of these recycled elites were in power, the conversations were the same, and they disputed it. Now that they are on the other side in the wilderness, they are chanting the same slogans they discredited.

I am a die-hard realist. I strongly believe no coalition is congregating, expending money, doing long hours of meetings at odd times, and engaging in bitter rivalries with dangerous political actors because they love the masses and want to rescue Nigeria. Anybody who believes this might require psychiatric examination and subsequent inpatient admission on a long-term basis. A few of them might be visionary, but they are outnumbered by lions and hawks who are seeking to plunder and destroy. From historical antecedents, most of them don't believe in the Nigerian project. This is the reason why their children are educated and based abroad. This is the reason why they are easily treated abroad for headaches and physical stress. Most of their business investments are outside Nigeria. To them, Nigeria is just a 'place of work' and not a home. It is their hustle. These leaders have travelled to the developed countries countless times, and they have also lived there. They have experienced good governance in these saner climes. Unfortunately, they are not remotely close to bringing Nigeria close to a similar growth and development.

In my first week in the United Kingdom, I wept in my heart due to the changed atmosphere and working infrastructure. At the Lagos airport, I was being harassed for money by airport officials; the insanity ended as I landed at the Heathrow airport in London. The mentality was different. Everything was orderly and organised. I felt robbed by the Nigerian system. Bear in mind that the average Brit also believes the system here has collapsed, so it's not perfect here.

The level of hopelessness in Nigeria is a direct catalyst for migration. Both the haves and the have-nots blindly left the shores of Nigeria for physical and economic safety. Today, it is the dream of Nigeria to relocate to first-world countries. Countries like the United States, Canada, the UK and others are tightening immigration routes and sifting out immigrants. If Nigeria were good, the majority of the people abroad would stay back. No place in the world beats your home. A university lecturer wouldn't set aside his PhD to become a care worker in the UK, a job the locals detest. They would rather be unemployed than be debased daily by the people they care for.

Regardless of how the coalition's battle against the Tinubu-led administration plays out, the poor masses are the biggest losers. These are poisonous rats in different holes. They regularly regroup to feast on the commonwealth surreptitiously. Their collective and concerted efforts constitute why Nigeria is perpetually retrogressive. Even if the rumoured messiah, Peter Obi, is a competent saint with altruism, he can't do it alone. Look at his team for crying out loud, his Labour Party is in tatters.

Wrestling power from Tinubu will be equivalent to being rescued from kidnappers and handed over to armed robbers. It is a lose-lose situation. The only unanswered question is the scale of the impending loss. I hate to burst the bubble of any believer, but no messiah is coming. It's all a ruse. It is like the happy-ending story you tell a child to make childcare seamless.

Osahon Osayimwen writes from England.

All these people paid to talk rubbish.
So we should fold our hands and allow the evil in aso rock to throw us into the bush.

That money you were paid to write this rubbish will finish one day.

You are evil

It's the truth,but if Peter obi is the flag bearer and wins there will be succour.

The man has this genuineness about him.

He might not be all successful but he is the lesser evil.

Again I maintain that the old GENERATION can never rescue Nigeria.

They are too far deep in the mess they created ,they can't change.

Only a younger generation will make changes

Nigeria needs a benevolent detribalized dictator

Nigeria will work for me and for my family regardless of who is president or not.

If you allow nonsense like this write up enter your heart...OYO

Fast forward to 2023, and I predicted that the Tinubu administration would look good on paper but would be hellish in reality.

Well, your prediction is wrong.

Tinubu administration does not only look good on paper but also in reality.

I asserted that Tinubu's strength was not in governance but politics.

Your assertion is wrong. His governance both in Lagos, and as the President, are proofs to his ability.

If you keep silent in the face of oppression, you are not neutral, you support the oppressor!

The problem is that there is a lot of short term thinking that infects the Nigerian government, past and present.

LIke now, we have the government doing things like palliatives, sharing money, etc. Meanwhile, no long term plan for electric power, no long term plan for railways, nothing.

Also, a lot of Nigerians prefer a government that gives them free stuff. That means that a government that builds large projects is a good government, while one that will do the hard work of making our country a developed industrial country is an oppresive country.

We need to stop looking for short term messiahs and embrace long term thinking.

Many of you voting for obi, tinubu and atiku, and even buhari and gej and many of our leaders, ye did it for the 50k they put in your pockets. If they said that they were removing subsides on power, petrol , putting tolls on road, giving money only to people willing to set up industries, jailing the corrupt, jailing even common traffic offenders, and refusing to pay for palliatives, and refusing to do 'projects'....you will call them wicked.


Dutch disease.

Reading….

The Nigerian Messiah Who Will Never Come

Wrestling power from Tinubu will be equivalent to being rescued from kidnappers and handed over to armed robbers. It is a lose-lose situation. The only unanswered question is the scale of the impending loss. I hate to burst the bubble of any believer, but no messiah is coming. It's all a ruse. It is like the happy-ending story you tell a child to make childcare seamless.


True talk

Yet on this site, I see people presenting Obi and tinubu as the messiahs...both men left their states in a big mess. Atiku was part of the messed up privatisation of the NITEL and even was saying he would sell refineries to his pals...and yet they are messiahs.

GEJ squandered our oil boom, failed to remove subsides, sabotaged our power sector by brininging in subsides, and he is hailed as the great messiah.

Buhari fooled a lot of people, ran a government like the second republic government he removed back in the day, and did not take hard decisions. Messiah.

Even obasanjo...lol. I have seen a lot of people praise obasanjo for debt relief.....that thing was a unilateral decsiion of the G7 group and we still had to pay something, all our neighbours and most other African countries got all their debt forgiven.

As for Yaradua...yea he frugal...but he did nothing.


We don't have good leaders, because the albatross around our economy, our resource dependency, our economy dependent on oil , copuled with short termisim and government by projects, instead of by plans, is why we are always in a mess.

And apparently saying the above means I am agbado. Lol. Tinubu is exactly doing the same thing. 15 trillion on a mega road project, while he keeps the subsides that are crippling the power sector in place, and only removed fuel subsides because the pracitices of the last 30 years were no longer sufficent to keep the charade running.

We need to get rid of our resource dependency, and become an industrial nation that exports things the world needs. That is our only answer.

On the mandate of Peter Obi we stand! Come rain, come sun.

We need to keep trying till we get it right

What we need is real electoral practise to enable the will of people prevail

There's only one messiah and that is Jesus.

We should never place our salvation on anyone else (Read Psalms 146:3-5)

We live in the Last Days. Just taking a

Peter Obi will make a different if given the opportunity. let's support him

okpouman:
It's the truth,but if Peter obi is the flag bearer and wins there will be succour.

The man has this genuineness about him.

He might not be all successful but he is the lesser evil.

Again I maintain that the old GENERATION can never rescue Nigeria.

They are too far deep in the mess they created ,they can't change.

Only a younger generation will make changes

Younger generations have come and gone and done the same thing the elders did.

anytexy:
Peter Obi will make different if given the opportunity. let's support him

Peter Obi that left Anambra state the same way he met it?

Before you start, tinubu was no better. Lagos is a mess today, and was a mess when he left governor office...along with paying himself from alpha beta.

You won;t like me, but Obi was no good as a governor. I don't understand why people support him, and I also dont understand tinubu supporters either.

Get us a leader who will be like Park chung hee, Lee Kwam Yeu, and Deng Tsiao-ping...then we can talk. Not the same old geng.

uche87:
Wrestling power from Tinubu will be equivalent to being rescued from kidnappers and handed over to armed robbers.

Based on evidence from the finance minister, those who you see as armed robbers are better by far than your kidnappers.

thisweekng:
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Chief Olawale Edun has said the last time Nigeria’s economy looked stable was about a decade ago.

He made this statement during his maiden press conference as Minister of Finance where he outlined President Bola Tinubu’s vision, agenda and strategy for the economy.

He said, “I think as we all know, we are not where we should be. The economy is barely growing above the rate of population growth.

“But it was not always so, and I think in trying to look at the way forward, if we now have a situation of slow growth, double-digit inflation, weak/depreciating exchange rate, as well as security concerns that are resulting in an economy that is not growing and not taking Nigerians out of poverty.

“If we think back to the last time when the economy was stable- when it was growing, when inflation was low, and the interest rate was affordable, that period was about a decade ago. Growth was about 6% in 2013 and 2014.”
Private sector to drive the economy

https://nairametrics.com/2023/09/01/the-last-time-nigerias-economy-was-stable-was-about-a-decade-ago-wale-edun/

anytexy:
Peter Obi will make a different if given the opportunity. let's support him

His own different will be the worst thing to happen to us. The worst thing ever.

[quote author=NLCreator post=126854133]Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has defended the purchase of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for members of the national assembly.

There have been reports that the leadership of the 10th national assembly has bought SUVs for all lawmakers.

Each SUV is said to be valued at N160 million.

The LP had asked members of the party in the national assembly to kick against “wastage”.

While responding to questions during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, the former governor of Anambra said the SUVs are not personal cars of the lawmakers, noting that they are for official use.

“Let me start with the issue of Labour Party members in the house. I have actually discussed this issue with them,” Obi said.

“Surprisingly, I can tell you I heard that these vehicles are official cars. They have to use it. It is meant for office.

“So it is not as if it is their vehicle. They said it is official cars and you are meant to use it while you are in the senate.”

Obi also hinted at contesting for the country’s number one position in 2027, adding that Nigeria deserves dedicated and visionary leaders who will lead the country towards a brighter future.

https://www.thecable.ng/theyre-for-official-use-obi-defends-purchase-of-n160m-suv-for-lawmakers/amp

Journalist: how do you intend to engage members of your party who are members of the house, so that they can stand different.......?

PO: Let me start with the issue of labour party members in the house, have actually discussed this issue with them, surprisingly, I can tell you ,… pic.twitter.com/svybrcY4t3

— Beyond (@chigozie0102) November 7, 2023

]

Nice write up... I see no messiah coming too for now, especially not in the so called coalition. But, there is a saying of choosing a lesser evil.

Tinubu led Government has showed it own evils one of which is the super crazy inflation it has thrown on Nigerians. I don't know the evil his contenders will bring, though we know their respective past in various capacities.We will have to wait it out and see.

I thought tinubu would be the Nigerian messiah, based on one man cabal, only to be disappointed.
Abi, we should keep waiting to see how his policies would go?

okpouman:
It's the truth,but if Peter obi is the flag bearer and wins there will be succour.

The man has this genuineness about him.

He might not be all successful but he is the lesser evil.

Again I maintain that the old GENERATION can never rescue Nigeria.

They are too far deep in the mess they created ,they can't change.

Only a younger generation will make changes

And who's the younger generation if I may ask, even if Obi wins and has good intentions. The wolves behind him won't want him to do the right thing and if he insist they'll use the killings and kidnapping and all to disrupt his govt.

Who pushed this to front page? There's no Messiah among men. GEJ was a Messiah to many, same as Buhari, same with Tinubu..... You said the elite/ rich children are educated and based in Abroad, that's not true... The elite children are educated abroad and after getting their degrees, they come back to Nigeria to work.... It is the poor that are educated in Nigeria and after getting their degrees in Nigeria, they travel to abroad to hustle.... If you're waiting for a Messiah among men, you're on a long thing

OK

all we know is that the One And Only Messiah of the World is...


Jesus Christ .


whether you believe it or not .


Keep calling on Jesus Christ


Princess Faith Chukwuamaka

ImoleNaija:
Well, your prediction is wrong.

Tinubu administration does not only look good on paper but also in reality.



Your assertion is wrong. His governance both in Lagos, and as the President, are proofs to his ability.

Shey you dey whine us ni, which good in reality are you talking about. So all the people complaining here and there are ghost abi

INEC and the Judiciary have to be sanitised first.

The messiah came in form of GEJ but was weak and thought it was wise to alienate his aouthern neighbours. They thought they were in a battle with thw west. After they unjustly lost to a Buhari who a western leader supported morally and publicly, their rage on the Yoruba couldnt reverse anything.
The guy was a zoologist but couldnt manage a zoo.