Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI - Politics - Nairaland
Nairaland Forum › Nairaland General › Politics › Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI (489 Views)
| Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Kemetian(op): 1:19am On Dec 16, 2025*. Modified: 1:50am On Dec 16, 2025 |
I've been debating with AI over Tinubu. Debating whether the man really has something to offer. AI is very impressed by Tinubu. It sees him as a brave reformer that's on the path to transforming Nigeria's economy through deep systemic changes that don't trend on social media because they are 'boring' technical stuff. AI ranks Tinubu among the great Chinese ruling party strategists and early 1990s Indian reformers, who trod the path of national pain, suffering, public insults and rejection to restructure their economies irreversibly for the future advancement of their country. It said Nigeria's ideal leader today is not a populist one, but one who can make unpopular economic decisions, and make systemic structural improvements irreversible by succeeding administrations. And it rates Tinubu very highly in this regard. I then asked it to summarise its view for Nigerians to read...... ................... Tinubu’s Thankless Job: Why Nigeria’s Hardest Phase May Also Be Its Turning Point It is impossible to deny that life has been hard for many Nigerians over the past two years. Prices rose quickly, the naira adjusted painfully, and everyday expenses became heavier. Anger, frustration, and disappointment are understandable reactions. No serious conversation about Nigeria today can ignore that reality. But there is another truth that can exist alongside hardship: some of the most important national changes happen during periods that feel thankless, uncomfortable, and deeply unpopular. History shows that countries rarely transform during times of comfort. They change when old systems finally stop working and new ones, however painful, are forced into place. This is the context in which President Bola Tinubu should be judged—not by whether life is immediately easy, but by whether the foundations of Nigeria are quietly being reset. Hardship Alone Is Not the Measure of Failure Many critics focus on a simple argument: life is harder now, therefore the government is failing. That conclusion feels intuitive, but it is not how structural reform works. When a country has lived for decades on subsidies, artificial exchange rates, discretionary spending, and weak enforcement, removing those distortions does not produce instant relief. It produces shock. The pain Nigerians experienced after fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification was not random cruelty; it was the cost of confronting systems that had already collapsed in practice but were being kept alive on borrowing and illusion. The real question is not whether the pain exists. The question is: was Nigeria better off postponing that pain indefinitely? Few honest observers believe so. Why This Job Is Thankless by Nature Tinubu is not operating in a popularity-friendly phase of governance. He is operating in what political economists call the “absorption phase”—the moment when a leader takes responsibility for unavoidable corrections that predecessors delayed. Leaders who distribute benefits are loved. Leaders who remove distortions are resented. This is not unique to Nigeria. India’s 1991 reformers were despised at the time. Indonesia’s post-1998 stabilisers were accused of cruelty. Even China’s early reform period was deeply unpopular among those who lost guaranteed privileges. Yet those reforms became the basis for later stability. Tinubu’s role is not glamorous because he is closing doors Nigerians had grown used to walking through, even when those doors were quietly destroying the house. The Lagos Clue: Why Some People See the Pattern Those who describe Tinubu as a “Lagos hard nut” are not praising personality; they are describing a governing style shaped by resistance. Lagos did not become financially viable because it was loved. It became viable because: - tax systems were enforced despite protests, - institutions outlived governors, - revenue replaced dependency, - and reversals became administratively difficult. That same instinct is visible at the national level now. The focus is not on speeches, but on plumbing: revenue systems, procurement rules, FX discipline, and capacity building inside government. These things do not trend on social media—but they decide whether a country works. Quiet Reforms Most People Miss While public debate often centres on hardship, several deeper shifts are happening beneath the noise: Procurement discipline is tightening. The Bureau of Public Procurement is no longer acting as a rubber stamp. Price benchmarking, financial revalidation, and “Nigeria First” procurement rules are directly attacking contract inflation and import dependence. This is not cosmetic reform; it hits the core of elite rent-seeking. Discretion is shrinking. Unified FX windows and digital fiscal systems reduce the number of “special exceptions” that once defined governance. Fewer exceptions mean fewer backdoors. Cadre-building is underway. Training hundreds of procurement officers, as is currently being done by the Tinubu administration, may sound boring, but nations change when mid-level professionals stop behaving the old way. This is how reform survives elections. Local production is being quietly prioritised. Procurement is being repositioned as an industrial policy tool, not just paperwork. This matters far more than slogans about manufacturing. These are not headline reforms. They are lock-in reforms—the kind that make reversal expensive. Why Insults Are Predictable (and Not Always Informative) Public anger does not mean reform is wrong. It often means reform is real. Most Nigerians are responding to present pain, not future structure. That is human. Forums like Nairaland amplify emotion because emotion is immediate. Structural change is slow. But history consistently shows that real-time public opinion is a poor judge of foundational reform. The leaders who spend political capital fixing systems are rarely thanked by those living through the disruption. Gratitude, if it comes at all, arrives later—and often for someone else. That does not mean critics are enemies. It means they are reacting to symptoms, not causes. Why This Moment Feels Different from Past Crises One subtle but important shift is the national mood. While hardship remains, the sense of free fall has eased. Businesses are adjusting rather than panicking. The currency narrative has stabilised. Cultural signals—such as increased international visitation and diaspora engagement—suggest that confidence is returning before prosperity. This pattern matters. Populist reversals usually succeed when people believe pain has no end. They fail when people believe the worst is behind them. Nigeria increasingly feels like it has absorbed the shock and is now negotiating a new normal. The Risk Is No Longer Reform—It Is Complacency The greatest danger now is not that reforms will be reversed tomorrow, but that momentum will slow before institutions fully harden. Lock-in requires follow-through: procurement rules must stick, exemptions must remain rare, and discipline must apply even when politically inconvenient. If Tinubu succeeds in making reversal irrational—financially, legally, and administratively—then his personal popularity will matter far less than his structural impact. A Fair Way to Judge This Presidency It is reasonable to criticise hardship. It is reasonable to demand mitigation. It is reasonable to expect better communication. But it is also reasonable to judge leadership by this question: Is Nigeria becoming harder to misgovern than it was before? If the answer continues to move toward “yes,” then this period—however painful—will be remembered as a turning point, not a mistake. Conclusion: The Nature of Thankless Work Some jobs are designed to be praised. Others are designed to be endured. Tinubu’s role is not to preside over comfort, but to absorb blame while systems are rebuilt. That is why the job feels lonely, why insults are loud, and why the results are quiet. History is usually kinder to system-builders than contemporaries are. Nigeria will not change because one man is loved. It will change if the rules stop bending back. And if that happens, this thankless phase will one day be recognised for what it truly was: the cost of finally moving forward. - AI |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by whitecement: 1:30am On Dec 16, 2025 |
Don't worry, it's because he mastered corruption election in Nigeria but don't blame him for that, power is not given but always taken. And those opposition guys too are too m.umu to overthrow the o.lodo m.an, Even the military too are in his deep pockets. So what else do you expect? |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by WizardOfNG: 1:59am On Dec 16, 2025 |
@OP. The laudable things Tinubu is doing is fairly obvious enough to be deeply appreciated by those who know the problems of Nigeria and the fundamental solutions required to tackle them effectively and permanently. The excerpt below, from your original post, says it all. AI ranks Tinubu among the great Chinese ruling party strategists and early 1990s Indian reformers, who trod the path of national pain, suffering, public insults and rejection to restructure their economies irreversibly for the future advancement of their country. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Kemetian(op): 2:11am On Dec 16, 2025 |
WizardOfNG:Look my brother, This is simple. So long as Tinubu LOCKS IN all these changes, so that they become too expensive/inconvenient/politically explosive to reverse, Nigeria will advance. Simple. Regardless of who succeeds Tinubu. All these 'little' things like procurement, price benchmarking etc.. these are the things that decide whether this country will move forward or not. And these are the areas Tinubu is just quIetly ATTACKING. Rebuilding. Right now the FG is training 700 new procurement officers who will live and breathe ''NIGERIA FIRST''. If we can build it here, you cannot contract it to foreigners. That's the watchword of those new, highly-trained-to-be-deeply-nationalistic procurement officers coming in. Protect that man, because no one has done it before him. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by WizardOfNG: 2:26am On Dec 16, 2025 |
Kemetian:I agree with you 💯%. In fact, I am always proud to say Tinubu is one of my leadership mentors. He understands that doing is far more important than talking. He also understands one key concept most leaders know that political correctness will never allow them to voice publicly. I.e the notion that saviours, in the form of leaders, do not necessarily need to be liked and understood by those they are trying to deliver salvation for. Leaders often get to lead societies because they are more intelligent, talented and adept at solutions provision than those they lead. There is often a very big disconnection between what leaders know, and their understanding of solutions required, with the awareness of the general public. The best leaders therefore understand that the end justifies the means. They know the importance of moving with haste, even if the populace does not understand their modus operandi, to work and deliver optimal and enduring solutions to problems. That is what Tinubu is doing. Simply the best President, by far, we have had since 1999 for those who truly understand what ails Nigeria and the permanent cure for those ailments. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by amazingspiderma: 2:37am On Dec 16, 2025 |
Kemetian:Only someone who has no family responsibility can come up with this kind of sh*t. See thread written by a bunch of laptop guys in the same room and replying themselves. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Kemetian(op): 2:42am On Dec 16, 2025*. Modified: 1:42am On Dec 17, 2025 |
WizardOfNG:I actually rate him the best we've ever had. Due to the pivotal nature of his tenure. Sitting at the crossroads of, and midwifing the transition from, the failed Nigeria to the Nigeria of our dreams. In 10, 20, 50 years time when Nigeria reaches her potential, the people will know, and the children will be taught in their advanced, futuristic schools and institutions, and adults will read on the screens of their flying cars, and Maglev 500km per hour bullet trains, that their prosperity and advanced living conditions all started.....with the Tinubu Reform Era (TRE) of the 2020s. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Kemetian(op): 12:00am On Dec 17, 2025 |
amazingspiderma:Has this dude ever heard of AI? My goodness. Guy, you're in 2025. Step up to the plate. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by DeLaRue: 12:57am On Dec 17, 2025 |
Most transformative Head of State since independence 65 years ago. Full stop. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Kemetian(op): 1:01pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
DeLaRue:🇳🇬🇳🇬 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by SeeWahala: 1:39pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
amazingspiderma:Hehehe 🤭 no mind them. I say the entire cast of APCs NL lappy Geng didn't pass 10 individuals only that they operate more than 20 different accounts each 🤗 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by APCNig: 1:42pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
You can wake a man that is sleeping, you cannot wake a man that is pretending to be. Hiw can you convince Atiku that he is a clueless thief or Peter Obi that ruling a country is not buying and selling? But whether they like it or not, Tinubu is matching forward, he us a moving train and no one can stop a moving train without being crushed except tge bandits that once stopped the Kaduna to Abuja train at gun pint 😂😂 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by SeeWahala: 1:42pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
Hahaha 🤣😂 as usual. The coward has gone to wail and cry in its 'tiny & insignificant' corner of the universe 😏 naptu2 your mumu never do so? ![]() |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by SeeWahala: 1:43pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
APCNig:Same way we can't convince yolobar people that making ex convicts and drug barons leaders will never make them greater than their neighbours the Igbos or their masters the hausafulani 🤗 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Iceberg3: 6:24pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
Kwantiri citizens working hard and sweating seriously for their chop money... 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Iceberg3: 6:25pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
SeeWahala:What concerns naptu2 with ya muntullaty. 😂😂😂😂 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Iceberg3: 6:27pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
Kemetian:Muntulla Mukaila I dey laff o 😂😂😂😂 |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Kemetian(op): 6:31pm On Dec 17, 2025 |
EXCUSE ME PLS... HOW DID THIS BRILLIANT THREAD DEGENERATE INTO THIS IGNOBLE, INGLORIOUS EXCHANGE? THIS DANCE OF TOXIC ELEMENTS? PLS CONDUCT YOURSELVES WITH DECORUM. THIS IS A SERIOUS THREAD. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by FatimaAbubakar(f): 7:20am On Jan 08 |
Kemetian:Shameless kid. I can see how hard you're working to collect your monthly APC stipend. You and your likes will soon be put to shame. Keep consulting AI while Nigerians kick out your paymaster in 2027. Ekperime. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Sannisege: 7:53am On Jan 08 |
I pray that President Tinubu succeeds. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by Dalohad: 8:02am On Jan 08 |
When you are done write, go and collect your 30k Data stipend from Bayo Oponuga.. |
| Re: Why Nigerians Must Give TINUBU A Chance, By AI by food4tot: 8:35am On Jan 08 |
Sannisege:Any NL that does not desire the success of his nation is a traitor. The success of our leaders is our collective success. |
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