2027: Why Nigeria’s Liberation Won’t Come From Tinubu, Atiku Or Obi -By Albert Afeso Akanbi

There is no way one reflects deeply on Nigeria—its potential and its missed opportunities—without feeling a profound sense of sadness.

I know respected and accomplished people who have decided to ignore Nigeria and simply enjoy their lives as best they can, while praying the country never happens to them. But how can one stop talking about one’s country of birth, whether one lives there or not? Even if one wants to, one simply can’t.

Nigeria is a land of immense potential. Yet, beyond external influence and foreign meddling, the country is shackled by its own dirty and destructive politics.

Take Enugu, the Coal City, for example. Beneath the soil on which Enugu people walk lies an enormous coal deposit—enough, many argue, to support Nigeria’s energy needs for decades if properly developed.

Yet the coal remains largely untapped. And the government agency historically associated with coal—the Nigerian Coal Corporation (NCC)—is not headquartered in Enugu. Why? Politics. I struggle to find any convincing reason why the institution tied to Nigeria’s coal heritage should not be based where the resource itself is most closely identified.

Decisions about energy infrastructure are often made far from the eastern region where Enugu is located, leaving the area underdeveloped in that respect and the nation unable to fully benefit from its own natural wealth.

The same story repeats itself with the River Niger. Even a child can see that dredging it could open up the eastern corridor, create new trade routes, and strengthen Nigeria’s economy. Yet, after promise upon promise, it remains inadequately dredged.

What about ports in the East? Successive governments have long been accused of underutilizing and underdeveloping eastern seaports, while Lagos ports continue to suffer chronic congestion. Once again, politics appears to take precedence over economic efficiency and public welfare.

Airports? Many remain substandard. The same pattern can be found across numerous sectors. This is not to suggest that any region is fully benefiting from Nigeria’s ruling cabal and their foreign overlords—but the imbalance is undeniable.

These anomalies are not merely accidents; they reflect a pattern of political choices.

I have heard some people argue that Nigeria’s ruling elite—largely drawn from the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba power blocs, alongside a few willing Igbo collaborators—have historically distrusted the Igbo. Yet, in my experience, ordinary Nigerians, regardless of tribe or religion, simply want to live together in peace, dignity, and progress. It is the ruling class, often acting as puppets of foreign interests, that continues to cling to old divisions.

Those divisions trace back to the 1966 coup, when Igbo officers were accused of assassinating leaders such as Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello (the Sardauna of Sokoto), Samuel Akintola, and other prominent figures from regions outside the East.

The narrative of Igbo ambition—and even the alleged “curse of Balewa,” as some commentators describe it—continues to haunt Nigerian politics.

But for me, the uncomfortable truth is this: Igbo leaders themselves have also been complicit in the marginalization they so often condemn. And that includes the current political favorite of many Nigerians, Mr. Peter Obi, NDC presidential candidate for the upcoming elections.

Too often, they have failed to challenge injustice, failed to build a united front, and instead joined the very establishment they claim oppresses them. There was a time when Nigeria had three or more Senate Presidents from Igbo land under one political dispensation. When Atiku Abubakar chose Peter Obi as his running mate in 2019, some of his fiercest opposition came from influential Igbo political figures. Today, Nnamdi Kanu—a man whom many ordinary Igbo people believe speaks for their cause—remains in detention, while many Igbo leaders, including Peter Obi, have been criticized for not doing enough.

Many admirers describe Obi as the “better evil” when compared to Bola Tinubu or Atiku Abubakar. But my view is simple: evil is evil; there is no better version of it.

Obi, like Tinubu and Atiku, is part of the political establishment. He has participated in the same system, benefited from many of its structures, and, in my opinion, has not spoken boldly enough about the injustices affecting his people specifically, Nigerians generally, and Africa as a whole. If he knows and remains silent, he is complicit. If he does not know, then he is ignorant—and ignorance is unfit for leadership at this critical moment in Nigeria’s history.

Tinubu, Atiku, and Obi share striking similarities: Tinubu is a master of patronage politics, building networks through corrupt money, influence, and political loyalty.

Atiku is a career politician deeply embedded in Nigeria’s transactional political culture, whose integrity has been questioned by critics, including his own boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Obi is marketed as different, yet, in my view, he is unwilling to confront systemic injustice or completely break from establishment politics.

All three are establishment figures. None, in my opinion, embodies the qualities of a truly pan-Nigerian and pan-African leader capable of liberating Nigeria at this moment.

The leader Nigeria needs will not emerge from the same old political class. He or she will rise above tribal calculations, speak truth to power, and unite Nigerians behind a vision greater than personal ambition.

The tragedy is that Nigerians are repeatedly forced to choose what many call the “lesser evil.” But the lesser evil is still evil. So Obi as a lesser evil is still evil. Settling for him will merely prolongs the vicious cycle.

Nigeria’s liberation will not come from those who have already benefited from its broken system. It will come from someone outside the establishment—someone bold enough to imagine a Nigeria where Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, and beyond—has an equal stake in the country’s future.

Until then, Nigeria will remain trapped in a cycle of destructive tribal politics and the rule of local puppets serving foreign overlords.

𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝘼𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙤 𝘼𝙠𝙖𝙣𝙗𝙞 𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 @ 𝘿𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙢𝙯 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙇𝙏𝘿.