Tinubu's Trainwrecks: Two Years of Blunders, Betrayals, One Hasty 2027 Campaign

By Mohammed Bello Doka 

Abuja, August 4, 2025 — Two years into his presidency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s much-hyped Renewed Hope agenda has become a national nightmare. What was promised as a path to prosperity has delivered nothing but hunger, insecurity, and economic chaos. Yet, in the midst of a collapsing nation, Tinubu has brazenly launched his 2027 re-election campaign — a shocking betrayal of public trust.

As Nigerians cry out under the weight of policy missteps and worsening poverty, Tinubu’s government continues to operate with impunity, insulated by propaganda and a shrinking circle of praise-singers. The facts, however, speak for themselves.

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Tinubu's Catalogue of Policy Blunders

1. Subsidy Removal Without Cushioning
   On May 29, 2023, Tinubu abruptly removed fuel subsidies, sending pump prices from ₦185 to over ₦1,000 per litre. The move, made without social protections, triggered unprecedented inflation, pushing food prices up by 40% and plunging millions into poverty.

2. Currency Devaluation via Naira Floatation
   The hasty unification of exchange rates caused the naira to nosedive from ₦461/$ to ₦1,532/$ in just two years. Businesses shut down, foreign investors fled, and ordinary Nigerians lost their purchasing power.

3. Electricity Tariff Hike
   Removal of electricity subsidies raised rates from ₦68 to ₦225 per kilowatt-hour, choking small businesses and increasing the cost of living dramatically.

4. Misplaced Priorities in Budget Allocation
   A 2023 supplementary budget approved ₦5.05 billion for a presidential yacht, nearly matching the ₦5.5 billion meant for student loans. This sparked outrage, revealing a government out of touch with the suffering masses.

5. Crippling Tax Reforms
   Tinubu's aggressive tax drives, modeled after his Lagos tenure, have stifled businesses and intensified hardship, especially for struggling SMEs.

6. Failed Social Welfare Programs
   Despite rising poverty (now at 130 million people), most palliative programs were poorly implemented or nonexistent. The ₦70,000 minimum wage remains worthless amid hyperinflation.

7. Mounting Insecurity
   Over 10,000 lives have been lost to bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists since 2023. Farmers have fled their lands, worsening food shortages and compounding the hunger crisis.

8. Military Blunders and Civilian Casualties
   The Kaduna airstrike of 2024 that killed innocent civilians is a glaring example of military incompetence under Tinubu's watch.

9. Diplomatic Miscalculations
   As ECOWAS chair, Tinubu’s push for military intervention in Niger Republic following a coup in 2023 isolated Nigeria diplomatically and disrupted regional trade.

10. Return to Colonial-Era Anthem Amid skyrocketing inflation, Tinubu bizarrely signed a bill reverting to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” — a tone-deaf move that reflected his disconnect from the reality of Nigerian lives.

11. 2027 Campaigning in the Middle of Crisis
    As Nigerians protested hunger in 2024 with 21 lives lost, Tinubu’s allies were busy holding campaign rallies. While the streets burned, the president focused on power retention, not public service.

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Subsidy Savings, Yet More Borrowing

One of the Tinubu administration’s loudest justifications for removing fuel and electricity subsidies was to “save trillions of naira” and stabilize the economy. Yet, despite these painful policies that have driven millions deeper into poverty, the government continues to borrow at an alarming rate.

By mid-2025, Nigeria’s public debt had surpassed ₦130 trillion, an increase of over ₦30 trillion since Tinubu assumed office — outpacing the borrowing record of the previous Buhari administration. Much of this debt has been acquired under opaque terms, with little to show in terms of infrastructure or economic relief.

Critics argue that if trillions have truly been saved through subsidy removals, why does the government need to keep borrowing so aggressively? The contradiction points to either gross fiscal mismanagement or a deliberate misinformation strategy designed to mask the administration’s failures.

Instead of using supposed savings to fund public services, social protections, or infrastructure, the Tinubu government has expanded the debt burden and exposed future generations to economic servitude. The question on every Nigerian’s mind remains unanswered: Where are the savings?

A Nation on the Brink

Tinubu claimed to have inherited a fragile economy — but instead of stabilizing it, he accelerated the collapse. Today, GDP growth is stagnant, inflation remains at 34.19%, and over half the population lives in severe poverty. His praise singers may praise his textbook reforms, but to everyday Nigerians, these policies have been nothing short of a death sentence.

Tinubu’s governance style — reactionary, aloof, and driven by political survival — has ignited widespread discontent. Hashtags like #TinubuNotMyPresident continue to trend, as Nigerians lose hope in a presidency that appears to care more about its image than its people.

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A Moral Responsibility

If this dangerous trajectory continues, Nigeria risks total implosion. Hunger, anger, and insecurity are combining into a volatile mix that could spark nationwide unrest. And the implications are dire: the collapse of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, would trigger a refugee crisis no West African or African country is prepared to handle. Even 10% of displaced Nigerians would overwhelm neighboring economies and collapse fragile states.

The survival of Nigeria is not just a national concern — it is a continental imperative.

It is therefore the moral responsibility of every right-thinking Nigerian to rise above tribalism, sentiment, and manipulation in 2027 and vote out Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nigeria cannot afford another four years of policy disaster, failed leadership, and manufactured hope. This is no longer just politics — it is about saving what remains of our country and preventing the ripple effect of its fall across Africa.

The choice is clear. The time is now. 2027 must be Nigeria’s turning point — or it may be its final chapter.