by Mohammed Bello Doka
When Bolaji Abdullahi declared that removing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027 is essential to rescuing Nigeria, he was not being reckless. He was stating the obvious. Millions of Nigerians, crushed by hardship and daily humiliation, already know this truth instinctively. The real shock is not Abdullahi’s statement; it is the arrogance with which the ruling All Progressives Congress responded.
Instead of answering serious questions with seriousness, the APC chose mockery. Instead of engaging Nigerians who are hungry, angry, and exhausted, it laughed. History shows this is usually the last language of a party that has stopped listening.
The APC’s reaction is eerily familiar. It is the same tone the People's Democratic Party adopted before the 2015 Nigerian general election swept it out of power. Back then, PDP governors, ministers, and media surrogates mocked the opposition, dismissed public anger, and relied on elite endorsements. Nigerians responded with the ballot.
Has APC forgotten so quickly?
Governance by Elites, Pain for the Masses
Since May 29, 2023, the Tinubu administration has governed with a singular obsession: appeasing elites while disciplining the poor. The removal of fuel subsidy was announced without warning, without preparation, and without compassion. Overnight, fuel prices skyrocketed. Transport costs doubled. Food inflation surged. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food inflation has remained persistently high, with staples increasingly out of reach for ordinary households.
The government calls this “reform.” Nigerians experience it as punishment.
While millions struggle to eat once a day, the administration lectures them about “long-term gains.” While workers demand living wages, they are told to be patient. While students drop out of school, the government speaks the language of markets, not morality.
Political philosopher John Rawls warned that a society that permits inequalities without protecting the least advantaged has lost its moral compass. Nigeria today fits that description uncomfortably well.
And yet, when Nigerians protest or complain, what does the APC offer? Mockery. Condescension. Sarcasm from power directed at suffering citizens.
One must ask:
Are Nigerians hungry because they lack “understanding”?
Are workers striking because they don’t “get economics”?
Or is it because governance has become detached, elitist, and cruel?
The Arrogance of Power
The APC behaves as though power flows from governors’ lodges and elite gatherings, not from the streets and polling booths. This is the same fatal illusion that destroyed the PDP. Before 2015, PDP controlled most states, dominated institutions, and enjoyed elite loyalty. None of it mattered when Nigerians decided enough was enough.
Power in a democracy does not belong to governors. It belongs to the governed.
The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote: “The people, being subject to the laws, ought to be their author.” When a government stops reflecting the will and welfare of the people, it begins its own erosion.
So one must ask the APC, with deliberate sarcasm:
Did governors vote PDP out in 2015 — or Nigerians?
Was it elite laughter that changed history — or popular anger?
What evidence does APC possess that the same electorate will suddenly surrender its power in 2027?
Bolaji Abdullahi Is Right — But Not Complete
Abdullahi is correct: Nigeria is in crisis, and the APC is deeply disconnected from the people. His argument resonates because it reflects lived reality. However, history — Nigerian and global — teaches another lesson: outrage alone does not win elections.
Public anger must meet unity.
In 2015, APC succeeded not merely because Nigerians were angry, but because opposition forces aligned, set aside egos, and offered a single vehicle for change. Globally, the same pattern holds. Where opposition is fragmented, incumbents survive. Where opposition unites, regimes fall.
This is where the African Democratic Congress must rise above itself.
ADC’s Opportunity — and Responsibility
ADC has an opportunity to become what APC once was: a credible platform for national rescue. But that opportunity will be wasted if opposition leaders prioritize personal ambition over collective salvation. Nigerians are not looking for perfect politicians; they are looking for leaders who understand their pain and are willing to put Nigeria first.
The philosopher Hannah Arendt observed that power emerges when people act together. Disunity dissolves it.
If ADC can unite, discipline itself, and align powerful forces with the will of ordinary Nigerians, it can become a viable alternative. If it fails, public outrage will dissipate into frustration, not change.
Global History APC and ADC Ignore at Their Own Peril
This is not a Nigerian anomaly. Across democracies, ruling parties that mocked popular anger fell — and oppositions that failed to unite wasted historic moments.
In the 2016 United States presidential election, political elites, media establishments, and party structures dismissed public anger as irrational. They laughed at it. Voters responded by detonating the establishment’s assumptions and reshaping American politics overnight.
In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party relied on history, elite backing, and moral self-confidence. Voters in traditional strongholds revolted against what they perceived as condescension and detachment, delivering one of Labour’s worst defeats in decades.
In the 2014 Indian general election, the Indian National Congress assumed dynasty, institutions, and elite dominance were enough. Popular anger over corruption and economic hardship swept it aside, almost into irrelevance.
In South Africa, the African National Congress learned — through the 2016 South African municipal elections and the 2021 South African municipal elections — that liberation history and elite control do not protect a party that ignores mass suffering.
But global history also exposes the second truth ADC must confront.
In the 2002 Kenyan general election, public anger existed for years, but power only changed when opposition forces united.
In the 2018 Malaysian general election, decades of outrage failed until elite defections and opposition unity aligned.
In Venezuela, public outrage without unity has produced protest, despair, and fatigue — but not power.
History is mercilessly consistent: outrage creates pressure, unity converts it into victory.
The APC laughs at this lesson. The ADC must learn it fast — or risk proving Bolaji Abdullahi only half right.
A Final Warning
To the APC: arrogance is not strength. Mockery is not immunity. History does not forgive parties that laugh at suffering. PDP learned this the hard way.
To the ADC: outrage is fuel, not a vehicle. Without unity, strategy, and credibility, anger will burn out before it reaches the destination.
And to Nigerians: power is yours — always has been.
The only question is whether those who seek to inherit that power are ready to deserve it.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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Opinion