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Guest columnist By Sunday Dare

There is a distinct, exhausting genre of Nigerian commentary that mistakes cynicism for sophistication, bitter partisanship for objective analysis, and venom for editorial depth.

Steve Osuji’s intervention on the 2027 presidential landscape fits squarely into this well-worn mould. Dripping with unwarranted condescension, frantic hyperbole, and a palpable disdain for institutional reality, Osuji attempts to paint a picture of an imperiled incumbent and an infallible, messianic opposition.

But when stripped of its purple prose, partisan hero-worship, and unfounded insinuations, his thesis collapses into a hollow, intellectually dishonest exercise in wishful thinking.

Osuji’s commentary is not an analysis; it is a symptom of a political subculture that refuses to reconcile itself with the hard, structural choices required to save Nigeria from decades of managed decay. To dismantle his web of selective amnesia and manufactured outrage, one must drag his assertions back into the harsh, uncompromising light of reality.

The Myth of the “Messianic” Third Force and Electoral Arithmetic

Osuji’s primary preoccupation is the elevation of Mr. Peter Obi to a mythological status, describing him as a political phenomenon who supposedly “won” the 2023 election before it was “glitched” away. This is a comforting fairy tale for the opposition, but it collapses upon even elementary statistical scrutiny and objective electoral history.

The assertion that Obi won the 2023 election “by miles” ignores the brutal, mathematical reality of electoral geography in Nigeria. In 2023, a candidate who failed to cross the constitutional threshold of broad national spread—failing catastrophically to garner meaningful, statutory votes in critical states across the northern and central regions of the federation—cannot lay claim to a national mandate.

Winning pockets of hyper-mobilized angst in isolated urban enclaves does not translate to a pan-Nigerian victory.

To suggest that a politician who bounces haphazardly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Labour Party, and now supposedly to a fledgling outfit like the National Democratic Congress (NDC), represents “organic consistency” is an insult to the lexicon of political integrity.

Osuji gushes over Obi’s aversion to traditional campaign structures, framing it as a badge of populist honor. In truth, it is a convenient evasion of institutional accountability. A candidate who fears structured party organs, open programmatic debates, and transparent nationwide organization is not a revolutionary; he is a digital-age populist riding the transient waves of economic anxiety and social media echo chambers.

When Osuji attempts to dismiss all other contenders—labeling veterans like Donald Duke, Omoyele Sowore, and Adewole Adebayo with derogatory tags of “spoilers” and “clowns”—he betrays a deep intolerance for pluralism. Anyone who refuses to bow at the altar of his preferred candidates is summarily excommunicated. This is not journalism; it is partisan gatekeeping disguised as high-minded critique.

The Reality of the Tinubu Administration: Courage Over Populist Cowardice

Osuji paints President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration as an “abysmal failure,” weeping over imaginary dunghills of poverty while conveniently ignoring the monumental, foundational rot the current administration inherited on May 29, 2023.

For decades, successive Nigerian leaders lacked the political will to confront the twin cancers that were bleeding the nation to death: the criminal, unsustainable fuel subsidy regime and the distorted, multiple foreign exchange markets that served as a massive pipeline for rent-seekers and corrupt arbitrageurs.

Previous administrations kicked the can down the road, preferring popular, debt-financed ruin to necessary, painful surgery. President Tinubu took the bull by the horns on day one, halting the hemorrhage.

To evaluate this administration without acknowledging the structural courage of those reforms is intellectual dishonesty of the highest order. Let’s consider the measurable, verifiable milestones achieved under President Tinubu’s watch across key sectors.

First, is the “Economic Stabilization and Fiscal Re-engineering”. The abolition of the opaque fuel subsidy stopped the bleeding of trillions of naira into private pockets. The unification of the foreign exchange market dismantled a corrupt parallel-market cartel. Consequently, revenue flows to federal, state, and local governments have expanded exponentially, granting sub-nationals unprecedented financial autonomy to execute developmental projects.

Second, is the “Macroeconomic Growth and Investor Confidence”. Defying doomsday prophecies, Nigeria’s real GDP expanded by 4.43% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, accelerating from previous quarters. International rating agencies such as Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P Global Ratings have recognized these stabilizing fundamentals, with landmark credit upgrades reflecting growing international confidence in Nigeria’s structural reforms.

External reserves have surged past $54.08 billion—achieving their highest level in nearly 18 years—while the debt service-to-revenue ratio has experienced a dramatic downward rebalancing away from the unsustainable precipice of the past. 

Third, is the “Massive Infrastructure Drive”. Unlike past eras where public funds vanished into phantom projects, the administration has prioritized high-impact infrastructure through aggressive Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.

From the ongoing, ambitious construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway to crucial rail modernizations and regional power interventions, the administration is laying the physical tracks for long-term industrialization.

Fourth, is the “Social Interventions and Human Capital”. Recognizing the temporary pains associated with macroeconomic adjustments, the administration instituted targeted cushioning mechanisms. The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has liberated hundreds of thousands of indigent students from financial exclusion, enabling access to higher education. Initiatives like Credicorp, MSME intervention funds, and the implementation of the new national minimum wage are systemic cushions designed to protect the vulnerable.

Fifth, is the “Security and Institutional Integrity”. While security challenges inherited over decades cannot vanish overnight, the armed forces have sustained aggressive, coordinated offensives against insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping networks, steadily restoring civil authority to liberated communities.

Concurrently, institutions like the EFCC have been empowered to sanitize the financial architecture, striking down illicit financial flows, while Nigeria’s standing in international financial governance continues to reap profound dividends.

Debunking the Hollow Insinuations of Flight and Fear

Osuji’s snide remarks regarding President Tinubu’s working vacation—peddling the stale, gutter narrative that the President is “on the run” or “incommunicado”—reveal a profound misunderstanding of modern governance and basic executive scheduling.

A national leader is not tethered to a physical chair in Abuja to prove competence. In an interconnected global economy, statecraft requires strategic international engagements, economic diplomacy, and moments of tactical reflection away from the suffocating pressure-cooker of domestic political sycophancy.

The desperate attempt to weaponize a temporary vacation into a sign of weakness is a classic hallmark of opposition panic. While opposition figures run from pillar to post launching ad hominem missiles and recycling hollow populist slogans, the Tinubu administration continues to execute its mandate, commission landmark infrastructure, and consolidate macroeconomic gains.

Conclusion — Substance Will Trump Demagoguery in 2027

Steve Osuji and his ilk can continue to spin elegies for failed political projections, manufacturing outrage to appease partisan paymasters. They can dress up electoral lightweights as messiahs and minimize the historic, painful, but ultimately essential foundational surgery performed by President Tinubu.

However, the Nigerian electorate is increasingly discerning. Governance is not a shouting match won by moral posturing and economic illiteracy; it is about taking difficult, consequential decisions that secure the future of a nation.

President Tinubu’s administration has faced the structural demons of Nigeria head-on. As the fruits of these bold reforms continue to ripen manifest across macro-fiscal stability, infrastructure delivery, and institutional renewal, the hollow assumptions of partisan polemicists like Steve Osuji will be swept away by the unyielding verdict of progress. Forget your Expresso.  Smell the coffee. 

•Dr. Sunday Dare Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public communications