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In the annals of Nigerian politics, where promises are made as fleetingly as campaign posters fluttering in the wind, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has cemented his place as a master illusionist. His pledge to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has now joined the vast graveyard of political commitments never meant to see the light of day. Tinubuโs ascent to power was, after all, greased by agreements, handshakes, and winks made under the tableโagreements that, apparently, dissolve faster than a Lagos street under heavy rain.
Letโs revisit this vaunted โagreementโ for a moment. IPOB, a group that has successfully turned silence into a political weapon, honored its end of the bargain by refraining from calling for an election boycott, despite wielding significant influence in the Southeast. The groupโs restraint allowed Tinubu a semblance of legitimacy in an election already marred by controversies, irregularities, and โmathematicalโ voter turnout figures that would make Isaac Newton blush. IPOB could have disrupted the polls; they didnโt. The expectation? A simple quid pro quo: release Kanu. What they received instead was a masterclass in political gaslighting.
Nearly two years into Tinubuโs presidency, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains detained, defying all logic, legality, and, frankly, the basic principles of human decency. Itโs worth noting that Kanuโs detention is not just a Tinubu-era aberrationโit began under the former administration of Muhammadu Buhari, whose affinity for flouting court orders could rival a seasoned outlaw. The Appeal Court discharged Kanu and ordered his release, a directive ignored by Buhari. The Supreme Court later upheld that Kanuโs bail should never have been revoked, yet here we are, with Tinubu continuing this Kafkaesque charade of indefinite detention.
In a democracyโyes, Nigeria still pretends to be oneโcourt orders are supposed to mean something. But under Tinubuโs administration, judicial rulings are treated with the same respect one gives to expired parking tickets. Kanuโs continued detention has no legal basis, not in Nigeria, not under international law, not even in the kangaroo courts of fictional dystopias. Yet the Nigerian government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to operate on the principle that if you stall long enough, the problem might just disappear. Spoiler alert: it wonโt.
And what of Tinubuโs vaunted reputation as a dealmaker? The man who claims to have built Lagos now appears incapable of honoring the simplest of agreements. If he canโt keep a promise to release one man, how can Nigerians trust him with grander promises of economic recovery, security reform, or even fixing the national power grid? Perhaps we should all start looking for generatorsโboth literal and metaphoricalโto power our hopes, because Tinubuโs administration is running low on credibility.
Read also: Kanuโs Freedom: Tinubuโs Enugu Trip Revives Hopes โ Ohanaeze
Meanwhile, IPOBโs silence is beginning to sound deafening. They have kept their part of the agreement, yet the man they fought for languishes in detention, his health reportedly deteriorating. This isnโt just about Kanu; itโs about a government that repeatedly shows contempt for its people, its judiciary, and its own word. Tinubuโs administration could have turned this into a moment of national healing, a chance to ease tensions in a region that has long felt alienated. Instead, he has chosen to perpetuate a cycle of mistrust, alienation, and outright disdain.
Whatโs most ironic is Tinubuโs fondness for quoting democratic principles in his speeches. Democracy, he says, is about accountability. Yet here he is, ignoring court orders with the same ease one might ignore a buzzing mosquito. Democracy, he says, is about dialogue. Yet he refuses to engage in any meaningful discussion about Kanuโs fate. Democracy, he says, is about justice. Yet his government continues to weaponize technicalities and delay tactics to deny Kanu his day in court.
Tinubuโs maladministration has turned Nigeria into a stage where the absurd is the norm and accountability is an elusive dream. His failure to release Kanu, despite legal rulings and prior agreements, is emblematic of a broader culture of governance where promises are disposable, the judiciary is sidelined, and the peopleโs trust is treated as collateral damage.
So here we are, two years later, watching Tinubu perform his greatest trick yet: making the concept of justice disappear entirely. The only thing Nigerians can hope for now is that when his term finally ends, history will remember him not as a builder, but as a magician whose sleight of hand fooled no one.
