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Are Nigerian leaders cursed, or are they simply a curse upon the people they govern? This is the question that lingers in the minds of Nigerians who wake up each day to a crumbling economy, decaying infrastructure, and a government that seems to operate in an alternate reality. At the forefront of this grand mismanagement is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his ineffectual Vice President Kashim Shettima, a parade of APC governors, and an assembly line of self-serving senators who collectively demonstrate that leadership in Nigeria has become nothing more than a cruel joke. And at the pinnacle of ineptitude, we find Yahaya Bello, Kogi State’s supreme practitioner of mediocrity.
Tinubu’s presidency has thus far been a masterclass in chaos. His much-publicized “renewed hope” agenda has only brought despair to millions. The fuel subsidy removal, touted as a bold economic reform, was executed with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Transportation costs have doubled, food prices have soared, and the World Bank reports that over 40% of Nigerians now live below the poverty line, up from 33% in 2022. Tinubu’s governance feels like an extended experiment in trial and error, where the errors always come at the expense of the common Nigerian. Meanwhile, his government has become a playground for cronyism, with loyalists and party faithful appointed to key positions regardless of competence.
Shettima, on the other hand, has perfected the art of being visible yet utterly ineffective. Famous for his fashion mishaps during the 2023 elections, his vice presidency has been equally mismatched. Shettima stumbles through speeches and policy announcements, offering little beyond platitudes that do nothing to address the growing list of national crises.
Yahaya Bello, however, is in a league of his own. The self-proclaimed “youth leader” has turned Kogi State into a symbol of everything wrong with Nigerian governance. Under his watch, civil servants went months without salaries, even as Bello splurged on luxury convoys and extravagant political campaigns. Kogi State ranks among the poorest in Nigeria despite its significant allocation of federal funds. Infrastructure in the state remains a tragic joke, with roads that resemble cratered war zones and schools that look abandoned. Bello’s leadership epitomizes the audacity of ineptitude—where failure is not only tolerated but celebrated as progress.
The APC governors, as a collective, are glorified overlords who have turned their states into personal fiefdoms. From Rivers to Kaduna, Lagos to Kano, these governors operate with impunity, enriching themselves while their constituents languish. Lagos State’s Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for instance, boasts about infrastructure projects like the Blue Line rail while the city remains submerged in water every rainy season. Kano State under Abdullahi Ganduje and his successor continues to grapple with worsening poverty and insecurity, with little to show for years of budget allocations supposedly meant for development. These governors prioritize flashy projects over meaningful, people-centered policies, turning governance into an exercise in vanity and waste.
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Hope Uzodinma in Imo State presides over a state riddled with insecurity, where kidnappings, assassinations, and general lawlessness have become the norm. Yet, he regularly boasts about his achievements, as if dilapidated roads and abandoned projects are worth celebrating. Uzodinma governs like a man determined to set new records for incompetence. Meanwhile, Charles Soludo, who was supposed to be the shining light of governance in Anambra, has instead devolved into a bureaucratic overlord. Traders and artisans are choking under exorbitant taxes, with little to no improvement in infrastructure or public services to justify the financial strain.
The APC senators fare no better. They sit in the Senate chambers, rubber-stamping executive decisions without asking the tough questions or defending the interests of their constituents. They are quick to approve loans that plunge the country deeper into debt while failing to scrutinize how these funds are spent. Nigeria’s legislative arm has devolved into a spectator sport where senators bicker over allowances, personal gains, and irrelevancies, while important legislative reforms are either shelved or passed without proper scrutiny.
The only consistency among Nigerian leaders—especially those in the APC—is their ability to create problems while offering solutions that only benefit themselves. Their audacity is matched only by their incompetence, as they preside over a nation blessed with immense resources but cursed with leaders who lack the vision or will to use them wisely. Nigeria’s APC governors, Yahaya Bello, senators, and Tinubu himself are not leaders; they are caretakers of chaos, ensuring the status quo of mediocrity and self-interest remains unchallenged.
The country is not cursed; its leaders are simply unfit. Until Nigerians demand better governance and accountability, this circus of ineptitude will continue, with Tinubu, Shettima, Yahaya Bello, APC governors, and senators as its star performers.
