Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described Nigeria as a “failed state” due to the policies of both former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking during a paper presentation at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University in the United States, Obasanjo criticised the leadership of both men, attributing Nigeria’s state of chaos, insecurity, and underdevelopment to their administrations. In his keynote address, titled “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria,” which was pre-recorded and played at the event, Obasanjo refrained from naming the leaders directly but referenced them using nicknames given by their critics—“Baba-go-slow” for Buhari and “Emilokan” for Tinubu.
“As we can see and understand, Nigeria’s situation is bad. The more the immorality and corruption of a nation, the more the nation sinks into chaos, insecurity, conflict, discord, division, disunity, depression, youth restiveness, confusion, violence, and underdevelopment. That’s the situation mostly in Nigeria in the reign of Baba-go-slow and Emilokan. The failing state status of Nigeria is confirmed and glaringly indicated and manifested for every honest person to see through the consequences of the level of our pervasive corruption, mediocrity, immorality, misconduct,
Obasanjo also accused Nigerian politicians of compromising the judiciary, contributing to what he called a widespread “state capture.” He criticised the common response to electoral disputes, “go to court,” suggesting it reflects the judiciary’s compromised state. According to Obasanjo, “the judiciary in Nigeria is a very pale version of its once internationally esteemed self.” He went on to say that politicians, after rigging elections, confidently tell their opponents to “go to court” because they know the judiciary has been bought. “A number of judges are in the pockets of wealthy politicians and individuals, making judgments not based on law but to the highest bidder. This, my learned audience, is one of the most effective strategies of state capture — and it must be excised from Nigeria like a surgeon cutting out a malignant cancer,” Obasanjo stated.
The former President also accused political elites of sabotaging Nigeria’s economy for personal gain, pointing to the acquisition of national assets at bargain prices and the allocation of resources—such as minerals, land, and human capital—to local and international actors. He called for robust local and international laws to prevent such practices, emphasizing that the purchase of national assets by political elites and their families must be prohibited.
Without naming individuals, Obasanjo criticised the ongoing control exerted by former governors over their states long after leaving office, singling out one such case of a former governor who continues to hold sway over his state 25 years after his tenure ended. Obasanjo also condemned Nigerian politicians for exploiting the poverty and hunger in the country through “stomach infrastructure” politics, where food items packaged with the image of political candidates are distributed to gain votes. He lamented that destitute citizens are more likely to vote for politicians offering handouts, often funded by looted public money, rather than those offering long-term solutions to the country’s problems.
He pointed out the high rate of out-of-school children, widespread insecurity, and systemic corruption, and urged Nigeria to adopt the virtues that have contributed to the progress of Southeast Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. The event, attended by figures such as Peter Obi, Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, and former Minister Obi Ezekwesili, also featured Obasanjo’s participation in discussions on “Leadership and Democracy in Africa” and “The Future of Leadership in Africa.”
[TheNation]