Rejoinder: “The Road to 2027” and the politics of complacency, by Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi, Comrade Sanusi A. S. Maikudi
Bamidele Ademola-Olateju’s article titled “The Road to 2027”, published on April 9, 2025, by The Nation Newspaper attempts a political critique draped in intellectual references, but ultimately reveals itself as a thinly veiled defense of the status quo, and an unfair dismissal of efforts to forge a credible alternative to the current leadership. Quoting Orwell and Gramsci cannot conceal the shallow assumptions, selective logic, and partisan bent of the piece.
The author ridicules Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and others seeking to challenge the ruling APC, accusing them of lacking ideology and substance. Yet there is no sincere scrutiny of the APC’s own record—an administration under which Nigerians are grappling with historic inflation, joblessness, insecurity, and widespread disillusionment. How can a government that presides over worsening hardship be applauded for “reforms” when the so-called fruits of those reforms are neither visible nor felt by the people?
The notion that inflation is falling or that food prices are improving is a narrative detached from the daily struggle of ordinary Nigerians. In the marketplaces, on the streets, and in the villages, the economic pain is real and growing. For a government to be praised for policies that continue to strip citizens of dignity is both disingenuous and unjust.
Furthermore, the attempt to frame political coalition-building as mere “hustling” for power is deeply problematic. Democratic alternatives do not appear fully formed; they evolve through dialogue, resistance, coalition, and the genuine desire to offer something different from a broken order.
If the APC was once allowed the space to grow from opposition to power, why must others now be ridiculed for attempting the same?
Even more troubling is the article’s resort to ethno-political arithmetic—suggesting that the Southwest will vote for Tinubu out of nostalgia, the Southeast is politically fatigued, and the North will simply rally around its ethnic sons.
This simplistic view of Nigerians as tribal automatons grossly underestimates the political maturity of our electorate. In every region, people are increasingly voting based on performance and the promise of real change—not empty slogans, propaganda, or recycled strongmen.
Nigeria’s democracy needs a strong opposition—one that questions, challenges, and holds power accountable. The growing disenchantment with the current administration is not manufactured by political opportunists; it is rooted in lived experience. If those dissatisfied with the status quo are organizing and offering alternatives, however imperfect, that is not cause for mockery but for democratic engagement.
Indeed, history rarely remembers those who defended failed systems with flair; it remembers those who dared to challenge them. Rather than discourage the building of alternatives, we must welcome it, nurture it, and hold it to high standards.
The road to 2027 must not be paved with fear, sycophancy, or partisan complacency. It must be charted with courage, integrity, and a genuine desire to lift Nigeria from the mire of despair into a future of real possibility.
Signed:
Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi
Public Affairs Analyst & Social Advocate
Comrade Sanusi A. S. Maikudi
Activist & Development Strategist.
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