Nigeria is in the middle of a slow, painful bleeding that has turned daily life into a battlefield of survival. But instead of stitching the nation’s open wounds, the political class is already oiling its campaign machines, calculating alliances, and sharing positions for elections that are still years away. The contrast is tragic: a country fighting for breath, and a leadership elite fighting only for power. Across the nation, the warning signs are not subtle. From the rising cost of food, where staples that once fed families now mock their purchasing power, to the deteriorating security landscape where bandits, kidnappers, insurgents, and cult groups run parallel governments.
Nigeria is wobbling on legs weakened by long neglect and glorified corruption. Yet, while citizens grapple with fear, hunger, and hopelessness, the political arena is noisy with defections, consultations, and strategy meetings for the “next big vote.” The tragedy of today’s Nigeria is not merely that things are bad; it is that they are bad and getting worse because those elected to heal the nation are distracted by their own ambitions. Instead of assessing the economy, addressing the insecurity, they are assessing their electoral chances. Instead of holding emergency security summits, they are holding caucus meetings in mansions and private jets. The disconnect between leadership priorities and national realities has widened to a dangerous gulf.
The economy and insecurity are the loudest cries of this bleeding nation. Inflation has soared beyond the endurance of ordinary people. Businesses are shutting down, farmers can’t safely reach their farmlands, and the Lucky Dube’s heartbreaking unsafe prayers in a crazy world has become the portion of Nigerians.
“Oh Lord Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.“
Naira has endured blows from policy inconsistencies and global shocks. Yet, rather than offering clear economic roadmaps, our politicians focus on campaign slogans that promise what their current offices have refused to deliver. Security, perhaps the most critical of Nigeria’s wounds, also stands unattended. Messiah Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the man whose struggle is to ensure that the southern part of Nigeria is free from the menace of terror group is kept in detention unjustly, while the said known terror sponsors remain untouchable. Government is fighting the symptoms while protecting the sources of terror. The daily reports of abductions on highways, farmlands, people’s home, together with the attacks on villages and killings in many regions have desensitized the nation. Nigerians now pray before stepping out, and pray again before sleeping. But while the nation buries victims, politicians bury themselves in political mergers and permutations. The blood on the soil has not stopped the struggle for power.
Note: This column is not a call for a change of government, but a humanity call to address the problems that are militating against our very survival, for most of the opposition people wooing to take over the seat of authority are birds of same feathers, whom would rather drown the nation than loosing their grip on power.
It is not that elections are unimportant; democracy depends on them. But when a democracy becomes obsessed with elections at the expense of governance, it becomes sick. Nigeria is living that sickness today. The cycle is always the same: once leaders secure power, they spend half their tenure settling those who helped them win, and the remaining half planning how to retain power in the next round. In between these self-serving transitions, true governance becomes an afterthought. Meanwhile, the people are not just bleeding, for they are losing faith.
Trust in government is at its lowest in decades. A military general, Musa Uba, who selflessly engaged the terror world unreservedly, lost his life to the recklessness of our leadership postures. Policies are announced without consultation, reforms are implemented without cushioning, and citizens are expected to endure endlessly while leaders enjoy immunity from the hardship they impose. When leadership is detached from the suffering of the governed, the foundation of democracy begins to crack. A nation that is bleeding does not need campaign posters; it needs emergency surgery.
If those vying for future power cannot fix the Nigeria they currently govern, then their next election victories will be hollow celebrations, leaders presiding over a house that is already on fire. Nigeria is bleeding, and history will not forgive those who ignored the wounds because of fear, or, because they were busy preparing for the next ballot.
–Ambassador Ezewele Cyril Abionanojie is the author of the book ‘The Enemy Called Corruption’ an award winner of Best Columnist of the year 2020, Giant in Security Support, Statesmanship Integrity & Productivity Award Among others. He is the President of Peace Ambassador Global.