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By Emmanuel Izuogu
“A politician, is a parasitical individual, an individual who thinks he has the monopoly of knowledge and wisdom, and whose grand agenda is to manipulate processes for personal interest by hoodwinking the people that he or she is working for them, but he is simply massaging his ego,” PLO Lumumba. (African scholar & social critic).
A very profound and oblique statement indeed, one that ought to resonate with profundity to all Nigerians, in light of the litany of vitriolic rhetoric emanating from certain APC bigwigs against the newly organised political coalition under the banner of ADC, The said coalition was formed on July 3, 2025. To say the least it was a significant political milestone, under the extant dispensation; given the absence of organised political opposition in the nation’s political arena. ADC tagged its coalition, as a ‘Rescue Mission’.
Peradventure, it appears that things are no longer at ease with the ruling party, APC. Barely two weeks into the formation of the ADC coalition and during the APC National Executive Committee meeting, in the same month of July 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu referred to the ADC-led coalition as a “coalition of confusion” and urged its members to abandon what he called a “sinking ship.”
The APC Senate spokesperson , Yemi Adaramodu had lamented that the coalition members are recycled political elites and not “new players” capable of challenging the APC in 2027.
Felix Morka, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, denounced ADC’s leadership, particularly Senator David Mark, saying that their speeches were devoid of policy proposals or ideological direction.
Bayo Onanuga, the president’s spokesperson, was of course at his best. He admonished Nigerians against taking the coalition seriously and described its founding members as mere power mongers and political desperados. But he did not stop there. Hear him: “They want power at all cost because they cannot endure another four more years in in political wilderness and irrelevance” Joseph Goebbels of the Third Reich must be turning in his grave. There were several other diatribes from certain APC bigwigs, including the indefatigable FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. He had enough to go around.
Suffice it to say that I am most certainly overwhelmed with ambivalence. Judging by the history and comic trajectory of the APC, one would be hard not to believe that they were referring to their own party, APC.
It may be instructive to point out that these diatribes come in response to the ADC coalition gaining support from notable political heavyweights such as Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and certain former state governors such as Peter Obi of Anamra State. Emeka Ihedioha of Imo State, Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, el- Rufai of Kaduna State. Other notable political figures present at the said inauguration include former APC national chairman, John Odegie-Oyegum, former PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus. and a host of former ministers and former legislators too numerous to list . The ubiquitous Senator Dino Maleye was the Master of Ceremonies. These political heavyweights appear to be making serious moves to present a united front for the 2027 presidential election.
It may make for grand political theatre for APC to attempt to dismiss the prime movers of the ADC coalition as featherweights, but that stirring rhetoric so far, does not reflect Nigeria’s sobering reality. Perhaps the jury is still out on that.
Meanwhile, one could make bold to say that it is insanely preposterous that the same APC-led government that have squandered the goodwill of Nigerians by hauling them through severe economic hardship, should now arrogate to itself the patent right to instruct the same Nigerians who they should trust with their future. One is compelled to recall a certain Igbo aphorism which states that it is morally unconscionable to apply force on the body of another, and simultaneously retain the right to indicate where he must land. Apparently, arrogance is a disabling condition, with a seeming generic proclivity to underestimate the suffering masses.
Nigeria under the APC government continues to rank very low, among other nations by all major indices of human development. According to the World Bank, 47 per cent of Nigerians were living below the poverty line in 2023, which translates to a whopping 104 million people. This is an increase from 40 per cent in 2018. The World Bank projects that poverty could reach 56 per cent by 2027.,
The national minimum wage today cannot purchase a 50kg bag of rice. Food shortage is endemic, as farmers are scared of kidnappers and herdsmen. Industrialists are unwilling to erect factories for fear of being harassed by kidnappers. Consequently unemployment is catholic. Auto shops all over the nation are inundated with locally used cars from Nigerians that can no longer afford the prohibitive cost of gasoline. The word Tokunbo, which erstwhile had been the generic name for imported used automobiles, may soon eviscerate from our diction, due to APC-led government’s high import duty policies and unmanageable foreign exchange rate regime.
These are not circumstances of accident. APC and her leadership must accept responsibility for their reckless imprudence. How could anyone not delusional or bereft of empathy justify, for instance, the reckless removal of petrol subsidy without adequate economic planning?
His Royal Highness, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Emir of Kano and former governor of CBN , encapsulated it all eloquently, in a speech that he gave on the 16th of June 2025 , on the occasion of Chibike Amaechi’s 60th birthday, captioned “If I speak, there will be a very bad headline.” Hear him “…. The question we have to ask ourselves as leaders is, do we actually love the people or do we just love ruling them? Do we actually love Nigerians as human beings or do we just love Nigeria?. ……….and finally for all those who are saying that we have to be careful before we get into crisis, please wake up, we are already there. We are living with banditry, Boko Haram etc, we are already in crisis’’.
How about the fact that power supply continues to be epileptic as the man who promised to resign his presidency if he fails to provide Nigerians with uninterrupted power supply, is now being repackaged as our messiah for four more years? His so called economic policies appear like a strange amalgam of contradictions. For instance, Nigerian were assured that after the removal of fuel subsidies, there would be a bonanza of funds sufficient to leverage our economic hardship. The reckless and incessant borrowings were to recapitalise the economy and eradicate our economic woes. Nigeria now has the highest debt to GDP ratio in our history as a nation. Yet the condition of the common man continues to deteriorate ostensibly. The gap between the poor and the few privileged continues to widen exponentially. The Nigerian middle class has been totally obliterated
Finally, It would appear as if while the Titanic called Nigeria is about to be totally submerged, her APC led Captain reserved the unmitigated fortitude to refer to an approaching rescue vessel as a “sinking ship.”
What a tortuous irony!
•Dr Emmanuel Izuogu JD (Howard) writes from Nkwerre, Imo State.
