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Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti has argued that Nigeria’s major challenge is not President Bola Tinubu but the deeply entrenched corruption within the country’s institutions.
Kuti made the remarks during a recent episode of the Good News Naija podcast, where he questioned the ability of Nigeria’s institutions to hold political leaders accountable.
According to him, the judiciary and other institutions responsible for enforcing accountability should also be scrutinised when assessing how leaders accused of wrongdoing rise to positions of power.
“Do you think Tinubu is a problem? The judiciary that didn’t stop him from getting there in the first place is a problem,” Kuti said.
He argued that if allegations against Tinubu were true, a judiciary populated by people of integrity would have prevented him from contesting the presidency.
“If all what they are saying is true, how did he contest? If we had men and women of calibre and integrity, he would not have been able to contest in the first place,” he added.
Kuti said corruption was not limited to a particular political party or administration, describing it as a problem embedded across Nigeria’s political and leadership structures.
Reflecting on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s anti-corruption campaign, the musician cited the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the tenure of its pioneer chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.
“Obasanjo put EFCC to arrest all the corrupt people. One of the first people the EFCC arrested was his daughter, …,” he said.
Kuti also recalled Ribadu’s eventual departure from the EFCC, alleging that the former anti-graft chief faced threats during his tenure.
“Then, Ribadu was removed or he even ran away because I think they were after his life. So they removed him from head of the EFCC,” he said.
He subsequently pointed to Ribadu’s current role within Tinubu’s administration as evidence, in his view, of the continuity among Nigeria’s political elite.
“This same Ribadu is now Tinubu’s security personnel. So you see, it’s the same people. They go to the same parties. They go to the same weddings. They hug themselves. They do everything together,” Kuti said.
The musician warned that the perceived failure of institutions to deliver accountability could undermine young Nigerians’ faith in the country’s future.
“A young boy of 15 that has this history, or 20, when you see what is going on, where is your belief in the system? Where is your belief that you have a future in this country?” he asked.
Kuti maintained that addressing Nigeria’s challenges would require stronger institutions and greater accountability for people entrusted with positions of authority.
