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Times are everything but normal in Nigeria. This is more evident in our pork barrel politics that heaves with hysteria. You see, it hurts like pins and needles in the lips to observe how insensitive and intentionally cruel our political leaders behave when things go wrong. They focus on wrong priorities. They look away from the real issues that matter to the people – their welfare, security of lives and property. For them, it’s all about personal interests first, the people last. According to data from the Global Terrorism Index, in the first half of 2025, over 700 Nigerians were killed by bandits. That’s how Nigeria has been run in the past ten years. Try as hard as you can to switch off from the ugly reports of killing and abduction that have become almost a daily routine in the country and government’s callous response to people’s suffering, the faltering touch of what ought to be done tearfully draws your attention.
In this age of transparency- where leadership makes the difference – the questions are: Why is President Bola Tinubu not measuring up on the leadership scale? What sort of leader is this man? What is his idea of a peaceful and united Nigeria? Why does he almost always focus on little things and neglect the big issues that call for his attention? Why does he prefer reactive rather than proactive approach to governing? Why does he prefer to act only when he’s needled and rattled? All of these questions find answer in the recent and confirmed report that the federal government has hired a Washington-based Lobbying and Public Affairs firm, DCI Group for a hefty fee of $9 million. The lobbying firm is contracted to communicate Nigeria’s security efforts and response to the killings of Christians in the North to Washington policymakers.
Documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, show that DCI Group, founded in 1996 by Tom Synhorst, Doug Goodyear, and Tim Hyde, was contracted to engage U.S. officials on Nigeria’s counterterrorism operations and its handling of allegations of religiously motivated violence. The contract was said to have been signed on December 17, 2025 through Aster Legal, a Kaduna-based Law firm acting on behalf of Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA). A month earlier, the U.S. President Donald Trump had rattled the Tinubu government after labeling Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern”, over alleged massacre of Christians parts of the North.
Besides the mandate to brief U.S. government on Nigeria’s efforts to protect Christians (and Muslims), the DCI Group is also hired to help sustain U.S. support for Nigeria’s campaign against jihadist groups operating across West Africa. The terms of the lobbying contract run for an initial six-month period, ending June 30, 2026. It contains an automatic extension clause unless either party decides to terminate the agreement with 60 days notice. Financial disclosure in the U.S. indicates that the federal government of Nigeria has already paid $4.5m as an advance retainer, with the full value of the contract set at $9m. The agreement also provides for a monthly fee of $750,000 to cover “professional services and related expenses”.
Expectedly, this has attracted outrage, especially within opposition parties, and other concerned Nigerians. Is the image burnishing contract really a priority at this time? Isn’t it a wasteful expenditure that smacks of an utter disregard to the present cost of living and other macroeconomic challenges such as high level of poverty in the land? That’s the opinion of opposition political parties like the African Democratic Congress(ADC), the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the Labour Party(LP), and the New Nigeria Peoples Party(NNPP). Ordinarily, there’s nothing wrong in the practice of hiring image laundering firms. Past Nigerian governments and politicians have been recorded on the wrong side of history to have adopted this severally as a panic measure when viewed as a pariah nation. That notorious era that began with the military regime of late General Sani Abacha has returned at full throttle. These are not stories untold. Few examples will suffice. Between 1993 and 1998, Abacha’s military junta hired several foreign lobbyists, many of them from the U.S, to defend his regime’s image and fight against international sanctions. Facing intense global condemnation and human rights abuses, especially the execution of the “Ogoni nine”(among them, Ken Saro-Wiwa), the Abacha regime reportedly paid $10m to ten different Washington-based Lobbying firms to improve its image and influence U.S policy. But all the desperate efforts proved unsuccessful.
According to available records, among the firms hired by Abacha are: C/R International. Its focus was on oil interests with ties to U.S former diplomat, Robert Cabello. Also contracted was Davis Manafort & Freedman, contracted by Abacha’s NSA Ismaila Gwarzo, to improve bilateral affairs with America. Others lobbyists engaged by Abacha were Barron- Birrell, a firm that was registered in 1995, and J.H.S Group. These lobbyists were also mandated to target U.S. Congressional staffers and government officials to prevent the freezing of assets of top Nigerian officials. The close ties that Abacha’s regime had with some top U.S. senators, among them, James Inhofe, Carol Moseley Braun, and civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, couldn’t help him.
Abacha’s successor Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, was reported to have retained some of these lobbyists, but it also failed to get the results he wanted. Always not learning from history, as democratically elected President, Olusegun Obasanjo, followed the same failed pathway. His government(1999-2007), hired GoodWorks International Inc; a lobbying and consulting firm led by former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young. The same aim: to “improve Nigeria’s image and promote foreign investment”. Interestingly, the motto of GoodWorks is: “We do well by doing good”. But, it did no visible good work for Nigeria, according to report by The New York Times of April 18, 2002.
Andrew Young came under fire in the U.S. for his ties with Nigeria. His relationship with Obasanjo was described as “deep”, dating back to the late 1970s, when both of them were involved in international diplomacy in matters of Southern Africa. Subsequently, it turned Young and his firm into something of a lightning rod. With a barrage of attacks, and accusation that the image laundering for Nigeria was of a “juicy benefit to Andrew Young”, there was a backlash on Nigeria’s international reputation. Beyond this, on individual level, check out the case of Atiku Abubakar, and Bola Tinubu before he became President. Have you wondered why Atiku has been silent since the payout to the DCI Group became a matter of public discourse, even when his party, ADC has been in the forefront of attacking Tinubu’s approval of the $9m payout? This is the reason: According to The New York Times of March 31, 2019, Atiku paid the services of three American lobbyists connected to President Trump to overcome his visa ban and secured a welcome back to the U.S. The firms are Scot Mason(Ballard Partners), consultant Riva Levinson(KRL International), and Holland & Knight LLP, a U.S- based law firm. They were all instrumental to helping the then PDP presidential candidate overcome the APC offensive led by former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed. Tinubu was not spared either. According to PEOPLES GAZETTE, Tinubu allegedly paid U.S. lobbyists $2.7m to burnish his image amid the sweltering allegations of drugs and certificate scandals prior to the 2023 presidential election.
According to the online publication, the lobbyists were hired to help concerned U.S. lawmakers and policymakers that he(Tinubu) has the requisite personal probity to lead Nigeria after “suffering reputational hit” that threatened his presidential prospects. It’s early in the day to say how successful the latest the hiring of DCI Group will help the Tinubu government improve its tattered image and instil confidence in the American government and the international community regarding his sincerity in containing insecurity in the country and the killing of Christians in the North. According to Open Doors’ World Watch, a Netherlands-based Christian faith agency, Nigeria recorded the highest killing of Christians killed worldwide in 2025. Of the 4,849 Christians killed globally, 3,489 were reported to be from Nigeria.
Taken as a whole, whatever public relations stunt the federal government government embarks on with taxpayers’ money, without addressing other existential threats, such efforts will be unsuccessful. It will amount to mere wound dressing. Simply put, no amount of image laundering will mend a broken egg. According to the latest report from PricewaterhouseCoopers(a global financial consultancy), Nigeria’s 2026 Economic Outlook ahead of next year’s general election, is troubling. It says that about 141 million Nigerians, or 62% of the population, will fall into extreme poverty by end of this year. The grim picture of deteriorating living standards in the country is an indication of the danger that lies ahead.
The warning has been on for a while. It contradicts government’s self- congratulatory propaganda rhetoric that the economy is turning the corner. There is a limit to what even the best lobbyist can do to help a government considered as non-performing. History is often unkind to leaders who ignore patterns that didn’t work. After all, deposed Venezuela’s strong man, Nicolas Maduro, hired American lobbyists, yet he failed, and is currently languishing in U.S jail together with his wife, Cilia Flores. Prioritising the welfare the people, good governance, inclusivity, taming corruption and securing the lives and property of the citizens are easiest paths to getting the people’s mandate. No amount of wasteful spending on image laundering, no deception, no lies nor propaganda, will do it.
