“Confidence evaporated. But this government broke that cartel’s back. By harmonizing the exchange rates, the president restored sanity to a system that had long been hijacked by greed.”
For decades, we have groaned beneath the weight of our own bad choices. We blame our leaders for looting, for borrowing recklessly, and for turning our nation into a debtor’s colony. We wail about corruption and incompetence as though we had no hand in birthing them. But let us speak the truth: the tragedy of Nigeria is not just bad leadership — it is bad followership.
In those countries we envy so much, citizens think beyond their stomachs. Parents make decisions with the future of their children in mind. Every vote, every policy, every national decision is made with tomorrow in focus.
But here, we are driven by sentiment, not sense; by tribe, not truth. We mortgage the destinies of our children on the altar of religion and ethnic pride — and then wonder why our nation seems cursed.
Each election season, we elevate mediocrity and enthrone greed. We celebrate thieves because they speak our dialects. We defend incompetence because they share our faith.
And when the consequences arrive — hunger, inflation, unemployment — we suddenly remember to cry. Bad governance, my people, is an equal-opportunity destroyer. When the economy collapses, it does not ask for your tribe or religion. Poverty speaks one language — pain.
But perhaps, for the first time in a long while, we are witnessing a glimmer of courage in governance. A leadership that dares to do what others only talked about. This administration has shown uncommon boldness in confronting the monsters that crippled our economy for decades — starting with the fuel subsidy racket.
Let us not deceive ourselves: the so-called subsidy was a cancerous fraud. For over 40 years, it bled the nation’s treasury dry, enriching a cartel of economic vampires who hid behind the suffering of the masses. It was a scam so entrenched that no leader before had the courage to dismantle it. But President Bola Ahmed Tinubu looked that dragon in the eye and said, “Enough!”
Yes, it came with pain. Prices soared, tempers flared, and many questioned the decision. But if a doctor must save a dying patient, he must first perform the surgery. The subsidy removal is that surgery — painful but necessary. It is the cleansing fire that burns away decades of corruption and deceit.
Then came another bold move — the unification of the foreign exchange system. For years, a few privileged hands manipulated multiple exchange rates, siphoning billions while the real economy gasped for breath. Investors fled. Businesses died. Confidence evaporated. But this government broke that cartel’s back. By harmonizing the exchange rates, the president restored sanity to a system that had long been hijacked by greed.
Today, Nigeria stands at a turning point. The road ahead may be rough, but it finally leads somewhere meaningful. No nation becomes great without sacrifice. The short-term discomfort we feel now is the birth pain of a new Nigeria — a nation built on truth, not tricks; on courage, not cowardice.
Let us be honest: leadership is not about making popular choices; it is about making the right choices. For years, we begged for change — and now that we have it, we must have the patience to endure its process. Rome was not built in a day, and economic recovery is not achieved by magic.
To the credit of this administration, there is a renewed commitment to transparency, accountability, and fiscal discipline. Funds once wasted on subsidies are now being redirected into education, health, infrastructure, and youth empowerment. These are the silent revolutions that will define our future, even if they don’t trend on social media.
Nigerians must learn to see beyond their pain. We must rise above tribal sentiments and support policies that place the nation first. Because the truth remains: we placed this curse upon ourselves through bad decisions, but this government is now trying to break it. The least we can do is to stand firm and support what is right, even when it hurts.
The day we stop voting for sentiment and start voting for sense, that is the day Nigeria will truly be free. Until then, we must commend any government brave enough to clean the rot left by decades of cowardice.
History will remember this moment — not for the pain it caused, but for the courage it required.
•Mogaji Arisekola writes from Ibadan.
