Tinubu Govt Has Failed to Improve Nigerians’ Lives – Baba-Ahmed

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former political adviser to President Bola Tinubu and ex-spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has sharply criticised the Tinubu administration, saying it has failed to enhance both the quality of life for Nigerians and the standard of governance.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed said the administration had not met expectations for delivering meaningful change.

“Clearly, the Tinubu administration has failed expectations that it was going to radically improve the quality of governance,” he said.

He attributed much of the hardship Nigerians face today to the removal of the petrol subsidy, a policy decision made early in Tinubu’s tenure. While acknowledging that reversing the decision may be unrealistic, he stressed the need for the government to stop the “wastage of resources” at the state and local levels and to ensure funds saved from the subsidy removal are used effectively.

Baba-Ahmed called on the president to prioritise accountability, fight corruption, address insecurity, reduce poverty, and invest in infrastructure and social development. He also urged Tinubu to ensure governors—particularly those from the All Progressives Congress (APC)—spend federal allocations responsibly.

“There is so much waste, abuse of resources, and corruption going on,” he said.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s leadership since the return to democracy in 1999, Baba-Ahmed described a steady decline in the quality of governance.

“Since 1999, every leadership that has taken over has been worse than the previous one,” he said. He gave mixed reviews of past presidents: crediting Olusegun Obasanjo’s early performance but criticising his third-term ambitions; praising Umaru Yar’Adua’s vision but lamenting his short tenure; accusing Goodluck Jonathan of misgovernance; and asserting that Muhammadu Buhari “didn’t govern at all.”

He said President Tinubu began on shaky ground with a sense of entitlement—“It is my turn”—and has yet to demonstrate significant progress nearly two years into his administration.

“They’ll cite World Bank reports and international ratings, but governance should be measured by how citizens live. By that standard, this administration has failed,” he added.

According to Baba-Ahmed, the core problem with Nigeria’s democracy is self-serving leadership.

“Nigeria’s leadership crisis is rooted in the selfishness of those in power. If people with these values govern even the best-run country, the result will still be failure,” he concluded.