No Joy For Nigeria – Is Bola Tinubu Bad Luck Is He now Trumps Friend ? From Football To Insecurity To Trump ! To Naira To Tax To One Party System ! IS The Lion Roaring for US ? Lets Investigate
Frank Adeche Writes: No Joy For Nigeria – Is President Bola Tinubu Bad Luck?
Well, friends, gather ‘round, and let us consider the curious case of a nation and its pilot. It has been a year, or thereabouts, since the Lion of Bourdillon—a title fit for a circus or a king, depending on the light—settled into the big chair in Abuja. They said he was a political strategist, a lion of Lagos finance, a man who knew the tune to make the markets dance. But so far, the only music I can hear sounds remarkably like a dirge, played on a poorly-tuned piano, with the whole nation humming along in a mournful key.
They told us he would take the reins. And so he did, with a shout. He pronounced the end of a costly fuel subsidy with the swiftness of a man pulling a bandage from a hairy leg. The intention, we are assured, was medicinal. But the patient—that being you, me, and the fellow selling akara by the roadside—let out a yelp that hasn’t subsided since. The Naira, which had been leaning on life support, decided to give up the ghost entirely, falling like a drunkard from a top bunk. Prices, those nimble acrobats, soared to heights not seen since the days of Pharaoh. A loaf of bread now costs what a small chicken did last year, and the chicken has retired to a life of luxury beyond the common man’s reach.
Now, a man might say, “These are bitter pills for a sweeter tomorrow!” A fine sentiment. But then the taxman arrives, not with a spoon of sugar, but with a longer, sharper ladle, proposing to skim the pot that is already mostly bone broth. The streets, which were unsafe, have not found safety. The bandits and terrorists, like uninvited relatives, seem to have made themselves perfectly at home. Even our national sport, that great distraction from our woes, has turned traitor. Our football heroes, once a source of unified joy, now trip and stumble as if their boots are filled with the lead of our collective despair. It is enough to make a saint swear and a patriot sigh.
And in the midst of this grand Nigerian opera, the supporting cast is changing costumes. The opposition, that grand old party that used to play its part in the theatrical farce we call democracy, appears to be defecting en masse to the ruling stage. We are crafting not a democracy, but a choir with only one songbook, and everyone is suddenly eager to sing the baritone part. It is a curious thing. A one-party system is as useful as a single oar in a canoe; you shall only go in circles, my friend, and rather damp circles at that.
But here is the rub that truly chafes the soul. The heart of a leader is revealed not in the grand parades for visiting Americans, nor in the clever speeches written by aides. It is revealed in the common agony. It is revealed when the brutal, common, Nigerian tragedy strikes the uncommon Nigerian.
Does the Lion roar when a thousand anonymous souls perish on our roads, those rivers of death paved with potholes and negligence? We hear a distant, administrative murmur. But let a world-famous boxer lose a friend on that same road, or let a celebrated novelist, our own Chimamanda, lose her beloved son in the chaotic silence of a Nigerian hospital—then we see the swift dispatch of condolences, the public recognition of a private hell. It begs a question as old as privilege itself: For whom does the Lion roar? Is it for the USA, for the rich who can still hear themselves think over the rumble of their generators, or for the poor, whose cries are as constant and as noted as the dust in the Harmattan wind?
The poor man’s child dies in Sokoto, and it is a statistic. The famous man’s grief touches the Presidential Villa, and it is a tragedy. This is not Nigerian; this is human, all too human, and a failing of the heart. A leader must feel the itch of the common mosquito, not just the sting of the imported bee.
So, is it bad luck? I am from Missouri on that question. Show me. Luck is for gamblers, and governance is not a dice game—or at least, it ought not to be. It is a craft. It is the slow, stubborn, unsentimental work of mending fences, filling potholes, stabilizing scales, and reminding the tax collector that he is shearing sheep, not skinning them.
After one year, the facts are plain as a pikestaff. The facts are in the empty pocket, the fearful journey, the closed factory, and the silent stadium. The facts are in the eyes of the market woman who no longer bothers to calculate, but only to hope.
Nigerians are crying. This is not a metaphor. It is a sound. It is the sound of a people waiting for their luck, or their leader, or their own resilient spirit, to finally, decisively, turn.
References & Allusions (In the Spirit of the Age)
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Fuel Subsidy Removal: Tinubu, B. A. “Inauguration Speech.” May 29, 2023. Abuja, Nigeria. (The declarative “Subsidy is gone” moment).
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Naira Depreciation: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) exchange rate data, May 2023 – May 2024. (The visible, precipitous decline of the Naira against the USD).
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Tax Proposals: The recent legislative push for increased taxes and levies, including the Cyber Security Levy and debates around VAT, as reported in Premium Times and Business Day throughout 2024.
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Political Defections: News reports from The Guardian Nigeria and Channels TV on the wave of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) throughout 2023/2024.
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National Football Losses: Results of the Nigerian Super Eagles in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, notably the losses to Guinea-Bissau and the recent draw with South Africa, as covered by Complete Sports.
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Celebrity Tragedies & Presidential Reactions: Presidential statements issued following the death of Anthony Joshua’s friend in a road accident (February 2024) and following the loss of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s son (May 2024), as reported by Punch Newspapers and Vanguard.
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General Insecurity & Economic Data: Reports from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on inflation (food, core), and security summaries from sources like the Council on Foreign Relations’ Nigeria Security Tracker.
Frank Adeche Writes: No Joy for Nigeria — Is President Bola Tinubu Bad Luck?
By Frank Adeche
Nigeria, it seems, has entered one of those seasons where even hope checks the exchange rate before stepping outside.
After one year of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s rule, the national mood resembles a football stadium after a last-minute own goal: stunned silence, followed by shouting, followed by blame, followed by the familiar Nigerian shrug that says, “We’ve seen worse, but not like this.”
From football defeats that bruise our fragile pride, to insecurity that travels faster than ambulances, to a falling naira that now behaves like a leaf in harmattan wind, Nigerians are asking a question once whispered, now shouted:
Is Bola Tinubu bad luck—or simply the bearer of long-overdue consequences?
Football, Faith, and a Nation Tired of Losing
A nation that once exported football joy now imports heartbreak. Losses by our national teams are no longer sporting disappointments; they feel symbolic. When a people lose faith in electricity, security, currency—and then football too—it begins to feel personal.
Governments often dismiss sports as “distractions,” but wise leaders understand that football is Nigeria’s last unifying language. When even that fails, the silence grows loud.
Insecurity: When Fear Becomes Federal
One year in, Nigerians still travel with prayers instead of insurance. Roads double as crime scenes. Farms are abandoned. Kidnapping has become so common it now has pricing tiers.
The tragedy is not merely that insecurity persists—but that it has normalized. When citizens budget for ransom the way they budget for fuel, governance has quietly packed its bags.
And the anger grows sharper when it appears that outrage only goes viral when tragedy touches the famous:
When a global sports icon loses friends on Nigerian roads, or when a celebrated writer mourns a child lost in a Nigerian hospital, suddenly the system pauses, issues statements, and promises investigations.
But what of the nameless Nigerians who die daily without hashtags?
Trump Running Riot in Nigeria?
Somehow, Nigeria has become a playground for imported political drama. From foreign influencers stirring local outrage to global culture wars finding fertile ground here, Nigerians now consume American chaos alongside local suffering.
The irony is rich: while Nigerians struggle to afford garri, we are force-fed ideological battles from abroad. America exports inflation via interest rates; now it exports confusion via culture.
The question remains: Who is governing Nigeria’s narrative—and who benefits?
The Naira: From Currency to Cautionary Tale
Under Tinubu, the naira was “freed.” What followed looked less like freedom and more like exile.
Yes, economists applaud “market realism.” But markets do not vote—people do. And people measure policy not in theory but in rent, transport, food, and school fees.
When a salary earns applause on payday and tears by month-end, reform becomes an academic insult.
New Tax Laws, Old Poverty
Taxation, we are told, is necessary. True. But taxation without visible governance is indistinguishable from punishment.
You cannot tax people into prosperity while hospitals decay, roads kill, and electricity behaves like a visiting relative—rare and unpredictable.
The poor feel hunted. The middle class feels erased. The rich feel mobile.
One Party, One Direction?
As PDP members decamp en masse into the APC, Nigeria flirts dangerously with a one-party reality. History, that stubborn teacher we keep ignoring, warns us that political monopoly is the enemy of accountability.
When opposition weakens, arrogance strengthens. When power stops fearing loss, citizens start losing everything.
The Lion of Bourdillon: Roaring for Whom?
Tinubu is called the Lion of Bourdillon—a master strategist, a political survivor. But today Nigerians ask:
Is the lion roaring for us—or for foreign investors, global applause, and elite comfort?
Is this government for Nigerians who are rich or poor—or only for those who can afford patience?
Leadership is not judged by economic charts but by human breath. A policy that makes sense abroad but suffocates people at home is not reform; it is rehearsal for unrest.
So, Is Tinubu Bad Luck?
No. Luck has little to do with it.
What Nigerians are witnessing is the collision between delayed reform and exhausted citizens. Tinubu inherited a broken house and chose to renovate by removing the roof during a storm.
History may yet redeem him—but hunger is impatient, and grief does not read policy documents.
One year in, Nigerians are not asking for miracles.
They are asking for mercy, visibility, and fairness.
And they are crying—not because they hate reform, but because reform, so far, has not loved them back.
References (General Sources)
- Federal Republic of Nigeria – Presidential Inauguration and Policy Statements (2023–2024)
- Central Bank of Nigeria – Exchange Rate Reforms and Monetary Policy Briefings
- National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) – Inflation, Poverty, and Living Standards Reports
- Nigerian Security Tracker (Council on Foreign Relations)
- Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – Party Defections and Political Data
- FIFA & CAF Match Reports – Nigeria National Teams
- World Bank & IMF Nigeria Economic Updates (2023–2024)
- Nigerian Press Coverage: The Guardian, Punch, Vanguard, ThisDay
History will decide whether this was the year Nigeria was healed—or merely tested again. But for now, the people have spoken. And they are tired.