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Hardship: Nigeria Won’t Survive Fallout of Bad Leadership, Obasanjo Warns
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has fired his most direct warning yet to Nigeria’s political class: the country will not survive another generation of leadership failure.
Speaking during the 2026 Leadership Empowerment International Conference in Abeokuta at the weekend, Obasanjo declared that Nigeria’s crisis is no longer about identifying bad leadership — it is about the danger of tolerating it.
The two-day conference, themed “The Gravity of Leadership Failure & Correction Methodologies”, was organized by the Perspective Leadership Development Institute in collaboration with the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute. It holds in over 50 countries and is the brainchild of PLDI Founder, Prof. Olusesi Obateye.
But in Nigeria, Obasanjo turned it into a national diagnosis.
Without mentioning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by name, the former President’s remarks landed squarely in the present. His target: an administration pushing controversial economic reforms amid widespread hardship, rising insecurity, and collapsing public trust.
Obasanjo’s core argument was blunt: Nigerians can no longer be sold promises while they pay with pain.
“A government may present itself as reformist, transformational or determined to rescue the country,” he said. “But if its decisions ultimately deepen hardship, weaken institutions, erode trust or leave citizens more vulnerable, the consequences become the more important measure of leadership.”
He took a swipe at governments that measure success by policies announced, projects commissioned, or reforms introduced— without accounting for what ordinary Nigerians feel in their pockets.
“Leadership failure in the ongoing circumstance should be judged by its consequences rather than by the intentions proclaimed at the beginning of tenure,” he stated.
The ex-President zeroed in on the human cost of current policies.
“The immediate effects of reforms and policies introduced by government have imposed considerable pressure on households and businesses,” Obasanjo noted, in an apparent reference to fuel subsidy removal, floating of the naira, and inflation.
He added: “And when the leader continues to say that hunger and hardship has been there before he was born, then that tells you clearly that there is leadership failure.”
For Obasanjo, that line is not an excuse. It is evidence.
He reminded current leaders that they will be judged not by what they inherited, but by what they leave behind.
“While it is admissible that governments frequently inherit serious problems from their predecessors, they also leave behind new consequences of their own decisions,” he said.
“The argument, therefore, is not merely about who created Nigeria’s problems. Good leadership is about who is responsible for solving them now.”
He warned that economic hardship, insecurity, institutional decay, and loss of hope are not abstract concepts. They are the direct bill paid by citizens for bad decisions at the top.
“Nigerian citizens cannot be asked indefinitely to endure pain on the promise of a better future,” Obasanjo declared. “This is where good leadership becomes critical.”
Obasanjo has long maintained that Nigeria does not lack resources or potential.
Its problem, he reiterated in Abeokuta, is the failure of those entrusted with power to convert possibilities into development.
“The fundamental danger is not merely that leaders can make mistakes,” he warned. “It is that leadership failure, when left unchecked, can impose consequences on an entire generation.”
Delivered in his hometown and at an institute bearing his name, Obasanjo’s message was both personal and national.
Nigeria’s problem, he said, has moved past diagnosis.
The question now is: Will we correct it before the consequences become irreversible?
As delegates from 50 countries watched, the elder statesman left no doubt where he stands: leadership is not about occupying office. It is about the capacity and willingness to use power responsibly, make difficult decisions in the public interest, and accept the consequences.
Anything less, he warned, and Nigeria may not survive it.
The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, has accused a former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, of deliberately planning the killing of people in Southern Kaduna.
Musa made the allegation while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
The minister said El-Rufai’s administration created deep divisions in Kaduna State, alleging that the situation made it difficult for residents from Southern Kaduna to live freely in the northern part of the State and vice versa.
According to him, the administration of the current governor, Uba Sani, has made deliberate efforts to restore unity and rebuild trust among residents of the State.
“We know how it was when El-Rufai was there; it was toxic,” Musa said.
“El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the country, the State, into two. In that, if you are from the South, you cannot go to the North and live. Those ones from the North were moving to the South.
“Governor Sani within one year has been able to dissolve all that. You see, now everybody is free, everybody has a say. It’s not 100%. Let me tell you, it’s not 100%, but you can see that he’s making deliberate effort in uniting the state.”
Speaking on the feelings of people in Southern Kaduna towards the former governor, Musa said the people remained deeply pained over killings recorded in the area during El-Rufai’s tenure.
He alleged that El-Rufai deliberately planned the killing of people in the region.
“Well, I don’t know if unhappy is an issue. I think if there’s anything worse than unhappy, we can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people,” Musa said.
“I mean, when you look at it, if you look at his videos, you know, his speeches, he was very proud of what he did.
“He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this, he did that. He didn’t hide it. He was that arrogant to come out and tell people that this was what he did.”
The Defence Minister said residents of Southern Kaduna were still traumatised by the killings that occurred during the period, adding that the security situation in the area had improved under the current administration.
“The Southern Kaduna people are still very pained. Of course, definitely. I mean, if you look at the number of killings that was done there and what is going on now, you can’t compare at all,” he said.
Musa further accused El-Rufai of denying some people opportunities during his administration and alleged that the former governor’s policies affected even people from his own part of the state.
“I can tell you what he has done to people living in Kaduna from his own area. He did a lot of things that I’m sure even him is not proud of,” he added.
The minister, however, called on Nigerians to reject politicians who exploit religion, ethnicity and other differences to divide the country.
“We should get politicians that want to unite Nigeria. For me, any individual who is using either religion, tribe, creed, or anything to divide the state can never be a friend; can never be somebody we look up to,” Musa said.
“We shouldn’t have those kind of ones in government. Anybody who is using religion or tribe or whatever to divide Nigeria is an enemy of the State.”
President Bola Tinubu departed Abuja, the nation’s capital on Sunday for Europe to begin a three-week vacation as part of his annual leave.
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, in a release disclosed that Tinubu’s first stop will be London, United Kingdom.
The President is expected to return home after the working vacation to join the hectic campaign for the January 2027 election.
Vice President Kashim Shettima had earlier this month went on two-week leave, his first since the Tinubu government assumed office over three years ago. He has since returned.
President Bola Tinubu has raised concerns with the African Union (AU) over repeated xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other foreign nationals in South Africa.
Tinubu urged African leaders to take collective action and include the issue on the agenda of the AU’s 40th Ordinary Session, scheduled for January 2027.
The president’s position was presented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Luanda, Angola.
Tinubu called on African leaders to renew their commitment to protecting the safety, dignity and rights of all Africans across the continent.
He said: “Nigeria wishes to express its concern over the recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa.
“While recognising South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws and acknowledging its contributions to the continent, Nigeria stresses that such attacks undermine African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, and require urgent collective attention.”
He added: “It is on this note that Nigeria calls on this august Assembly to place the matter on the agenda of the upcoming 40th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly, scheduled for January 2027, for consideration and appropriate action.”
The president also urged the AU to strengthen efforts to tackle xenophobia and Afrophobia across the continent.
He stressed that “dialogue, preventive diplomacy, and collective action remained essential to preserving African unity.”
On Africa’s broader security challenges, Nigeria supported the adoption of the Luanda Action Plan as a way to improve conflict prevention.
Tinubu argued that preventing conflicts would be more sustainable and less expensive than dealing with them after they have started.
“For Nigeria, conflict prevention remains more cost-effective and sustainable than conflict management,” President Tinubu said.
He also warned that separate and uncoordinated peace efforts, as well as growing foreign involvement through military forces, mercenaries and private defence companies, could weaken Africa’s ability to manage its own conflicts.
Tinubu further called on countries that manufacture and export weapons to work more closely with African governments to prevent weapons and ammunition from being diverted to terrorists and other armed groups.
The president said the AU already has strong systems for preventing and resolving conflicts, but limited trust and poor implementation have continued to reduce their effectiveness.
