Dr. Tom Ohikere
Nigeria is in the hands of people who should never have had a taste of power.
When power falls into the wrong hands, statistics become stories of hunger, and policies become punishment. Power was not given to serve. It was taken to stay.
1. The Economy: Numbers that Hurt
The promise was “short-term pain, long-term gain.” Two years later, the pain is still here.
– Food Inflation: 40.01% as of May 2026, per NBS. The average Nigerian now spends 60%+ of income on food
– Staples: A 50kg bag of rice crossed N90,000. Beans N65,000. Garri N8,000 per paint rubber.
– Fuel: Petrol averages N700-N750/L. Diesel N1,100/L. Transport costs have doubled, which means everything in the market has doubled.
– Unemployment: NBS puts youth unemployment at 33.1%. 13.5 million Nigerians have been pushed into poverty since May 2023, per World Bank 2025 report.
– Debt: Nigeria’s public debt hit N121 trillion by Q1 2026. Yet hospitals, schools, and roads are still collapsing.
Translation: The average household is poorer today than in May 2023, despite promises of reform.
The Human Face: Beyond Statistics
Behind every percentage is a family.
A teacher in Makurdi now skips dinner 3 times a week.
A welder in Kano closed shop because diesel killed his margin.
A mother in Jos buries her son and still can’t afford his school fees.
This is not reform. This is survival.
2. Security: Governance without Presence
– Over 9,500 people killed in 2024-2025 from banditry, kidnapping, and farmer-herder clashes — ACLED data Jan 2024 – May 2026.
– 3.2 million IDPs in Benue, Zamfara, Borno, and Plateau.
– Schools closed, farms abandoned, food supply chains broken.
When those in power are more concerned with 2027 elections than 2026 funerals, governance has failed its first duty: to protect life. You know power is in the wrong hands.
3. Youth & Japa: The Export of Hope
We are not just losing money. We are losing people.
Over 500,000 Nigerian professionals left between 2023-2025. Doctors, nurses, engineers, tech talent.
We are training the workforce of Canada, the UK, and the US with Nigerian taxes.
A country that exports its best minds cannot import development.
4. Corruption & Contracts: Where the Money Went
N121 trillion in debt, but ask:
– Why does the national grid still collapse weekly?
– Why is the Abuja-Kano road still not completed?
– Why is there still no single refinery working at full capacity?
Debt without delivery is bondage. Borrowing without building is theft.
5. Politics: Recycling, Not Renewal
1. Minority Mandate: In 2023, President Tinubu won with 8,794,726 votes. The combined opposition got 14,598,203 votes. Division handed power to 37% of voters.
2. Same Faces, New Offices: Governors becoming Senators. Ministers becoming Governors. The political class is rotating, not retiring.
3. Portal Politics: PDP’s Wike-led NWC just got INEC portal access to upload 2027 candidates including Sen. Sandy Onor, while the Atiku/Turaki/Jonathan bloc is locked out. Party, not people, decides who runs.
This is taste of power — once you taste it, you restructure the rules to keep it.
6. Why this Matters for 2027
Nigeria’s problems are not spiritual. They are arithmetic.
– Voter apathy: 28.6m voted in 2023 out of 93.4m registered. 69% stayed home.
– Coalition math: If opposition unites behind one ticket, the 14.5m votes of 2023 become the baseline to win.
– Voter demand: People no longer want manifestos. They want: 90-day food relief, ward security, published contracts, and debt audits.
2027 is not about party. It is about survival.
The Way Out
1. Unite or Perish: Emergency Opposition Summit in 30 days. Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso, PDP factions must meet on one table. One presidential candidate, VP from another region. Nigeria cannot survive another 3-way split.
2. Record vs Rhetoric: Any candidate must publish: LGA funds used, state debt profile, and job records before asking for Aso Rock. 50% youth and women on campaign council.
3. Secure the Vote: 1 million new agents, ward-by-ward, to fight voter suppression in 2027.
4. Vote like your life depends on it: Because it does. Register. Get your PVC. Mobilize 5 people. The ballot is how we remove “taste of power” from those who serve themselves.
Conclusion
A country of 230 million people cannot be run like a private company.
When the wrong hands hold power, rice becomes luxury, hospitals become mortuaries, and young people become exports.
2027 is not an election. It is an evacuation. An evacuation of incompetence, of greed, and of leaders who have forgotten that power is a trust, not a toy.
Nigeria needs leaders with competence, character, and compassion .
The harvest will only come when we plant better leaders.
The time to choose is now. The time to act is now.
– Dr. Tom Ohikere, Public Affairs Analyst/Former commissioner for information Kogi State.
