By joshua The Rise And Fall Of The Mysterious Master Strategist Who Cannot Master Any Strategy.
In the theatre of Nigerian politics, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is often hailed by admirers and bootlickers as a master strategist.
Yet beneath this carefully crafted narrative lies a troubling reality: Tinubu is less an independent leader and more a puppet, controlled by entrenched power brokers, oligarchs, and international players.
The fact remains that Tinubu’s rise, governance style, and presidency today reflect not autonomy, but dependency.Tinubu’s political ascent was built on patronage networks, not grassroots independence.
He perfected the art of “godfatherism” and “agbero” politics in Lagos, his APC used insecurity as a tool against a sitting president, but today, he finds himself ensnared by the very system his party once manipulated to gain power.
His presidency is tethered to the demands of those who financed and orchestrated his campaign. Every major decision must appease these benefactors and foreign puppeteers, leaving little room for genuine reform or independent vision that can benefit ordinary Nigerians. This one of the reasons life is harder in Nigeria today than before he took power.
Nigeria’s political economy is dominated by wealthy elites who wield disproportionate influence. Tinubu’s administration has consistently advanced policies that protect elite interests—such as subsidy removals and privatization—while ordinary Nigerians bear the brunt of economic hardship. For example, he knows the subsidy thieves who turned the regime into one of Nigeria’s most corrupt ventures, because they are his friends, yet in three years of governance, how many of them has he prosecuted? This silence suggests Tinubu is executing the agenda of oligarchs and foreign overlords, not championing the people.
Far from bold or transformative, Tinubu’s policies mirror those of his predecessor—the total waste of time and abysmal failure called Buhari. Tinubu himself admitted he is a continuation of Buhari, even referring to himself as such. His lack of innovation signals that he is not steering Nigeria’s ship but merely following a script handed down by external actors—the same forces that saw President Jonathan removed and replaced with Buhari, a man unworthy even of local government leadership.
A true leader would have broken from failed traditions and taken a stand against foreign influences. A puppet simply repeats them. If Tinubu is not in France today, he is in Britain tomorrow, dancing to the drums of his overlords and taking instructions from them.
His presidency is also the product of delicate compromises among Nigeria’s political blocs. To maintain power, Tinubu must constantly appease political thugs, regional and ethnic factions, sacrificing independent decision-making for fragile coalition-building. This balancing act reduces him to a figurehead, constrained by competing interests.
For me, Tinubu is a disappointment. One would expect that as someone who taunts himself as a pro-democracy figure—a so-called member of the defunct NADECO, a man close to late MKO Abiola, an admirer of the late reformist Chief Obafemi Awolowo—he would have taken pragmatic steps to break Nigeria free from its endless cycle of bad governance. Instead, for Tinubu it is business as usual.
And yet, many Nigerians, ever as daft, myopic, and naive as they are, continue to support him.
The truth is that Tinubu’s presidency is not the story of a visionary leader charting Nigeria’s future. It is the story of an old, corrupt, exhausted, entitled, self-centered puppet, whose strings are pulled by godfathers, oligarchs, and external powers.
His actions reflect dependency, not autonomy; continuity, not innovation. And until Nigeria breaks free from this vicious cycle of puppet leadership, the promise of a better Nigeria—where all lives matter—will remain elusive and unfulfilled.
This is the sad and bitter truth.
—Albert Afeso Akanbi, Creative Director @ Dopplerfilmz Production LTD