Nigeria’s recycled corruption, insecurity and the making of a ‘Disgraced Country’

By : Nzeh Frankwhite

Date: 16 January 2026 10:41am WAT

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When, late last year, the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, in an undignified tweet on his official X handle, described Nigeria as a ‘Disgraced Country’, promising to order their war department to enter the country guns ablazing, it became obvious that our image and reputation have declined beyond acceptable limits.

For the discerning mind, it is obvious that the unchallenged massacre of Nigerians (Christians & Muslims, though Christians are more pronounced targets) across the states, with kidnappers, bandits, terrorists having a field day, alone has not brought us along this ugly path, no.

The foundation of the Nigerian problem stands on numerous issues: corruption, electoral fraud, weak constitution, lack of separation of powers, tribalism, etc. In all of the above, corruption remains a major pillar of these institutional failures. Our faulty leadership recruitment process leads to impunity and lack of empathy, leading to the falling in droves of every other part of the system.

The anti-corruption fight has continued to be weakened because the corrupt leaders are the ones that determine the leadership of the anti-corruption agencies, how it would work, how? A case in study is the immediate past Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami, who was recently arraigned with other family members over allegations of multi-billion-naira corruption. Meanwhile, during the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Malami was the one supervising the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). What an irony. It only shows that Nigeria is structured never to succeed.

The framers of the Nigerian constitution never anticipated the fact that the document created powerful individuals and weak institutions, thereby leaving the system at the mercy of whoever occupies these exalted offices (president, governors, etc.). How else do you explain the fact that the president is the appointing and approving authority of almost all the major agencies of government, including the chairman of INEC, whose responsibility it is to supervise the election that the president will be contesting? What would you expect?

A situation where all the other arms of government (legislature & judiciary) go cap in hand for the president to approve funds for their operations, the expected checks and balance is reduced to a paper tiger. The system remains at the mercy of whoever is occupying the position as president, and woe betide you to unfortunately encounter a president without empathy, one with an authoritarian mindset (like the one we have at the moment). Just like the popular saying, ‘it’s not enough to give water to the monkey, it is getting back the cup when he is done drinking from it’.

Remembering that at the height of the fuel subsidy-induced pain and hardship, the President and his men were balling, embarking on frivolous white elephant projects; N150 billion presidential jet, N5 billion presidential yacht, N39 billion renovation of ICC, N21 billion renovation of Vice President’s residence, about N15 trillion for coastal highway project at N21 billion per kilometre, contracted to a company where the President’s family is alleged to have vested interest, allocating funds to the office of the First Lady, an office not known by law, among numerous others.

And I ask, which father would compel his family to adjust their feeding standard, eating once a day as against three times, move from a three-bedroom flat to “face me, I face you”, move the children from private school to a public school, only for him to upgrade his personal lifestyle, upgrade his car from pencil light Camry to Range Rover Sport, overhaul his wardrobe, marry a second wife and secure a permanent suite in a prominent hotel while his children are facing their worst form of hunger and deprivation ever? That man is a very wicked father. This has been our unfortunate reality under this dispensation.

The frailties in the Nigerian constitution have brought us this far, and the people whose responsibility it is to perform a major surgical operation on it do not see the urgency, simply because they are direct beneficiaries, sharing the same dining table with the oppressors of the people.

Under the leadership of PBAT, someone who believes you should snatch it, grab it, and run with it, a leader that emerged after the inglorious national glitch and the embarrassing 3am result announcement, doesn’t owe any iota of loyalty to the people because he knows the source of his mandate. Today, that singular indiscretion by a professor has earned us the title of a ‘Disgraced Country’.

Note that it was under the same All Progressives Congress (APC), under PMB, that Nigeria was described as the poverty capital of the world. Today, we have moved up the ladder in the eyes of the global community. Recycling corruption remains an integral part of our problem. Why won’t an incoming governor steal with impunity when he sees that three generations of his corrupt predecessors are walking free, globetrotting and enjoying their stolen wealth, why? Ditto ministers and other political office holders.

The EFCC has, at best, been reduced to an institution used to hunt perceived political enemies of any sitting president, and that is how we are progressing in errors. The sad part of the story is the long list of Nigerians who voluntarily cheer to justify these corrupt leaders on, with the hope that their turn would come to take their share of the national cake.

Why wouldn’t we be a disgraced country? A rich country with a population of about 250 million people, with less than 20 per cent of them living above poverty lines, requires a president with empathy, one who considers the interest of the weakest amongst us in any and every of its national policies and projects.

Not a man that dealt a sucker punch on the people at his inaugural message, plunged them into huge pain and penury without immediate safety nets to cushion the effect, and rather than share in the mood of the situation, he rather went on a spending spree. That is wickedness and an unacceptable standard of leadership because the true power belongs to the people.

On the fight against insecurity, during the run-up to the 2023 general election, after listening to Hajia Najatu Mohammed’s interview on national television, she shared her encounter with PBAT in London, where she said PBAT told her that he wouldn’t want to offend powerful persons in the North; thus, he has no plans against their security problems.

I immediately concluded that if, for any reason, we make the mistake of electing a Bola Tinubu as President, the fight against insecurity will be dead on arrival. And just like I envisaged, it was obvious that the fight against insecurity was treated with kids’ gloves before the almighty tweet from the White House. We have some of the most courageous and brilliant military men and women across the continent.

Criminal elements cannot overwhelm them if they have the matching orders they require to act. So, I never once thought less of the capacity of our military. Then suddenly, with the order from above, the fight against insecurity gained traction, a new breath of life injected into the fight, the almighty invisible terrorists began to scamper for safety, kidnappers are no longer audacious, road trips were without the constant ugly tales, Nigerians enjoyed a very peaceful Christmas. And you ask, where was our sovereignty before now?

Did we need a Donald Trump to reset our military strategy to tackle the menace? No. Our leaders just played politics with the process, and when they saw that the coming of America could consume their politics, they had no option than to square up. To think that it took the tweet from a president of another sovereign nation for us to witness these number of successes is a signal to a stronger danger ahead for our sovereignty.

While PBAT keeps making frantic efforts through numerous other world leaders to secure an audience with the US President, Mr Donald Trump has threatened more strikes if need be. But we might wish to plead with him, in the midst of this, to preserve the most important tweet that would reset our national life in 2027. That tweet should insist on electoral integrity and that our votes must count. He should personally threaten to smoke out electoral offenders, since our political leaders have vowed never to do the right things except they are compelled by stronger forces.

Then, the grace of our nation (the giant of Africa) would return from this current disgrace.

May Nigeria succeed!

Nzeh Frankwhite is a journalist and public affairs analyst

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