Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has placed President Bola Tinubu’s government in the same category as Muhammadu Buhari’s administration—which he describes as the “worst civil administration” in Nigeria’s history—in a scathing assessment published in his new memoir.
In Nigeria: Past and Future, launched to mark his 88th birthday, Obasanjo writes: “Only Bola Tinubu’s administration seems to be competing with Buhari’s for now.”
The book offers a critical review of Nigerian leadership since independence, concluding that Buhari’s tenure (2015–2023) set a troubling standard for governance failures.
Reflecting on Buhari’s earlier criticism of the Shagari government, Obasanjo questions the late president’s consistency: “How do you explain the gulf between what he said then and how he governed later? Maybe those ideas were not his; he just read them as written for him.”
The former President, who uniquely served as both military head of state and elected president, also addressed his own legacy amid accusations of hypocrisy. “I have sat on both sides of the fence,” he writes, adding that his writings aim to inspire national development as he nears death.
Obasanjo’s critique extends beyond individual leaders to systemic governance failures, describing Tinubu’s current policies as repeating past mistakes rather than offering innovative solutions.
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