By Musa Bakare
The 2026 primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not merely an internal party exercise. It has shaped up to become a national referendum on courage, reform, stability, and the future direction of Nigeria itself.
At the center of that political trajectory stands Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a leader who came into office fully aware that Nigeria’s deepest problems were not created overnight and could never be solved through cowardice, propaganda, or populist deception.
President Tinubu did not come to preserve a broken order; he came to dismantle it.
For decades, Nigeria operated under a dangerous political culture where leaders protected dysfunction because dysfunction enriched entrenched interests.
Previous administrations avoided difficult decisions, recycled excuses, and mortgaged the future of millions simply to preserve temporary political comfort.
Fuel subsidy became one of the largest organized economic scams on the African continent, draining national resources while enriching a cartel of profiteers.
The naira became vulnerable to manipulation by speculators feeding off institutional weakness. Local governments were reduced to political prisoners, denied genuine financial autonomy and grassroots effectiveness. Tax structures remained outdated and hostile to productivity, while corruption expanded like an unchecked virus.
Electricity reforms consumed billions, yet darkness remained the daily reality of ordinary Nigerians.
Nigeria became trapped in a carefully engineered system where confusion was normalized as policy and poverty became political capital.
Then came Jagaban.
He arrived not with fear. Not with hesitation. But with the political will to confront realities previous administrations merely discussed in speeches, committees, and conferences.
What many leaders before him avoided for decades, President Tinubu confronted from his very first day in office.
That is the true definition of leadership.
Leadership is not measured by applause during easy moments. It is measured by the courage to make difficult decisions capable of securing the future, even when those decisions are temporarily unpopular.
President Tinubu understands what many weak politicians never understood: no nation rises by protecting failure. Nations rise when leaders are bold enough to dismantle destructive systems and rebuild stronger institutions.
That is precisely what the APC administration under the stewardship of Asiwaju Tinubu is achieving, and that is why the party continues to rally behind his leadership ahead of 2027.
Under President Tinubu, Nigeria is witnessing the deliberate dismantling of an old political order built on subsidy dependency, economic manipulation, institutional confusion, and elite exploitation.
For the first time, Nigeria has a president willing to challenge entrenched interests without trembling before political blackmail.
A president governing not through panic, but through vision.
A strategist who understands both power and governance.
While critics and opposition figures scream endlessly, Asiwaju Tinubu continues building.
The subsidy reforms, fiscal restructuring, the push for local government autonomy, aggressive revenue reforms, renewed seriousness around infrastructure, and the gradual restoration of institutional coordination are not the actions of a weak administration. They are the actions of a government attempting to reset the very foundation of the Nigerian state.
And that reality terrifies the opposition ahead of 2027.
Because the opposition thrived in the old Nigeria: a weak Nigeria, a confused Nigeria, a subsidy addicted Nigeria, a politically unstable Nigeria where institutions remained weak enough to manipulate and poverty remained useful during elections.
President Tinubu is disrupting that entire ecosystem.
That is why the attacks against him from opposition forces and a handful of uninformed critics have grown louder, more emotional, and increasingly desperate as 2027 approaches.
History has never been kind to transformational leaders during periods of reform.
The world’s greatest reformers were criticized while rebuilding broken systems. Visionary leadership often appears uncomfortable before victory becomes undeniable.
President Tinubu understands this reality perfectly.
That is why he remains focused not on noise, but on legacy. Focused on rebuilding state capacity. Focused on ensuring Nigeria never again becomes hostage to political opportunists surviving solely on ethnic manipulation, empty populism, propaganda, or emotional blackmail.
Under Asiwaju Tinubu, governance is returning to strategy, coordination, structure, and competence.
The era of accidental leadership is being challenged aggressively.
The era of failure without accountability is coming to an end.
This is why the 2026 APC presidential primary carries enormous significance. It will not simply determine the presidential candidate of the APC. It will determine whether Nigeria continues on the difficult but necessary path of structural rebuilding or returns to the dangerous politics of cosmetic leadership and national deception.
Within the APC itself, confidence ahead of 2027 continues to grow because many party faithful understand the larger picture.
They see in Asiwaju Tinubu a president willing to absorb political heat today so that future generations can inherit a stronger country tomorrow.
They see a leader laying foundations, not decorating ruins.
The 2027 election, therefore, will not merely be about personalities.
It will be about direction.
About whether Nigerians choose reform over regression, structure over chaos, courage over convenience, and vision over propaganda.
Whether critics and opposition figures admit it or not, one reality is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not merely governing Nigeria, he is redefining its political and economic destiny for generations beyond 2031.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a Founding Member of APC and Political Analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi state.
