By Musa Bakare
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 presidential election, Nigerians must resist the temptation to compare President Bola Ahmed Tinubu superficially with Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and the other presidential contenders.
The real question is not who speaks the loudest, who commands the biggest social-media following, or who makes the most attractive promises.
The question is: Who has demonstrated the capacity, courage, experience and political architecture required to move Nigeria forward?
Politics, like life, is not a race in which every participant must travel the same road, at the same speed, or arrive at the same destination at the same time. History does not reward imitation; it rewards results.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited a difficult economic situation and chose the path of structural reform rather than cosmetic governance.
A nation cannot build a stronger economic foundation by endlessly postponing difficult decisions.
Nigerians should examine every alternative with the utmost seriousness.
Atiku Abubakar is an experienced politician and former vice president, but experience alone cannot be the sole qualification for 2027.
Nigerians must ask what fundamentally different economic and institutional architecture he proposes to implement, and how his political coalition would translate campaign promises into measurable national transformation.
Peter Obi has built a considerable political following, particularly among young Nigerians. Enthusiasm, however, is not the same thing as governing capacity.
A presidential election is ultimately a choice about who can govern a complex federation, not merely who can inspire a movement.
The 2027 election should become a referendum on capacity, records, policies, character, experience, coalition-building and results.
President Tinubu’s strongest argument is not that his administration is perfect. It is that he has demonstrated a willingness to confront problems previous governments repeatedly postponed.
Many Nigerians says the reforms are laying the foundations for a more productive economy, stronger domestic revenue mobilisation and greater investment.
That case deserves to be tested against evidence, not propaganda.
The opposition also has every right to criticise the government. Indeed, criticism is indispensable to democracy. But criticism must come with credible alternatives. It is easy to say what is wrong; leadership is demonstrated by showing Nigerians what you would do differently, how you would finance it, how you would implement it and how Nigerians would measure success.
Nations do not progress by perpetually restarting. Nigeria has changed governments many times. What Nigeria needs in 2027 is continuity where policies are working, correction where they are failing, and acceleration where progress is possible.
As 2027 approaches, Nigerians should not ask merely: Who is more popular?
They should ask:
Who has the experience?
Who has the courage to make difficult decisions?
Who understands Nigeria’s political and economic complexity?
Who has built durable institutions and coalitions?
Who has a realistic roadmap?
Who can unite the country beyond social-media tribes?
And, most importantly, who can take Nigeria from today’s difficulties to tomorrow’s prosperity? That is the real contest.
In 2027, Nigerians must choose not simply between personalities, but between competing visions of Nigeria’s future.
Let’s not compare journeys blindly. Compare records. Compare capacity. Compare policies. Compare results. Then decide.
TINUBU TILL 2031.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, a member of TSG, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.
