Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the only way to stop President Bola Tinubu from returning to power in 2027 is for citizens to take their fate into their own hands.
Speaking during the launch of the 2025 Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey Report in Abuja, organised by the Africa Polling Institute, Amaechi noted that citizens must go beyond hoping for change and take serious action if they want a different outcome in the next presidential election.
“The only way you can stop Tinubu from being the president of Nigeria in 2027 is to run an election of Nigerians versus the bandits,” he said. “If you think you will just sit down and do that, may God be with you.”
Amaechi criticized Nigerians for only complaining in private, without standing up to challenge those in power. He said those who control the country’s wealth and decisions are few compared to the masses, yet the majority remain passive.
“The elites who are stealing Nigerian money are not up to 100,000 but you have 200 million Nigerians who can fight 100,000 men,” he said. “You sit down in your house and complain and grumble. What makes you think the elites would move their hands completely? Who told you the elites don’t know how you are feeling? They know you are not happy. But you are helpless not because the elites made you helpless, you made yourself helpless.”
He gave examples of citizens in countries like Bangladesh, Peru, and Kenya who forced their leaders out through mass action.
“Go to Bangladesh, right? The day they got tired of that woman, what did they do? They chased her out. Go to, is it Peru or Chile? Nigeria is the most docile society I’ve seen in my life. Please tell me, has there been any revolution without blood? Any revolution without blood is a failure,” he said.
Amaechi also revealed that he once considered leaving the country but his wife convinced him to stay. “I told my wife, I want to Japa like you people do. They will give me official visa to come and stay in their country, any country. She said, no, we can’t leave Nigeria. Because Nigeria is lovable. It’s lovely,” he shared.
Reflecting on the past, he recalled how student and workers’ groups once united for causes. Now, he says, such unity is gone. “There was a joint meeting between ASUU, NLC, and NANS. Where would I go? Who would be president of ASUU? Who would be president of NLC? Who would be president of NANS? So that when NANS spoke, ASUU would give the government one week, and NLC would give two weeks before joining in. Now, NLC can’t even mobilise their people. Why? Ethnicity. I’ve spoken to them before. I even told them, I will join you in the protest. They said they can’t. So, Nigeria is totally collapsed.”
According to him, democracy has failed to ease the burden of citizens, arguing that elected leaders have brought more hardship than military regimes. “We pushed away the military and brought in the politicians. The politicians have shown they are worse than the military,” he added.
He explained that social and economic struggles are closely linked, noting how crime increases when money stops flowing in the economy. “I was once a governor. The moment I see robbery, kidnapping, I know that there is no money in society. So the Commissioner for Finance pays contractors, pays those who are owing. When you pay, what happens? The base is workers. The base is people who are suppliers who are supplying goods. They in turn go to the market. They buy goods. They pay the tailor, they pay the doctor. The money goes around. And then the crime rate will reduce.”
