Former presidential aide and prominent journalist Laolu Akande has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rise above the performance of his predecessors and leave a legacy of trust and transformation for Nigerians
He said this while speaking as a guest on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily Thursday. He was asked to comment on Monday’s Presidential Media Chat.
“The president must understand that he has an obligation to be the best president Nigeria has ever had. If he does anything below that, it’s a disappointment to his pedigree,” he stated.
Reflecting on Tinubu’s past achievements as Lagos State governor and his experience as an opposition politician in the country, Akande expressed high expectations for Tinubu’s presidency.
“When they asked him about corruption, his response was lackadaisical. The president must understand the corrosive nature of corruption—it’s not just financial. It’s in our moral attitude and what we have become as a people.
“Providing loans to university students is an excellent programme, but that is not how we are going to fight corruption,” Akande noted.
While acknowledging the president’s confidence during the media chat, Akande pointed out a critical shortfall: the inability to instill trust in the people.
He called on Tinubu to engage Nigerians more and demonstrate a genuine connection with their struggles.
“He must speak not only as a confident politician but as a Nigerian who had been out there in the trenches with the people. He hasn’t been able to do that so far,” Akande submitted.
Asked what Nigerians can look forward to next year, he responded.
“Nigerians should go into the New Year with a new mindset. Namely, we should stop expecting ‘salvation from the political process’. Our salvation is not going to come from the political process. We will have to compel the situation that we want on the political process,” Akande said.
According to him, the time for passive engagement is over. He called for greater public involvement in the civic process, stressing that real change can only come from sustained public discourse by the people, beyond what he described as “arm-chair” analysis.
He urged Nigerians to be more assertive.
“We are not making requests from those who are in government. But we are asserting the fact that the existence of government is at our behest. The government exists because we produce it,” he explained.
“Many people don’t get involved in the civic process. People have to move into that realm. Otherwise, we will remain in an armchair analysis situation, talking about issues in our little corners. We need to move the conversations to the public space.”
Akande emphasized the importance of media as a critical tool for change, likening it to a “village meeting place” where collective aspirations can be aired and refined. He challenged Nigerians to raise their expectations and advocate for better governance.
“Whenever somebody in government does something little, there is a lot of cheer,” he said. “If you look at Nigerians very well, they are not asking for too much. We need to begin to change the conversation in public spaces to say that ‘This is the kind of Nigeria that we must have. And we will not accept anything less.’”
Addressing concerns about criticisms of government leadership being equated with “demarketing” Nigeria, Akande highlighted the need for wisdom and discernment.
“There is no use demarketing our country at all. People shouldn’t equate criticism of leaders in government today with criticism of Nigeria. These leaders are just in charge for a limited time, maximum – eight years,” Akande remarked.
“What is the use of running your country down? It’s completely useless. But we can begin to find new ways to hold leadership accountable, starting from our narratives.”
Akande praised the resilience of the Nigerian people in the face of challenges.
“The stories of people like Lookman Ademola who, even though was born in the United Kingdom and he’s actually a citizen of that country, chose to wear the Nigerian flag and say ‘I am a Nigerian’. Stories like that are the things that I find very inspiring. And it encourages me that this country is going to be great,” the former Tribune editor noted.
