Jonathan Had “Before It Is Too Late.” Buhari Had “I Am Very Worried.” What Does Tinubu Have?
In Nigeria, presidential accountability has often depended less on institutions and more on personalities.
Few personalities have been more prominent in that tradition than former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
When Obasanjo believes a government is taking the country in the wrong direction, he has demonstrated repeatedly that he is prepared to say so—and, importantly, put it in writing.
President Goodluck Jonathan received “Before It Is Too Late.”
President Muhammadu Buhari received “The Way Out,” “Points for Concern and Action,” and “I Am Very Worried.”
Those interventions became part of Nigeria’s political record.
So, as the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration moves deeper into its tenure, a legitimate question deserves to be asked:
To be clear, Obasanjo has not been silent on Tinubu.
He has criticised aspects of the administration. In May 2024, for example, he said the removal of fuel subsidy and exchange-rate reforms were necessary but wrongly implemented, arguing that their execution had contributed to the impoverishment of Nigerians.
He has also made other interventions concerning the administration.
So the issue is not silence.
The issue is the scale, consistency and force of accountability.
President Tinubu inherited a country facing enormous structural problems.
But inheritance is not immunity.
His government made consequential choices: removing the petrol subsidy, changing the foreign-exchange regime and pursuing a range of fiscal, tax, social and economic reforms.
Those decisions deserve scrutiny on their own merits.
The government’s position is that many of these reforms are necessary to correct longstanding distortions and place the economy on a more sustainable footing.
That argument deserves to be heard.
But accountability demands more than explanations.
It demands answers:
What was promised?
What has been delivered?
Who has benefited?
Who has borne the cost?
What has failed?
And what is government prepared to change when a policy produces unintended consequences?
These are not opposition questions.
They are democratic questions.
This is where Obasanjo’s role becomes particularly significant.
If he sees a policy that requires correction, Nigerians should expect him to say so plainly.
If he believes reforms are necessary but badly implemented, he can explain what should have been done differently.
If he believes the administration is making measurable progress, he can acknowledge that too.
That is the value of an elder statesman’s intervention:
not applause, not condemnation—but scrutiny.
And the standard should not change because the President is Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Nor should it change because Obasanjo and Tinubu share a long and complicated political history.
Accountability must be bigger than personal relationships.
But accountability cannot be demanded only from Obasanjo.
The Tinubu administration also has a responsibility to engage legitimate criticism with evidence rather than simply pointing to the failures of previous governments.
A previous administration’s failure does not automatically justify a present government’s failure.
And criticism from a former President does not automatically make that criticism correct.
The proper test is simpler:
Evidence. Transparency. Measurable outcomes. Institutional accountability.
That is the standard Nigeria should demand from everyone who exercises public power—and from everyone who claims the authority to judge it.
Obasanjo once warned Jonathan:
“Before It Is Too Late.”
He told Buhari:
“The Way Out.”
And later declared:
“I Am Very Worried.”
The Tinubu presidency now has its own record to defend.
Nigeria does not need Obasanjo to become Tinubu’s enemy.
It does not need him to become Tinubu’s defender either.
It needs the former President to apply the same principle he has demonstrated before:
Tell power the truth.
And President Tinubu must answer for the choices made under his watch—not merely for the failures inherited from those who came before him.
That is the real test of accountability.
The question is no longer whether Obasanjo has a letter for Tinubu.
The question is whether Nigeria’s political class is prepared to hold every government to the same standard.
— THE PRESS NIGERIA
