Author Archives: Ukonu Abasi

President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria came to the United Kingdom for a State visit from 18th to 19th March. This is a historic event as it is the first state visit by a Nigerian leader since 1989, when then military head of state Ibrahim Babangida was received by late Queen Elizabeth II. President Tinubu is the first Nigerian president to receive a state visit since the return of democracy to Nigerian in 1999. Considering the historic relationship of Nigerian and United Kingdom as Nigeria is a former colony, and Nigeria itself as a key player in the African continent and most populous black nation in the world, the visit signals a thawing of relationship between the two nations, which can only be a good thing for the two nations. 

Is it as simple as that? Is it all positive and we can all clap and cheer for this positive move in global geopolitics? No, hold the champagne and let’s examine the implications and the issues that this visit tries to gloss over. The impression that this visit gives is that Nigeria is doing well and that this administration has turned things around for the citizenry. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nigeria is worse off by every measure since the All Progressive Congress (APC) party of Tinubu took over in 2015 under former president Buhari, now late. And since Tinubu himself took over in 2023, things have gotten even worse; terrorism has continued to rise, kidnapping, banditry, economonic hardship, corruption and mismanagement of resources have all become all too common, to the point of being routine in Nigeria. Nigeria has always been known as a corrupt nation; it was former PM David Cameron who famously said that Nigeria was fantastically corrupt under Buhari’s APC administration, but it would now be argued that the government under Tinubu has made corruption under Buhari seem like a dress rehearsal.