06/05/2026
LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA: BETWEEN RECYCLING COMPETENCE AND INCOMPETENCE
_How We Keep Re-electing Yesterday’s Problems To Solve Tomorrow’s Crisis_
_My Take by Comrade Kunle Sodipo_
Nigeria doesn’t have a leadership shortage. Nigeria has a leadership recycling plant.
Every four years we throw the old bottles into the bin, wash them, slap on a new label, and put the same expired content back on the shelf. Then we drink it, get sick, and ask why the water tastes like poison.
This is not governance. This is regifting incompetence with a ribbon and a press conference.
1. THE RECYCLING MACHINE: SAME MEN, NEW TITLES
Watch how it works:
*2003:* A Governor ruins his state for 8 years. 2011: He becomes Senator. 2023: He becomes Minister. 2027: He’s running for President.
*2007:* A Minister is indicted for ₦10B fraud. 2015: He defects to the ruling party. 2024: All cases “disappear”. 2027: He’s now party chairman.
*2019:* A Speaker is caught on video stuffing dollars in his babariga. 2025: He’s now “Elder Statesman” and presidential adviser.
*In sane countries, they retire to farms. In Nigeria, they retire to power.*
We don’t retire failed leaders. We _promote_ them. We don’t prosecute them. We _rebrand_ them. From “Ex-Governor” to “Distinguished Senator”. From “Indicted” to “Honourable”. From “Accused” to “Elder Statesman”.
*Same man. Same file. Same damage. Different office.*
*2. THE BIGGEST LIE: “THERE’S NO COMPETENT ALTERNATIVE”*
Every election season the elite say it with straight faces: _“There’s no one else.”_
*That’s the biggest lie in Nigerian politics.*
There are 220 million Nigerians. There are professors who built systems from scratch. Engineers who designed infrastructure without stealing. Women running ₦500M businesses without cutting corners. Doctors who stayed in Nigeria to save lives for ₦80,000 salary.
But you won’t see them on the ballot. Why?
Because the system is built to lock them out:
- *Party forms cost ₦100M for Senate.* Who has that except the same recycled man who stole it in 1999?
- *Godfathers control delegates.* And godfathers don’t back people who won’t pick their calls at 2am.
- *Media only gives airtime to names they’ve heard since Abacha.*
So we’re left with two options: _Incompetent Man A_ or _Incompetent Man B who defected to the ruling party last Tuesday._
*That’s not democracy. That’s a monopoly of mediocrity.*
*3. THE PRICE: WE’RE RECYCLING OUR PAIN*
Let’s drop the politics and look at the results:
- *Power*: Since 1999 we’ve had 7 Ministers of Power. ₦4 trillion spent. Darkness remains.
- *Security*: Since 2015 we’ve had 4 National Security Advisers. ₦5 trillion spent. Bandits still collect levies.
- *Economy*: Since 1999 we’ve had 8 Finance Ministers. ₦77 trillion debt. Inflation at 33%.
*The faces change. The failure doesn’t.*
A man who failed as Governor now sits in the Senate and approves budgets for governors. A man who supervised a collapsed bridge now chairs the Senate Committee on Works. *It’s like hiring the man who burnt your house to be your fire marshal.*
*4. THE YOUTH TRAP: WE’RE NOW RECYCLING YOUNG INCOMPETENCE*
Don’t think this is only about “old men.”
In 2023 we celebrated “young” politicians. 35-year-old commissioners. 40-year-old senators.
But what did they bring? Same WhatsApp groups. Same godfather loyalty. Same inflated contracts. Same arrogance in different agbada.
*Age is not competence. Youth is not integrity.*
We’ve replaced _old recycled men_ with _young recycled men_. Same empty can. New paint job. Same noise.
*5. THE EXPLOSIVE TRUTH: WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE RECYCLERS*
Here’s the part that stings: *The elite didn’t do this alone. We helped them.*
- We collect ₦2,000 on election day and call it “stomach infrastructure”.
- We shout “our son must win” even when our son can’t write a memo.
- We defend our party man even when he’s looting our children’s future.
*We vote with tribe, not track record. With party, not policy. With sentiment, not substance.*
Then we turn around and say _“Nigeria is bad.”_
*Nigeria is not bad. The leaders we recycle are bad. And we are the ones recycling them.*
*6. BREAK THE CYCLE OR BURY THE COUNTRY*
*To the leaders:* If you governed a state for 8 years and there’s no water, no road, no hospital — _sit down_. Don’t come back as Senator. Go and farm. Go and mentor. Go and pray. The seat is not your inheritance.
*To the parties:* Stop selling forms to the highest bidder. Open primaries. Let party members, not 200 delegates in a hotel, choose candidates. Or watch Nigerians abandon you for a new party in 2027.
*To the youth:* Stop being “youth leader” for ₦50,000. Be the candidate. Run. Lose. Run again. That’s how Thabo Mbeki, Paul Kagame, and even Tinubu started.
*To all of us:*
In 2027, ask three questions before you vote:
1. *What did he do with the last opportunity we gave him?*
2. *What will he do differently now?*
3. *If he fails again, will we recycle him again in 2031?*
If the answer to 1 is “nothing”, 2 is “same thing”, and 3 is “yes” — *then tear the ballot paper.* A blank ballot is better than a wasted mandate.
*FINAL WORD: NIGERIA IS NOT A RECYCLING BIN*
You don’t build a nation by recycling yesterday’s failure. You build it by _producing new leaders_ and _punishing old failures_.
*Singapore didn’t become first world by recycling Lee Kuan Yew’s enemies. They retired them.*
*Rwanda didn’t rise by recycling genocide enablers. They prosecuted them.*
Nigeria will not rise until we say: _“You had your chance. You failed. Next!”_
*The ballot is not a thank-you card for past service. It’s a contract for future performance.*
*2027 is not about “our turn.” It’s about “our turn to get it right.”*
Or we keep recycling incompetence… until Nigeria itself is recycled into the history books as a failed experiment.
_
*Comrade Kunle Sodipo FICSSM, MNIMN, ANIPR*
*Public Affairs & Security Strategist*
*Author, "My Take" — Launching June 25, 2026*

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