“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.”
We start with the well-known first stanza of Robert Frost’s iconic poem, ‘The Road Not Taken.’ With 2026 already upon us, Nigeria itself stands at a crossroads, contemplating which path it must take in transitioning into full nationhood and its accompanying national ethos.
Perhaps we should take the road we have avoided for the past six decades; if we do, it may finally yield the much-needed difference. The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, by strategic design, has chosen the path less trodden and largely ignored by past governments. Many of these reforms will be validated in the coming decades as truly game-changing.
The stabilization of the foreign exchange market, in particular, is a game-changer. It sends encouraging signals regarding the restoration of fiscal stability – the vital ingredient for attracting ‘patient’ capital as opposed to fly-by-night ‘hot money’ portfolio investments. This is a significant gain!
In addition, despite the expected resistance, the reforms spearheaded by Zacch Adelabu Adedeji in the tax sector are another example of a sensible government initiative to embark on a positive path. Leaving aside partisan politics, this is precisely what should be expected of a reformist administration.
In the motto of the elite British SAS, ‘Who Dares Wins.’ On several fronts, leaving the initial pains aside, the government has dared and is winning. However, the communication of these positive gains must be recalibrated to emphasize that the benefits are real and already yielding a trickle-down effect. The communications strategy must answer the fundamental question: ‘How has this benefited me and my family?’ The answer must be succinct and convincing to the man and woman in the ‘Korope’, the markets, and the farms across the various ecosystems and focus groups within the six geopolitical zones.
In the pre-election year of 2026, this has become the decisive battleground. It is a pivotal crossroads because, as the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci observed, the true essence of politics lies in the ‘war of position’ – the strategic effort to shift the very terrain of public debate in favour of one’s own vision. In light of this, the government must harness every instrument of influence to secure this intellectual ground, following the blueprint of arguably the most astute political theorist since Niccolò Machiavelli.
Gramsci is famously associated with pioneering the concept of ‘Cultural Hegemony.’ This theory finds profound applicability in a nation so multi-ethnic and multicultural – a landscape defined by a myriad of languages, mores, and traditions, and situated at varying levels of development where no universal consensus on the definition of “progress” exists. The communications strategy must be anchored in these lived realities. If the government can master this alignment, it will, in my considered opinion, achieve a position of unassailable political and moral authority.
Across the board, Nigeria must slay its demons. We find ourselves returning yet again to the illuminating thought of Antonio Gramsci. Observing the chaos of Italy in his time, Gramsci noted: “The crisis lies in the inability to jettison a system of social and economic relationships which have clearly failed. For this reason, a new society cannot be born; in the interregnum, all manner of morbid symptoms unleash themselves – we are in the age of monsters.”
In plain terms, the historic burden on Tinubu is to be the iconoclast who finally crushes the spirits of insecurity, mass poverty, and institutional decay. These interwoven challenges have stood as a barricade, stalling Nigeria while peers like India, Brazil and Singapore took their giant strides. Tinubu must be more than a reformer; he must be the architect and the builder of a reinvigorated Nigeria.
To borrow from the wisdom of Frantz Fanon, every generation – and indeed every leader – has a historic mission that must either be fulfilled or betrayed. President Tinubu possesses the intellectual depth, the economic foresight, and the political grit to see this mission through. Putting it succinctly therefore, how his administration treads across the minefields of 2026 will ultimately decide whether his name is etched in the halls of greatness or lost to the footnotes of time.
These hurdles require more than raw power; they demand tactical mastery. In this arena, Tinubu stands on firm ground. The fractured opposition has yet to produce a rival capable of grasping such complexities, let alone one with the seasoned political instincts of the Jagaban of Borgu.
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