The Oil Boom That Failed to Transform Nigeria

If elections are increasingly characterized by declining voter turnout, vote buying, patronage and distrust in electoral administration, should everyone have the right to vote? It is an uncomfortable question, but one worth asking as Nigeria’s Fourth Republic approaches three decades. 

Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999, civil society organizations have become central to its health system, delivering services while advocating for policy change. The 2027 elections will test whether two decades of institution-building have translated into real political influence for health CSOs. 

As President Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila has become one of the most influential figures in Nigeria’s presidency, despite holding no elected office. His rise to the heart of government reflects the enduring importance of political networks in Nigerian politics. It also raises broader questions about the power and influence of unelected officials in a democracy. 

As Nigerian governors become increasingly powerful political actors, the question is whether their growing influence will strengthen Nigerian federalism or simply replace federal centralization with gubernatorial dominance. 

Nigerian politics does not lack ideology. Instead, the problem is that one ideology has become so dominant that we have stopped seeing it.