By
Nze David N. Ugwu
Introduction: The Art of Political Illusion
Governance in Nigeria has always had a flair for spectacle. But under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it has ascended to a new level — an elaborate performance of smoke and mirrors. Every press release, every economic bulletin, every televised assurance has become part of a carefully staged illusion meant to convince Nigerians that progress is being made, even as the ground beneath them collapses.
In the theatre of governance, “smoke” hides the fire, while “mirrors” distort the image of reality. This administration has mastered both — using controlled narratives, selective statistics, and diversionary policies to mask the true state of the nation. The result is a country where the government proclaims economic rebirth, while citizens experience only hunger, fear, and despair.
The Economy: Prosperity on Paper, Poverty in Reality
Since taking office, Tinubu’s government has made economic reform its signature talking point. The removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate were presented as bold, inevitable steps toward fiscal stability. But as with every illusion, what Nigerians were told and what Nigerians are living through are worlds apart.
The naira, freed from artificial controls, has since lost over 70% of its value. Inflation has soared past 30%. The price of food has tripled. Families that once struggled to make ends meet now struggle simply to eat. Yet the administration insists the pain is “temporary,” a necessary sacrifice for future gain.
It is easy to promise future prosperity when the suffering is borne by others. The government’s economists speak of “macroeconomic realignment” while millions descend into poverty. What they call “adjustment,” Nigerians experience as economic asphyxiation.
And while officials tout the billions “saved” from subsidy removal, no one can point to where those funds have gone. Infrastructure remains decayed. Wages stagnate. Job creation is invisible. The so-called “palliatives” — bags of rice and cash transfers — are political crumbs tossed at a starving populace, while the political class dines on the spoils of reform.
The smoke is the promise of reform. The mirror reflects a false image of progress. The truth is that Nigeria’s economy is being managed by illusion and deceit, not by prudence or productivity.
Insecurity: The Normalization of Fear
No illusion is more dangerous than the claim that Nigeria is now “safer.” The Tinubu administration frequently boasts of improved security coordination, yet daily life tells another story. Bandits still roam the highways. Kidnappers collect ransoms in hard currency. Rural communities are under siege.
In the North, farmers have abandoned their fields for fear of abduction. In the Middle Belt, violence simmers like an open wound. In the South, urban crime and cultism thrive. The state’s monopoly on violence has collapsed — but the official narrative insists that “significant progress” is being made.
When terrorists strike, the government blames “isolated incidents.” When citizens protest, it warns them not to “undermine national security.” The illusion is maintained not by defeating insecurity but by redefining it — by lowering the standard of what safety means.
In the real Nigeria, citizens now travel with dread, pray before leaving home, and whisper gratitude when they return alive. But in the official Nigeria — the Nigeria of press briefings and staged security council meetings — peace reigns and victory is always “just around the corner.”
Corruption: The Perennial Monster Wearing New Perfume
Every administration in Nigeria vows to fight corruption. But under Tinubu, the slogan has been replaced with strategic silence. The old anti-corruption rhetoric has given way to a quiet tolerance for excess, wrapped in the language of pragmatism.
While the poor are told to tighten their belts, public officials move in new convoys, approve bloated budgets, and defend indefensible luxuries. Billions are appropriated for vehicles, renovations, and foreign trips — even as hospitals collapse and schools decay.
Corruption in this government no longer needs to hide. It thrives in plain sight, sanitized by propaganda and protected by political loyalty.
When the president’s close allies are accused of wrongdoing, investigations evaporate. When ordinary Nigerians protest hunger, they are labeled “saboteurs.” The government has turned accountability into heresy, and truth-telling into an act of rebellion.
The mirror here is moral — it reflects righteousness while concealing rot. And the smoke is rhetorical — endless talk about “difficult reforms” meant to distract from systemic looting.
Poverty and Unemployment: A Nation Shrinking Its Future
According to government pronouncements, Nigeria’s economy is “expanding,” and “growth is returning.” But to the 133 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty, these statements sound like a cruel joke.
There are graduates with no jobs, artisans with no customers, civil servants with no purchasing power, and traders watching their capital vanish in the currency storm. The so-called “middle class” — once Nigeria’s fragile buffer — has been wiped out by inflation and taxation.
The youth, meanwhile, are voting with their feet. Thousands risk death across deserts and seas in search of dignity abroad. Their departure is the greatest indictment of this government’s illusion. If things are getting better, why are Nigerians fleeing in record numbers?
Every new economic “initiative” — from student loans to youth investment schemes — is launched with fanfare and media glitter, but dies in bureaucratic opacity. What remains is propaganda, not progress.
The truth is simple: you cannot lift people out of poverty by lying to them.
The Manipulation of Truth: The Government as Magician
The true genius of this administration lies not in economic policy or political reform, but in information control. The government has become an expert illusionist — shaping narratives, suppressing dissent, and flooding the media space with distractions.
When the naira crashes, officials blame “saboteurs.” When protests loom, the presidency releases feel-good statements about “hope renewed.” Every challenge is reframed as an opportunity, every criticism dismissed as “politicization.”
Government spokesmen no longer communicate; they perform. Press conferences have become magic shows — full of numbers no one can verify, promises no one believes, and optimism no one feels.
It is not that Nigerians have lost faith in leadership; leadership has lost faith in truth.
The Burden of Propaganda: A People Left in the Dark
This sustained manipulation has bred a dangerous cynicism. Nigerians no longer believe official data, announcements, or pledges. Even genuine progress — when it happens — is met with suspicion.
When truth becomes negotiable, trust dies. When leaders rely on illusion, governance becomes theatre, not service. The government’s obsession with perception over reality has created a country governed by optics rather than outcomes.
In this atmosphere, even the most patriotic citizens retreat into private survivalism. When the government lies daily, truth itself becomes an act of resistance.
Historical Echoes: The Cycles of Deception
We have seen this before. From the oil boom delusions of the 1970s, to the “anti-corruption wars” of Obasanjo and Buhari, Nigeria’s rulers have perfected the art of governing by illusion.
But the Tinubu era has taken it to new heights — combining the public relations machinery of modern politics with the impunity of old power. This is not governance; it is spectacle — a national hypnosis that dulls outrage and normalizes decline.
What makes this moment tragic is that Nigerians had hoped for something different — for a reformer who would confront the rot, not conceal it behind slogans. Instead, we got another conjurer of illusions, another salesman of hope in an empty bottle.
Conclusion: The Smoke Must Clear
A nation cannot build its future on deceit. You cannot lie your way to development, nor govern by illusion indefinitely. Sooner or later, the smoke dissipates, and the mirrors crack — revealing the face of failure beneath the mask of reform.
President Tinubu’s government must understand that truth is not a threat; it is the foundation of legitimacy. The Nigerian people deserve transparency, not trickery. They deserve leadership, not illusion.
This is a moral moment — a call for leaders to step out of the fog of propaganda and face the reality their citizens live every day.
The time has come for the smoke to clear and for the mirrors to shatter. For behind the dazzling lights and confident speeches lies a simple, haunting truth:
Nigeria is bleeding, and pretending otherwise will not stop the bleeding.
Nze David N. Ugwu is the Managing Consultant of Knowledge Research Consult. He could be reached at [email protected] or +2348037269333.
