Prominent Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere has issued a blistering midterm assessment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, describing the last two years as a period of “regressing hopelessness and despair”.
In an issued statement yesterday, signed by the group’s leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, and National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, Afenifere accused the President of monumental failure across all key sectors.
Titled: “President Tinubu Woefully Failed Nigerians – Afenifere Midterm Report”, the document presents a damning critique of the administration’s performance, warning that the country is drifting towards “totalitarianism, mass poverty, and democratic collapse”.
The report identified economic mismanagement as the administration’s most glaring failure. It accuses Tinubu of implementing hasty and unprepared policies—particularly the removal of fuel subsidies and floating of the naira—without adequate measures to cushion the economic blow.
According to figures cited from the IMF and World Bank, Nigeria’s GDP has plummeted from $363.8 billion in 2023 to a projected $188.27 billion in 2025. The group says more than 7 million businesses have shut down since Tinubu took office, while the poverty rate has surged to over 54%, with more than 130 million Nigerians now living in poverty.
“Our GDP per capita is now a mere $806—just a quarter of what it was in 2014,” the report states. “The President’s economic reforms are better described as economic deforms”.
Despite a significant increase in public revenue due to subsidy removal and naira devaluation, Afenifere reported that Nigeria’s public debt has soared, from ₦87.91 trillion in 2023 to a projected ₦187.79 trillion by 2025. In dollar terms, national debt has jumped from $108.23 billion to $142.47 billion.
“This explosion in debt without corresponding improvement in public services or infrastructure is a testament to fiscal recklessness”, the statement reads.
Afenifere also accused Tinubu’s administration of prebendalism—governance driven by favoritism and patronage. The report points to selective wage increases, corrupt palliative distributions, and the allocation of major projects to close allies of the President.
“This is not a Government of the people. It is a Government of the privileged and connected”, the group asserted.
“Contrary to its campaign promises, the Tinubu government is yet to implement the cost-saving Oronsaye Report”, Afenifere noted. Instead, it says, spending has ballooned with luxury purchases like a new presidential jet, high-end vehicles for lawmakers, and lavish constituency project allocations. “They preach austerity to the masses while indulging in a ‘jaiye jaiye’ lifestyle”, the statement said, referring to reckless partying and spending.
The group also raised alarm over worsening insecurity, with over 10,000 Nigerians reportedly killed since 2023 and nearly 1,000 villages destroyed, according to Amnesty International. Afenifere criticized the federal government’s refusal to decentralize policing, calling it a “trade-off of Nigerian lives for political control.”
Additionally, a deepening housing crisis is cited, with over 30 million Nigerians homeless and 108 million in substandard shelters. Yet, the government plans to build only 20,000 homes in 2025—a number Afenifere ridicules as “grossly inadequate.”
On governance, the group accuses Tinubu of centralizing power, undermining the federal structure, and leading Nigeria towards “a one-party dictatorship.” The report cites suppression of protests, intimidation of opposition, and partisan appointments to key institutions as evidence.
Summarizing its position, Afenifere said the last two years under President Tinubu have been “harrowing” for Nigerians. If this were an academic exercise, the group declared, “the student will receive an Advice to Withdraw.”
Nonetheless, Afenifere insists that there is still room for change.
“We urge the President and his choir of mandate seekers to reflect and, for a change, just love Nigeria and Nigerians”, the statement concluded.
