Country of Recycled Leadership: A Review of IBB’s A Journey in Service

By Comrade Adedoyin Olakunle

At the launch of IBB: A Journey in Service, it became evident to the public that Nigeria’s leadership, for over 60 years, has remained in the same cycle—leaders recycling themselves, sharing the power formula amongst themselves like a game of chess where the masses are mere pawns. Maybe we are just pawns. The bitter truth is we have always being a pawn, sorry to say.

From the military juntas to the so-called democratic regimes, one truth stands tall: power in Nigeria has always been about personal interest, not national progress.

The book lays it bare—our leaders have been fixated on sustaining control rather than building a truly prosperous nation. Babangida himself, in his narrative, justifies the annulment of the 1993 election in the name of ‘national interest,’ yet, three decades later, the nation still bleeds from that singular act. Was that truly in our collective interest? Or in the interest of a select few who continue to benefit from the …?

The question remains: Should we not have gotten it right by now? They say politics is not about morality but about interest. But when has the future of Nigeria ever truly been an interest to these leaders?

Dear Leaders, Compatriots, Great Men and Women, and the Ever-Gallant Nigerian Youth, This is a call for sober reflection. The future of this great nation is now in our hands. We must rise beyond the selfish ambitions that have held us back. The interest that should bind us is not one of personal gain but of collective prosperity.

As IBB detailed in his book, the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) was meant to transform the economy, yet it impoverished millions. His administration crafted transition after transition, only to end in another round of recycled leadership.

If the leaders of the past had genuinely sought the good of Nigeria, would we still be here? Should a country so rich in natural and human resources still be begging for stability? We cannot continue to hate the past, but we must engage it critically. We must dialogue our way into a new order and be brutally serious about reclaiming Nigeria from the hands of political gluttons.

The change we seek will not come easy. Saying NO to the juicy, ego-driven, and non-vital policies that favor only a few will be tough. But those who have connected themselves to the root of the demons we fight must be confronted, not with hate, but with the truth.

Nigeria is ours to save, and no place is like home.

I submit.