My dear uncle BOLA,
Lend me your wisdom, intellect, and sense of history: just tell Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to start what he cannot finish.
When Nafiu Bala resigned, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) formally acknowledged his letter on 10 October 2025. When Bala first went to court, INEC itself filed a counter-affidavit and attached that same resignation letter. It is deeply troubling that the very institution entrusted with safeguarding our democracy now appears to be acting in ways that embolden those whose politics thrive on manipulation and disorder.
To those applauding this unfolding madness, remember: no single individual can take Nigeria for granted. Not Ibrahim Babangida, not Sani Abacha, not even Olusegun Obasanjo. Certainly, Tinubu cannot.
History is not silent on these matters. The weakening of institutions under the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), alongside the deeply controversial 1965 Western Region election crisis, ignited Operation Wetie—a period of chaos, violence, and destruction across the South-West. That era earned its grim nickname: the “Wild, Wild West.” These are not distant stories; they are warnings written in blood and memory.
Again, in 1983, the actions of Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) during the 1983 Ondo State gubernatorial election—when Chief Akin Omoboriowo of the NPN was controversially declared winner—sparked widespread riots, destruction of lives and property, and a complete breakdown of order in Ondo State. That crisis was among the factors that paved the way for military intervention and the eventual rise of the 1983 Nigerian military coup.
To those praising Tinubu today, understand this: blind loyalty does not serve him, nor the nation. What Nigeria needs now is honest counsel, not applause. Recall how Obafemi Awolowo advised Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in 1962, during the tense debates over emergency rule in the West: “Do not start a fire you cannot quench.”
That counsel remains timeless.
This fire that Tinubu appears ready to ignite—he may not be able to withstand it, let alone extinguish it.
History has shown us the cost of political recklessness. Nigeria cannot afford to relearn these lessons the hard way.
