In an unexpected move that echoed his days as a pro-democracy activist, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in Abuja called on Nigerians to turn their gaze toward state governors and demand accountability. Receiving a delegation of traditional rulers from Oyo State, led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, the President used the moment to urge citizens to assess the performance of their governors, pointing out that many states have been receiving vastly increased federal allocations yet have failed to translate those funds into tangible development.
Tinubu's remarks were striking in their directness. He did not confine himself to pleasantries with the monarchs but instead switched into a familiar mode of civic agitation. He tasked citizens across the country to evaluate whether their governors are truly serving the people, and he hinted that some states are making good use of federal money while others are bottlenecking the resources meant for development. The President also took a swipe at showpiece infrastructure projects, saying governors should "stop building flyovers where there is no numeric traffic."
A President in Activist Mode
The significance of Tinubu's intervention lies in its direction. Nigerian democracy has long suffered from a one-dimensional accountability system in which all scrutiny points toward Abuja, while state governments operate with far less oversight. By encouraging citizens to interrogate their governors, Tinubu is pushing accountability downward, past the federal capital, into the state houses where billions of naira are allocated and spent with limited public audit.
According to the President, states today receive four to five times more federal allocations than they did two decades ago, when both he and Ladoja were serving as governors. That fact alone strips governors of the fiscal excuse they have often used to explain poor performance. The era of blaming the federal government for every local failure is over, the President seemed to be saying.
The Cost of Failing to Deliver
The consequences of governance failure are not abstract statistics. Millions of Nigerians endure daily hardships that are directly linked to state-level decisions. Roads that connect farms to markets remain impassable, preventing farmers from selling their produce and pushing up food prices. Primary healthcare centres struggle with basic equipment and personnel, so treatable illnesses become life-threatening. Public schools continue to deteriorate, depriving children of quality education and widening inequality.
Rural communities are especially vulnerable. Poor access roads mean security agencies cannot respond quickly to distress calls, leaving villages exposed to banditry and other crimes. Medical emergencies such as seizures often go unattended because there are no ambulances at the community level. Water systems fail, drainage collapses after modest rainfall, and youth unemployment remains painfully high. These are not natural phenomena; they are the outcomes of choices made by those who control state budgets.
Judging Governors by the Right Standard
Tinubu's admonition invites a fundamental question: what should citizens expect from their governors? The most successful governments do not build monuments to themselves. They build systems that make everyday life easier for ordinary people. A road that enables farmers to move produce efficiently may generate greater economic value than a billion-naira interchange erected where traffic hardly exists. A functional primary health centre may save more lives than another ceremonial commissioning. Investments in rural roads, water supply, drainage, schools and public safety often produce broader economic returns than projects designed primarily for political visibility.
That is the standard by which governors should now be evaluated. For every major project announced by a state government, citizens must ask basic but important questions: Was this the community's greatest need? What measurable economic benefit will it produce? How many jobs will it create? Will it reduce travel time, improve productivity, strengthen security or expand access to healthcare and education? Could the same resources have delivered greater public value elsewhere? These are not opposition questions; they are democratic questions. Accountability is not hostility; it is citizenship.
An Assignment for Every Citizen
Tinubu should not treat this as a one-off outburst of frustration. He should institutionalise it. He should do more in town halls with language a trader in Bodija and Agege market can understand, and not limit such engagements to election periods. Transparency offered once, in a moment of pique, is theatre. Transparency offered as policy is accountability.
Here, then, is the assignment for every Nigerian watching a flyover rise over an empty road in their state: ask who authorised it, what it cost, and what did not get built because of it. Ask your governor to publish where the FAAC allocations went, month by month. Ask whether the choices made in your state capital are protecting your family or merely decorating a skyline for the next campaign poster. This is not cynicism. It is the ordinary duty of care a citizen owes to their future.
Roosevelt's Fireside Lesson
There is precedent for this kind of presidential intervention, one that forces citizens to confront their state leadership. On 7 May 1933, in his second fireside chat, America's President Franklin D Roosevelt sat before a radio and, in plain, unhurried English, explained to ordinary Americans how the Federal Emergency Relief Administration would actually work. He spoke about how the money would move, what the states were expected to do with it, and why the programme existed at all. It was a masterclass in demystifying government. And it armed citizens to ask their governors and mayors an uncomfortable question: “If Washington sent the relief, why isn't it reaching me?”
Nigerians should recognise the parallel. When the centre makes the mechanics of governance visible, citizens can follow the naira, the mandate and the arithmetic of allocation. It becomes far harder for governors to hide behind vagueness. That is the gift buried inside Thursday's remarks. Use it.
A Responsibility for the President Too
However, Tinubu's remarks should not become a licence for partisan attacks on governors. The President's observation should instead encourage evidence-based public engagement. The President, too, has a responsibility arising from his remarks. He should keep talking and explaining. In the end, regular public conversations from the president that distinguish federal responsibilities from those of the states would deepen democratic literacy and strengthen public oversight.
Nigerians are ready to ask the question. They are simply waiting for the allocation receipts.
