Olu Allen
Nigeria deserves better than what both the government and the opposition are serving us.
As 2027 draws closer, our politics is beginning to look less like a contest of ideas and more like a contest of lobbyists. One side is accused of hiring foreign consultants to polish its image.
The other is hiring foreign lobbyists to dig up damaging information about its opponent.
Whichever side you support, one thing should disturb all of us: why is so much political energy being spent in Washington when the real election will be decided in Nigeria?
Let’s call this what it is.
It is a distraction.
Governance is the only image laundering that works
If reports that public money was spent on foreign lobbying are true, Nigerians have every right to be angry.
No American public relations firm can explain away hunger.
No lobbyist can convince Nigerians that electricity has improved when factories still depend on generators.
No glossy report can make food cheaper in the market.
Government does not build its reputation in Washington.
It builds it in Kano, Aba, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt and every community where citizens judge leadership by what they experience, not by what they read in foreign newspapers.
Good governance has always been the best public relations strategy.
The opposition should sell hope, not headlines
The opposition also needs to rethink its priorities.
If your biggest campaign strategy is reopening old FBI files or chasing foreign headlines, you are allowing your opponent to define the debate.
Nigerians already know the country’s problems.
What they want to hear is your solution.
How will you reduce inflation?
How will you create jobs?
How will you fix electricity?
How will you strengthen the naira?
How will you make food affordable?
That is the conversation Nigerians deserve.
Enough of the hypocrisy
What is even more disappointing is the hypocrisy.
When one camp hires foreign lobbyists, it calls it patriotism.
When the other does the same thing, it suddenly becomes foreign interference.
Both cannot be right.
Either foreign lobbying has no place in our politics, or everyone should stop pretending that only their opponents are guilty.
Principles should not change because political interests change.
Bring the contest back home
The road to Aso Rock does not pass through Washington.
It passes through the farms of Benue.
The markets of Onitsha.
The factories of Aba.
The streets of Kano.
The fishing communities of Bayelsa.
The classrooms in Sokoto.
The votes that matter will not be cast by American lobbyists.
They will be cast by Nigerians who wake up every morning wondering how to survive another day.
That is where both the government and the opposition should be investing their time and resources.
Final word
Nigeria has never lacked politicians who know how to manage perception.
What we lack are leaders who understand that perception follows performance.
If the government wants international respect, let it govern well.
If the opposition wants power, let it present a better plan.
The only endorsement that truly matters is not the one that comes from Washington.
It is the one that comes from a Nigerian who can feed his family, run a business without diesel, travel safely, and look to the future with confidence.
Until then, this race for foreign approval is nothing more than expensive political theatre.
Stop laundering images.
Start governing.
Allen writes on public affairs and advocates for good governance.
