Nigeria at 66: The Changing Character of Its Politics

As Nigeria marks 66 years of independence, Jonathan Eze examines the country’s turbulent journey, the changing character of its politics and the difficult choices that will determine whether the promise of independence can finally be translated into prosperity, stability and national confidence.

On October 1, 1960, Nigeria inherited the sovereignty for which generations of nationalists had agitated. Sixty-six years later, the question is no longer whether Nigeria can survive. It has survived wars, coups, economic crises, political upheavals and democratic reversals. It has endured moments when its very existence appeared precarious and yet emerged, sometimes battered but remarkably resilient.

The more consequential question now is whether survival can be converted into transformation.

That is the uncomfortable paradox of Nigeria at 66. The country possesses enormous human and natural resources, a youthful population, a formidable entrepreneurial spirit and considerable influence within Africa. Yet millions of its citizens continue to contend with poverty, insecurity, unemployment, inadequate infrastructure and declining purchasing power.

Nigeria’s anniversary, therefore, ought to be more than another ceremonial occasion punctuated by patriotic speeches. It should provoke a serious interrogation of the national journey: what was inherited, what was lost, what was achieved, what went wrong and what must change if the next generation is to inherit a country more confident than the one it received.

Nigeria We Inherited

The founding generation left behind a complicated inheritance: a vast territory, considerable agricultural and mineral wealth, a growing population and a society divided by geography, language, ethnicity and religion.

The challenge was never merely to govern this territory. It was to forge a political community out of its diversity.

Nigeria’s First Republic attempted that difficult task under a parliamentary system, with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe as Governor-General, before the country became a republic in 1963 with Azikiwe as President.

But political competition soon became increasingly regional and ethnic in character. The crisis eventually produced the military coups of 1966, followed by a counter-coup, civil war and years of military rule.

That period left an enduring lesson. When institutions are too weak to mediate political competition, elections can become existential contests. Political opponents cease to be merely opponents; control of government becomes synonymous with access to the state itself.

Much of Nigeria’s subsequent political history can be understood against that background.

Military Years and Architecture of State

Nigeria’s military era cannot reasonably be compressed into a single verdict. Its different administrations left different legacies.

Yakubu Gowon’s government confronted the enormous task of rebuilding after the civil war. Murtala Muhammed brought a forceful reformist disposition to government before his assassination in 1976. Olusegun Obasanjo subsequently completed the transition programme that returned Nigeria to civilian rule in 1979.

The military governments that followed brought centralisation and authoritarianism, but they also shaped many of the administrative structures through which the Nigerian state continues to function.

The country eventually returned to civilian government in 1999 carrying the accumulated weight of military rule, political instability and institutional fragility.

Democracy’s Long Test

The return to democracy in 1999 was not simply another transfer of power. It was an attempt to make constitutional government a permanent feature of Nigerian political life.

Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration confronted debt, economic restructuring and the challenge of rebuilding institutions after years of military rule. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua placed considerable emphasis on the rule of law and his Seven-Point Agenda before his administration was cut short by illness and death.

Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency was marked by political and security challenges, but his administration also presided over the 2015 general election, during which an incumbent president conceded defeat to an opposition candidate. That episode became one of the notable moments in Nigeria’s democratic experience.

Muhammadu Buhari’s two terms placed considerable emphasis on anti-corruption, security and infrastructure while confronting economic difficulties, falling oil revenues and other structural problems.

Yet one weakness has persisted across administrations: too much of Nigeria’s development has remained tied to the personality and priorities of individual leaders.

Policies are introduced, renamed, abandoned or redesigned with changes of government. Institutions struggle to preserve continuity. National development consequently becomes episodic rather than cumstand

Nigeria too often begins again.

Tinubu and Politics of Structural Adjustment

President Bola Tinubu inherited a difficult economic environment in 2023 and embarked on reforms that included the removal of the petrol subsidy and changes to foreign-exchange arrangements.

The reforms have produced sharply different assessments.

The Federal Government has defended them as necessary steps to correct structural weaknesses and establish a more sustainable economic foundation.

Critics, meanwhile, have concentrated on their immediate effect on households, particularly the rising cost of food, transportation and other essentials.

The International Monetary Fund’s June, 2026 assessment acknowledged improved macroeconomic outcomes and greater resilience following the reforms, while noting that conditions remained difficult for many Nigerians. It projected real GDP growth of 4.1 per cent for 2026.

That distinction deserves attention.

An economy can improve at the macro level while households remain under severe pressure. Better fiscal numbers do not automatically translate into cheaper food, affordable housing, reliable electricity or better healthcare.

The real measure of economic reform must ultimately be its capacity to expand production, create jobs, attract investment and improve the material circumstances of citizens.

The Federal Government has increasingly framed the next phase of its programme around production, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, enterprise, jobs and improved living standards.

That is where the political argument will eventually be settled, not merely in statistics or speeches, but in whether Nigerians can feel a meaningful improvement in their daily lives.

Nigeria’s Political Season Has Arrived Early

Nigeria is already entering the political atmosphere of the 2027 general election.

Political parties are reorganising. Alliances are shifting. Presidential ambitions are becoming more visible. Incumbents are defending their records while opposition forces are developing alternative narratives.

An August 2026 assessment by the International Republican Institute described Nigeria’s political environment as characterised by greater consolidation around the governing APC, weakening of the PDP and continuing fragmentation and realignment among opposition forces. It also identified economic hardship, insecurity and declining confidence in political institutions as significant challenges.

The importance of 2027 therefore extends beyond the personalities seeking office.

It will provide another major test of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and of the country’s evolving political choices.

But the quality of the election will depend considerably on the quality of the conversation surrounding it.

Nigeria deserves an electoral discourse that goes beyond the familiar language of ethnicity, religion, personality and political mobilisation. Questions of electricity, security, education, healthcare, agriculture, jobs, technology, productivity, constitutional reform and institutional accountability should occupy the centre of national debate.

Campaigns will come and go. Nigeria will remain.

Real Battle Is Beyond 2027

There is a tendency in Nigerian politics to treat every election as if it were a final destination. It is not.

The 2027 election is simply another junction in a much longer national journey.

Whoever governs after 2027 will inherit problems that cannot be resolved within four or eight years. Some policies will require continuity. Others will require correction. Some institutions will need reform rather than abandonment.

Nigeria needs a state capable of remembering what previous administrations have done, preserving what works and correcting what does not.

The economic imperative is equally clear. Nigeria must produce more of what it consumes and export more of what it produces. Dependence on crude oil cannot remain the principal foundation of national prosperity.

The country’s enormous youth population must become an economic asset rather than a permanent source of anxiety. Electricity must become sufficiently reliable for businesses to plan and invest. Education must prepare citizens for an economy increasingly defined by technology and knowledge. Agriculture must move beyond subsistence towards competitive commercial production.

And security must cease to be a perpetual emergency that interrupts development.

From Leaders to Institutions

Perhaps the most important lesson of Nigeria’s 66 years is that no individual, however gifted, can build a permanent nation alone.

Nigeria has had leaders with different temperaments, ideologies and governing philosophies. It has experienced military governments and civilian administrations. It has experimented with different economic policies and political arrangements.

Yet the institutional question remains.

A serious democracy requires institutions capable of surviving the personalities occupying public offices. The judiciary, police, electoral system, civil service, legislature, local governments and regulatory agencies must function according to rules that citizens can understand and trust.

Public policy cannot remain excessively dependent on the individual occupying the presidential office. The future of Nigeria will ultimately be determined not simply by who sits in Aso Rock, occupies the National Assembly or governs a state, but by whether ordinary citizens can obtain justice, start businesses, travel safely, educate their children, access healthcare and participate productively in the economy without political connections.

Generation After Founders

At 66, Nigeria is increasingly a country of people who were born after independence.

For millions of young Nigerians, October 1, 1960 is history rather than personal memory. Their worldview has been shaped by smartphones, social media, artificial intelligence, digital finance, global employment markets and international mobility.

They compare Nigeria not only with neighbouring African countries but with India, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Europe and North America.

Their expectations of government are consequently changing.

The questions are increasingly direct.

Can a graduate find meaningful work? Can an entrepreneur obtain reliable electricity and affordable credit? Can a farmer reach markets? Can a child from a poor household receive quality education? Can a citizen travel across the country without fear? Can justice be obtained without influence or connections?

Those questions will define the next phase of the Nigerian project.

Nigeria at 66 should neither be romanticised nor dismissed.

The country has struggled, but it has also accomplished much. It has preserved its territorial union through enormous crises, sustained democratic government since 1999, produced globally competitive businesses and creative industries, nurtured a remarkably resilient entrepreneurial population and developed technological and diplomatic capacities that continue to command attention beyond its borders.

But potential is not achievement.

For too long, Nigeria has lived on the promise of what it could become. At some point, promise must give way to performance. The country cannot indefinitely celebrate its possibilities while postponing the difficult work required to realise them.

Projection

The Nigeria of 2092 will be shaped, in considerable measure, by decisions being made today.

Today’s choices on education, energy, security, public finance, infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, technology and democratic institutions will become tomorrow’s inheritance.

The political season ahead should therefore be understood as more than another struggle for power. It is part of a much larger argument about the direction of the Nigerian state.

But responsibility does not belong exclusively to politicians.

Citizens must demand evidence rather than rhetoric, programmes rather than personalities, institutions rather than patronage, and accountability rather than excuses.

Political parties must understand that Nigeria’s problems cannot be solved merely by changing slogans. Leaders must recognise that governing a country of more than 200 million people requires a vision larger than electoral mobilisation. Citizens, too, must understand that democracy is not exhausted by the act of voting every four years. It requires sustained attention to how power is exercised between elections.

At 66, Nigeria has accumulated enough history to understand the cost of institutional collapse, enough experience to recognise the consequences of bad policy and enough human capital to know that its future need not be a repetition of its past.

The country enters its 67th year with an unfinished assignment.

The founding generation secured independence. The post-independence generation fought to preserve the federation. The democratic generation fought to consolidate civilian rule.

The emerging generation now faces the harder task: building a Nigeria in which independence is measured not merely by freedom from colonial rule, but by the capacity of the Nigerian citizen to live with dignity, security, opportunity and confidence in tomorrow.

That is the deeper meaning of Nigeria’s 66-year journey.

Nigeria has survived its history.

The challenge now is to transcend it.