Why Davido is wrong for saying Nigeria lacks good leaders

Actually, Davido is wrong in his two postulations: That Nigeria does not have democracy, unlike the United States. And that Nigeria does not have good leaders.

On his first postulation, that “What I like about America is that there is true democracy. Where I come from [Nigeria], it’s not so.”, which he made during his interview on the global program, The Morning Hustle, Mr. David Adeleke, is wrong for the following reasons.

If Nigeria does not have democracy, how come Davido’s uncle, Senator Ademola Adeleke, was able to defeat the incumbent Governor of Osun State, then Governor Gboyega Adeleke, who also had the added advantage of being a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress?

According to the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, one of the hallmarks of a healthy democracy is when an underdog opposition candidate defeats a ruling party incumbent.

This has happened both at the national level in Nigeria, when the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan lost to his opposition challenger, General Muhammadu Buhari, on March 28, 2015, and multiple times at the state level, including in Osun State during the July 16, 2022, Gubernatorial election.

In the United States, the last two times an opposition candidate defeated a ruling party candidate at the Presidential level, the victory was challenged in court, whereas when it occurred in Nigeria, the incumbent President conceded, and there was no court case.

This is why, according to a poll by the U.S. Institute for Politics and Public Service, 81% of Americans believe that U.S. democracy is in trouble.

From the above, the facts clearly contradict the views expressed by Mr. David Adeleke.

Secondly, during a YouTube interview with Elevate Africa, Davido said, “I just feel the only thing is just missing is just the right leaders to lead us.”

Again, this is a fallacious argument not supported by the facts.

Just as he did in Lagos State as Governor, President Tinubu has increased Nigeria’s revenue.

For example, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework showed that net foreign exchange inflow into Nigeria’s economy rose by 67.8% to $27.6 billion in the first half of 2024 from $16.44 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.

Additionally, Nigeria’s GDP is on the mend, at 3.46% in the third quarter of 2024, as compared to 2.5% for the same period in 2023.

To put things in perspective, the economy of the U.S., which Davido is now praising, only grew by 2.8% in the same period.

Moreover, we now have a stunningly low unemployment rate of 4.3%, and the minimum wage has been increased by 140%, even as Nigeria made positive improvements on Transparency International’s CPI.

Whereas, Nigeria improved on TI’s Corruption Perception Rating this year, moving five pages ahead from 150 in 2023 to 145 in 2024.

In contrast, Nigeria was rated as the second most corrupt nation in the world under Obasanjo, with only Bangladesh ahead of us in 2002. Out of 102 countries, Nigeria was number 101.

These are all hallmarks of good leadership.

But I understand where Davido is coming from. You see, under President Bola Tinubu, federal allocation to states, including Osun State, has increased by at least 64%.

Yet, other than dancing, what has Governor Adeleke got to show for that rise in allocation?

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Osun State generated less internal tax revenue than Ekiti State. Please note that Ekiti has fewer mineral resources than Osun and only half her population. Yet, Ekiti generated revenue of ₦586.32 million, whereas Osun only generated ₦353.15 million from self-employed taxes.

Total Internally Generated Revenue of Osun State in 2023 was ₦27.93 billion—the lowest in the Southwest. Ekiti generated ₦32.10 billion during the same period.

To put things in proper perspective, do note that Osun has a population of 4.7 million and a land mass of 3,572 square miles, which both dwarf that of Ekiti State.

Again, to put things into perspective, Wizkid’s Morayo album has generated more revenue in two weeks than the total Internally Generated Revenue of Osun State in 2023.

How can you generate less tax revenue than a state with half your population and only two-thirds of your land mass?

Perhaps these are the acts of bad leadership that Davido has seen locally at home in Osun, which have made him generalise nationally in Nigeria.

Since Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, AKA Wizkid, has been able to break global album streaming records by generating over one hundred million streams with his Morayo album in just two short weeks, I would recommend that he go to Osun State to teach Governor Adeleke how to increase revenue.

By Reno Omokri

Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022.

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