If you blink in Africa, chances are another president has just extended his stay in office. Tenure elongation is now the hottest game in town, a continental sport. From Cameroon to Chad, from Rwanda to Uganda, the rulers of Africa are busy treating constitutions like personal diaries they can just edit and add more years when it suits them.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo added fuel to the fire last week in Accra, Ghana, at an event organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation. Baba Iyabo, chair of the occasion, insisted once again that he never wanted a third term. According to him, if he really wanted, he could have pulled it off with ease, but he was more interested in getting Nigeria debt relief. Fair point. But Nigerians who lived through 2005/2006 still remember the “third term palava” that nearly tore this country apart. Even if Obasanjo did not personally author it, his proxies surely gave it life and sweetened it with Ghana-Must-Go bags of cash.
Now, Baba has thrown a challenge: “Let any Nigerian, dead or alive, come out and say I ever told him I wanted a third term.” Ahn ahn! Nigerians love drama, so of course people are already warming up. Dr Usman Bugaje has practically called him a liar on national TV, and former Senator Femi Okurounmu swore that third term bribery under Obasanjo was what institutionalised corruption in Nigeria. Baba should get ready; his “innocence” might not survive the receipts some people are threatening to bring out.
Meanwhile, back home, Nasir el-Rufai, serial party hopper and Tinubu’s sworn enemy was busy dropping bombs. Atiku’s house, Abuja, solidarity visit. El-Rufai looked into the cameras and declared that President Bola Tinubu is Nigeria’s version of Paul Biya of Cameroon. In his words, Tinubu “wants to be president for life” and “all the signs are there.” Really? Nigerians can be forgetful, but not that forgetful. Paul Biya has been president since 1982. He is 92 years old and still warming up for another election. Tinubu just did one year in office and is still struggling to convince Nigerians he deserves a second. Yet somehow, we’re supposed to believe he has a lifetime tenancy plan for Aso Rock?
Yes, Tinubu has centralised a lot of power, and his critics accuse him of ignoring federalism. But for el-Rufai to compare him to Biya is stretching it like Ankara fabric sewn for a family wedding. Nigerians are too politically restless to allow one man to sit in Aso Rock till his grandchildren start secondary school. Even Obasanjo’s infamous third term bid failed because Nigerians said, “Oga, enough is enough.”
And let’s be honest: el-Rufai’s sudden fear of “president-for-life” looks less like patriotism and more like sour grapes. This is the same man Tinubu promised heaven and earth and then denied him a ministerial appointment. If we know Mallam Nasir, his oversized ego won’t take that kind of public embarrassment lying down. His new mission seems to be simple: de-market Tinubu, especially in the North.
Still, let’s not deceive ourselves. Across Africa, “sit-tightism” has become a full-blown disease. Idris Deby in Chad spent 30 years in power, died at the warfront, and his son Mahamat Deby picked up the baton like it was family inheritance. Rwanda’s Paul Kagame has changed the constitution four times just to keep smelling the presidential chair. Yoweri Museveni of Uganda is still running Uganda like it’s his village meeting since 1986. And Paul Biya? That one is a miracle of longevity. He should be in a retirement home playing draughts, but instead, he is still signing decrees.
The tragedy is that many of these leaders have nothing to show for their extended stays. Poverty remains, insecurity grows, economies collapse, and yet they clutch to power like it’s an heirloom. Democracy, which was meant to give Africans a voice, has become elite capture. The politicians sit tight, the people suffer tight.
Nigeria likes to boast that we’re “too sophisticated” for such nonsense. But are we really? After all, the 2005 third term drama almost succeeded. The only thing that stopped it was the collective anger of Nigerians who refused to sell the future for N50 million per lawmaker. If we were gullible then, Obasanjo might still be president today.
So, as el-Rufai screams “Tinubu wants to be president for life,” let’s not dismiss the conversation outright. It might be politics, it might be propaganda, but it’s also a warning. Africa has shown us time and again that leaders hardly ever leave when they should. Nigerians must remain vigilant. We resisted in 2006; we may need that same fire again tomorrow.
Because one thing is certain: left unchecked, tenure elongation will always find another sponsor, another proxy, another bag of Ghana-Must-Go waiting to buy the future. And when that happens, it won’t matter whether it’s Obasanjo, Tinubu, or their successors, Nigerians will still be the losers.
