In a nation once heralded as the “Giant of Africa,” Nigeria now teeters on the brink of democratic collapse under President Bola Tinubu’s watch—a regime that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has branded a cesspool of corruption, criminality, and outright fraud. In a blistering interview on Arise News on April 1, 2025, Obi didn’t mince words: “People with unverified forged certificates and criminal records all over the place, and they are in charge.” His words, echoing the frustrations of millions, have sparked a firestorm, with Nigerians on X, like user @anenecharles, summarizing the grim reality: “It’s a government of criminals, by criminals, for criminals in Nigeria today.” Buckle up, because this is a scathing exposé of a nation in freefall, where democracy is nothing but a hollow shell, and the people are left to suffer under the weight of a leadership that reeks of illegitimacy.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: the forged certificates. Obi’s allegations aren’t just hot air—they’re a damning indictment of a system that has long been rotten to its core. Reports from Nigeria-law.org have exposed a thriving underground industry of fake government certificates, with scammers brazenly forging credentials for everything from academic degrees to NYSC certificates. These aren’t just petty criminals; they’re the very people sitting in the hallowed halls of power, making decisions that affect 200 million Nigerians. Imagine a country where the qualifications of its leaders are as fake as a three-naira note, yet they strut around with the arrogance of untouchables. Under Tinubu’s administration, this isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. The basic democratic requirement that leaders must be qualified—primary school, secondary school, university, a certain age—has been thrown out the window. Instead, we have a parade of fraudsters, their criminal records swept under the rug, now calling the shots.