Obaigbena: 2027 Must Be About Ideas, Not Politics of Destruction

Nigeria must demand an election of ideas, not another carnival of insults, propaganda and character assassination. Nigeria is approaching another presidential election, and already the familiar machinery of political warfare is beginning to stir. The alliances.The betrayals. The rumours. The accusations.The ethnic calculations.The religious manoeuvring. The social-media armies.The carefully manufactured outrage.And, lurking behind it all, the oldest weapon in Nigerian politics: destroy your opponent before Nigerians have the chance to hear what you intend to do. Enough. If the politicians are serious about Nigeria, then the 2027 election must be different. It must not be another referendum on personalities.It must not be another competition in mudslinging.It must not be another election in which the loudest insult travels farther than the most intelligent policy.It must be a "contest of ideas" That is the challenge thrown before the political class by my former boss, Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY Newspapers and Arise Media Group. And the challenge deserves to be amplified. Speaking at the centenary celebration of the Daily Times of Nigeria at the THISDAY DOME in Abuja, Obaigbena urged political leaders to fight the 2027 election on policies. His message was unmistakable:"Let us debate our future on policies." Precisely. Because Nigeria does not have a shortage of politicians.Nigeria has a shortage of political answers. Stop Telling Nigerians Who Is Bad. Tell Them What You Will Do. For too long, Nigerian politics has been built around the politics of the negative.This candidate is incompetent.That candidate is corrupt.This one betrayed his party. That one betrayed his region.This one cannot be trusted.That one is dangerous.And so the political circus continues. But after the accusations have been exhausted, after the hashtags have trended and after the supporters have finished abusing one another, Nigerians are left with the question that matters: What is your plan? That is where political campaigns become serious. A presidential candidate should not merely tell Nigerians why his opponent is unfit to govern.He should tell Nigerians why he is fit to govern.What will he do about poverty? What will he do about insecurity? What will he do about unemployment? What will he do about electricity? What will he do about education? What will he do about healthcare? What will he do about the naira? What will he do about taxation? What will he do about Nigeria's crushing fiscal pressures? And perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all: How exactly will he pay for his promises? These are the questions that should dominate 2027. Not who insulted whom. Not who crossed the political aisle.Not who attended whose birthday. Not who shook whose hand. Not who posted the most inflammatory video on social media. Ideas. Policies. Numbers. Implementation. Results.That is what Nigerians should demand. What Is Your Alternative? Obaigbena's most powerful question may be the simplest:What is your alternative? That question should follow every politician around the country. If a candidate opposes fuel-subsidy reforms, what is his alternative? If he rejects the current exchange-rate regime, what is his alternative? If he wants lower taxes, what is his alternative source of revenue? If he proposes state police, how will he prevent its abuse?If he rejects state police, what is his solution to insecurity?If he promises millions of jobs, where will those jobs come from? If he promises cheaper food, how will he achieve it? If he promises economic growth, what policies will drive it? If he promises prosperity, how will ordinary Nigerians feel it in their pockets? What is your alternative? That should become the most uncomfortable question of the 2027 campaign. And politicians should be made to answer it. Smear Is Easy. Governing Is Not. There is a reason politicians prefer personality warfare to policy debate.Policy can be examined. Promises can be measured. Numbers can be challenged. Records can be compared.A manifesto can be dissected.A personal insult cannot.It floats away.That is why political campaigns so easily descend into character assassination.It is easier to say an opponent is incompetent than to explain how you would fix the economy.It is easier to circulate an allegation than to produce a credible economic plan.It is easier to manufacture outrage than to defend a difficult policy choice.But governing Nigeria is not a social-media argument.It is not a hashtag.It is not a rally.It is not a television slogan.It is an extraordinarily difficult responsibility involving millions of lives and trillions of naira.Those seeking the presidency must therefore be prepared to do something harder than campaign: *They must explain themselves.** Nigeria Needs Presidential Debates—Real Ones This is where the media must draw a line. Presidential debates should no longer be treated as political decoration. They should be central to the election. Candidates seeking the presidency should be challenged publicly and repeatedly on the issues that matter.Let them sit down. Let them face the same questions. Let them defend their records.Let them explain their policies.Let them challenge one another.Let Nigerians watch. And let journalists ask the questions politicians would rather avoid. How will you finance this? What happens if your policy fails?Who pays?Who benefits?How long will it take?What will you cut? What will you prioritise? What evidence supports your proposal? These are not hostile questions.hey are democratic questions. A politician asking Nigerians for the power to govern the country should be prepared to answer them. The Media Must Not Become Political Ammunition The media also has a responsibility to resist becoming a weapon in the hands of political interests.There is a growing temptation to chase whatever generates the loudest traffic. But journalism is not supposed to be a factory for political outrage.A newspaper should not become a campaign headquarters. A television station should not become a political megaphone. A journalist should not become an unofficial spokesman for a candidate. The media must interrogate power—whoever holds it and whoever seeks it. Political claims should be tested. Allegations should be scrutinised. Manifestos should be examined. Promises should be compared with available resources. And politicians who make demonstrably false claims should be confronted with the facts. The responsibility is even greater in the age of social media. A lie can cross the country before a correction has crossed the newsroom.A fabricated quotation can become 'fact' because thousands of people repeat it.A doctored video can ignite outrage before anyone asks where it came from.This is why professional journalism matters. The Regulators Must Enforce the Rules Fairly Regulatory institutions also have a role. Electoral and broadcasting rules must be enforced consistently.Not selectively.Not according to political convenience. Not depending on which party is in power. There must be a clear difference between legitimate criticism and hate speech, political disagreement and incitement, robust scrutiny and deliberate disinformation. The rules must apply to everybody.Government candidates.Opposition candidates.Big parties.Small parties.Powerful politicians.Unknown politicians.Nobody should be above the rules. But Voters Must Also Stop Rewarding Political Poison Politicians do not operate in a vacuum.They give voters what voters reward. If Nigerians reward ethnic mobilisation, politicians will mobilise ethnicity.If Nigerians reward religious provocation, politicians will exploit religion. If Nigerians reward insults, politicians will produce insults. If Nigerians reward conspiracy theories, politicians will manufacture more of them. The electorate therefore has enormous power to change the political conversation.Demand the manifesto.Demand the debate. Demand the evidence.Demand the numbers.Demand the implementation plan. And when politicians make promises, remember them.Keep the documents.Keep the speeches. Keep the campaign commitments.Then, when the politician returns asking for another vote, ask:What happened to the promise?That is how accountability works. Nigeria Cannot Afford Another Election of Division The stakes in 2027 will be enormous.Nigeria is already confronting economic hardship, insecurity, unemployment, poverty and deep public frustration. The last thing the country needs is an election that pours more fuel on existing social divisions. Political competition is inevitable. Political disagreement is healthy. But political hatred is dangerous.Nigeria does not need politicians who agree with one another. It needs politicians who can disagree without destroying the country in the process. Attack the policy.Challenge the argument. Expose the contradiction. Interrogate the record.But leave ethnicity, religion and deliberate character assassination out of it. The presidency is too important to be reduced to a popularity contest. This Is the Test of 2027 Obaigbena's intervention should therefore be understood as more than a plea for civility. It is a demand for seriousness. It is a demand that politicians tell Nigerians what they believe. It is a demand that they explain what they intend to do.It is a demand that they defend their alternatives.And it is a demand that the media insist Nigerians hear those answers. The 2027 election should force every serious presidential contender to come before the people and answer the hard questions. Not tomorrow.Not after winning. Before winning. Because Nigerians should not have to discover a politician's governing philosophy after handing him the keys to the country. Let the candidates debate.Let them disagree.Let them attack policies.Let them defend their records.Let them expose each other's contradictions.But let them bring something more valuable than insults.Bring the ideas.Bring the plans.Bring the numbers.Bring the evidence.Bring the alternatives. And let Nigerians decide. The question in 2027 should not be:Who can shout the loudest? Nor:Who can destroy his opponent most effectively? The question should be:Who has the clearest, most credible answer to Nigeria's problems—and what evidence supports it? That is the standard the political class should be held to.That is the standard the media should enforce.That is the standard voters should demand.Nigeria has spent too many years watching politicians fight over power while ordinary Nigerians fight to survive.2027 must be bigger than the politicians. It must be about the country. So, let the campaigns begin.Let the gladiators enter the arena.But this time, leave the knives at the door and bring the ideas.Nigeria is listening. By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe (EEA), Publisher/Editor -in Chief)