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Investigative journalist David Hundeyin has argued that Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan, made a costly mistake by allowing political opponents and critics to freely operate during his administration.
Hundeyin made the remark in a post on his official X account on Thursday while reflecting on Nigeria’s economic decline under Bola Tinubu’s leadership.
He claimed that Nigeria would have achieved a trillion-dollar economy by 2024 if Jonathan had adopted a tougher stance against what he described as “CIA-backed opposition.”
“I wish Goodluck Jonathan had jailed/silenced all political opponents and critics when he was in power. We’d have hit a trillion dollars of GDP by 2024, and we’d all be at home being part of ‘Africa Rising’ (remember that?),” he wrote.
Hundeyin blamed Jonathan’s political tolerance for what he said was the collapse of Nigeria’s economy and the rise of corrupt and foreign-backed political actors who now dominate power.
“He didn’t jail/silence those CIA-backed opposition motherfuckers, so now we’ve lost more than half of our 2015 GDP, lost family, relationships, and friends to emigration, $1 is now N1,500,” he stated.
He further alleged that Tinubu’s presidency symbolises the consequences of that failure, describing the Nigerian leader as “a drug criminal” involved in a legal battle over the release of his “FBI drug trafficking file.”
Hundeyin also criticised what he called Nigeria’s misplaced faith in democracy, saying electoral participation without true sovereignty is meaningless.
“So yeah. Turns out ‘democracy’ was never the issue after all. It was and is ‘who is working for you’ vs ‘who is not,’” he said.
He contrasted Tinubu’s rule with that of other African leaders like Paul Biya of Cameroon and Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, suggesting that not all forms of authoritarianism are equal.
“That’s why fighting against ‘dictator’ Paul Biya is not the same as fighting against ‘dictator’ Ibrahim Traore. One of them is on your side and one of them works for your slavemaster,” he wrote.
Hundeyin concluded by urging Africans to rethink their understanding of democracy and foreign influence, warning that the continent’s progress depends on political awareness rather than Western approval.
“Whenever you people finally get it is when your sun will rise,” he declared.
