An array of eminent Nigerians gathered at Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja to deliberate on the state of the nation at the presentation of two books titled – The Bubbles of Nigeria’s Democracy: The Musings of a Nigerian Journalist and Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist, written by distinguished journalist, former Group Political Editor and News Editor of THISDAY Newspapers, and pioneer Deputy Managing Director of New Telegraph Newspapers, Ike Abonyi.
Speaker after speaker, at the event held on Wednesday August 6, 2025 took on the political situation in the country from different perspectives, all unanimous that Nigeria is not moving in the right direction.
Among them were former National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus; former Minister/former President-General of Ohanaeze N’digbo Worldwide, Chief John Nnia Nwodo; chairman of the event, Alhaji Mohammed Hayatu-Deen; former 2023 Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi; and representative of Bauchi State Governor and Chairman of Governor’s Forum Mr Emmanuel Agbo.
Other personalities that graced the occasion include former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Celestine Omehia, former Minister of State and former PDP National Organising Secretary (NOS), Senator Austin Akobundu, and foremost academia, Professor Udenta Udenta
Speaking at the Book Presentation, Obi, whose presence sparked renewed speculation over possible political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections especially with the presence of top PDP figures, urged Nigerians to be dedicated to building political parties that are bigger than the government and be law-abiding.
Obi also tasked journalists with deep knowledge of Nigerian politics to write more for people to read and understand the nature of the nation’s political space, added: “We are working hard to build that new Nigeria where we are going to have political parties that will outlive us, that is organised, that will be bigger than the government.”
Secondus lamented that Nigeria is not practicing democracy. Former President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, who delivered the Keynote address, stated that the nation’s electoral system has become corrupted and unattractive to honest and brilliant citizens.
Secondus, who said Abonyi was the first appointments he made as PDP National Chairman, explained that he went South Africa when he was PDP Deputy National Chairman and visited the headquarters of African National Congress (ANC), described “ANC is an institution unlike what we have in Nigeria where one man can be in several political parties and at the same time behaving as if that is the norm.
“We don’t have democracy in Nigeria. What we have is platform of winning elections. Our country is gradually moving to the direction of liquidation presided by Tinubu. The mechanism for free flow of information is lacking.
“Until we establish a proper democratic party where people can stay years in one party for more than 30 years, we are doomed.”
He commended the author, and said the two books are testament of experience he has gathered through his career as a journalist.
The former Ohanaeze President-General, Chief Nwodo, in his exhaustive paper titled ‘How We Get Here?’ provided a historical look at Nigeria’s past and the steady decay of the political system, decrying what he described as “the dictatorship of the political parties. Candidates are imposed on the people without transparent primaries. In some cases, no primary takes place at all.
“Governors have become appointing authorities for candidates for elective offices in their states. You cannot become a candidate without the governor’s approval.”
Nwodo lamented that nomination for congresses are just a matter of formality, noting that in the few cases where the governors are resisted in this form of nomination, “the richest candidate buys the position.”
He regretted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the security services and the courts are constantly manipulated by the rich politicians.
Nwodo also raised alarm that the standard of living of average Nigerian in the last two years, “has dangerously plummeted,” even though President Bola Ahmed Tinubu meant well when he decided to remove the oil subsidy.
“The intention was to free resources in order to stimulate production and so grow wealth across the board. Unfortunately the administrative organisation of the country and the recruitment process of political heads at the state and Local Governments did not help his vision.
“In many developed countries of the world local governments are rich and carry on enormous responsibilities like education, water supply, agricultural investments, road development, security and industrial promotion,” he noted.
But in Nigeria, he stated, state governors chose local government Chairmen, while elections, “are a formality to window dress a carefully rehearsed arrangement. The process has continued with impunity. In fact it has even extended to the Houses of Assembly.”
Nwodo said the failure of the subsidy injection into vital productive areas of the economy led to limited growth and an unprecedented high cost of living.
“Most low wage earners can hardly afford a basic standard of living. School fees, transport costs, house rents for homes have experienced, in some cases, one hundred percent increase wiping away the relief, expected from the percentage increase in salary emoluments,” he regretted.
Nwodo added: “Nigeria must restructure and give its component units sovereignty over its natural resources; in this way, true democracy will evolve, and the speed of development will increase.”
“If restructuring does not happen before the 2027 elections, some regions may boycott the polls or reject the results. If it does not happen, we will have no alternative but to go our separate ways.”
Referencing the UN World Population Prospects 2025 report, Nwodo stated that Nigeria now has the lowest life expectancy in the world, at 54.8 years. He also quoted World Bank data estimating that over $1 billion is lost annually to bad roads.
“Our current system is unsustainable. The numbers are dire, and they point to a society heading towards collapse if nothing changes,” he warned.
Chairman of the occasion, seasoned banker and 2023 Presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, described the books as celebration of idea, history and indomitable of the nation’s state, but saying that Nigeria could be better than it is.
One of the books, ‘Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist,’ was titled after the building housing the PDP national secretariat. The second book, “Bubbles of Nigeria’s Democracy: The Musings of a Nigerian Journalist,” was a curated collection of Ikeanyi’s Abonyi’s weekly political columns over more than a decade, originally published in New Telegraph and Global Upfront Newspapers (GUN).
One of Nigeria’s foremost Journalists and former Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Guardian Newspapers Limited, Mr Martins Oloja, who reviewed the two books, praised Abonyi for embracing partisan journalism as a tool for change.
“In a functional democracy, the presence of alternative views is crucial… It promotes critical thinking and builds a more equitable society,” Oloja said.