Six promises Nigerian politicians don fail to fulfil since 1999

Nigeria don get five presidents since di kontri return to democracy for 1999. Almost everi leader wey wan dey elected dey get promises wey dem dey make to citizens.

Although evri politician get im own goals, e get some important commitments wey evri candidate vow to address as soon as dem get di opportunity.

Na almost 2027 years of Nigeria Fourth Republic, and e get some big promises wey pipo dey hear evri time election season dey come.

Five leaders don rule di kontri, and all of dem don make similar promises.

While approaching di 2027 elections, dis promises don come out of di mouths of politicians wey don fail to fulfil dem, despite di problems wey don dey plague di kontri for a long time.

Professor Babayo Sule of di Department of Social and Political Studies for di University of Namibia say dem don dey make such promises to Nigerians for a long time becos di leaders don discova di weakness of di citizens and how to attract dia attention.

"Wetin dem dey do na to show say di pipo wey dem dey lead dey weak and dem don fail. If you elect us, we go succeed," e tok.

Di professor list some important promises wey dey commonly heard and wey still dey ground till now.

Electricity

Nigeria don suffer electricity problems for a long time, wia various govments don allocate a lot of money to improve am, but di poor still dey complain about di situation.

For 2005, dem sell di kontri electricity company, known as PHCN, wey bin dey known bifor as Nepa, wey for 2013, e bin officially dey handed ova to businessmen.

Di govment dey manage di kontri electricity distribution company, TCN.

Many companies and small businesses depend on generators to run dia business, wia e dey estimated say di kontri dey lose about 40 trillion naira evri year due to lack of electricity.

Professor Babayo say di leaders don turn di mata into a "play wit di mind" tin, and e cite example say President Bola Tinubu bin vow say if e no provide 24-hour electricity to di citizens, make dem no vote for am if e seek re-election for 2027, but e neva fulfil am.

Despite di huge amount of money wey dem don spend on di electricity business, di kontri wit a population of more dan 200 million pipo still dey produce about 4000 megawatts of electricity.

Since 1999, di electricity sector don suffer from serious financial scandals, wia on May 13, 2026, one High Court for Abuja sentence one former minister of electricity, Saleh Mamman, to 75 years in prison afta dem find am guilty of embezzling at least 22 billion naira allocated for di projects of some of di major electricity generation stations for di kontri.

Also for 2017, one report by di Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (Serap), wey dem title 'From Darkness to Darkness...' accuse di govments of di three previous presidents - Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan - of spending about 11 trillion naira on di electricity issue for di kontri, witout di electricity sector improving.

Education

Out-of-school children for Nigeria na at least 20 million, according to di United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (Unesco), and na about 7.3 to 20 percent of out-of-school children for di world.

Dr Babayo complain about di state of education and schools for di kontri especially for rural areas. E also say teachers for di kontri dey for bad situation, for example wit di number of times dem dey go on strike.

School teachers dey complain about di low salaries and lack of proper education system for Nigeria.

Almost evri president of di kontri don vow to improve di education sector, but "di situation still dey lag behind", di expert tok.

Even for di kontri budget, not much dey allocated to di education sector, becos for 2026, 3.52 trillion naira (6.1 percent) bin dey allocated to di sector.

Di United Nations Children's Fund don request make kontris allocate 15-20% of dia budget evri year to di education sector, but Nigeria so far don fail to achieve dis one.

Education and schools for rural areas don spoil, especially for govment schools, wey make most of di wealthy parents dey send dia children to private schools, wey no always dey provide di correct education wey di children need.

For one of dia reports for 2022, Unicef ​​say "millions of children for Nigeria neva enta classroom in di name of seeking education".

Security

Di security situation for Nigeria na one of di tins wey don afflict di kontri, wia e rank 147 out of 163 kontris wey get peace for di world in 2025, and e don become one of di least peaceful and crime-ridden kontris for di world.

Di ministers usually dey focus dia attention on vowing to solve di security problems wey dey plague different sectors. Among di security problems wey don dey trouble Nigeria for a long time na Boko Haram, Iswap, gunmen, Ipob, Niger Delta and odas.

Di security problem for di kontri don separate many pipo from dia homes, and different govments dey emphasise say dem dey do dia best to see di end of di problem.

Di opposition for di kontri dey put pressure on di govment ova di security crisis for Nigeria.

Prof Babayo say recently, di security problem na one of di biggest promises politicians don make to show say dem fit solve within a short period of time but dem don fail to fulfil am.

For di past, di govment of Umaru 'Yar'Adua bin try to overcome di problem of activists for di Niger-Delta region wey bin dey kidnap pipo for ransom, but di emergence of di Boko Haram group of jihadists for 2002 for di northeast of di kontri don turn di clock back.

Amnesty International say di conflict don displace more dan two million pipo and create humanitarian crisis.

In addition, di emergence of bandit groups for di north-west of di kontri and di conflict between farmers and herders for di north-central part of di kontri continue to dey cause di loss of many lives.

Fight against corruption

Nigeria na 142 out of 182 kontris wey dey suffer from corruption, according to Transparency International.

Corruption na one of di problems wey don plague Nigeria, and many leaders don repeatedly state say dem go fight corruption and clean up di govment.

However, di kontri politicians often dey arrested on suspicion of corruption of public funds, wia some don chop sentence while odas still dey under investigation. Some money wey dem take abroad also dey recovered.

Among di measures wey leaders of di kontri don take in di fight against corruption, include di establishment of di EFCC and ICPC agencies to fight against dose wey dey make di economy of di kontri bad.

However, experts believe say di situation na still di same like yesterday.

Roads

Nigeria get di widest number of roads for West Africa, wit about 195,000 km, yet di Ministry of Works estimate say only 15% to 20% of dis roads dey in good condition.

Di National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attribute di high number of deadly accidents to di poor condition of di roads wia drivers dey cause casualties by trying to avoid potholes.

In many cases, leaders often schedule di completion of roads or di opening of road projects right around di time of di election campaign.

Politicians often make promises to provide roads for places wia dem no get am, in order to benefit dose wey elect dem.

Health

Di report wey Unicef ​​release for 2025 say Nigeria na di kontri wit di highest number of children under di age of 5 wey die for 2023 among di western and central African kontris.

In addition, di centre for ensuring di standard and laws of health services (CHED) say Nigeria na one of di most dangerous kontris for pregnant women, for one entitled 'Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice...'

Di health situation for Nigeria dey in a bad state, starting from di primary level to di main hospitals for di kontri becos of di lack of good conditions or good equipment.

Sometimes, politicians take donations of medicine to hospitals or emergency aid to di sick, to show dia sympathy wen dem dey seek to dey elected.

Many opposition members dey criticize di current govment and di state of di kontri health sector, promising to improve everything if given the chance.

In most cases, di leaders of di kontri and di rich dey go abroad to seek health while di poor naim dey use wetin dem get for di kontri hospitals.

Wetin make di promises no dey fulfilled?

According to Professor Babayo Sule of di Department of Social and Political Management for di University of Namibia, di leaders refuse to dey determined to fulfill dia promises becos of di inadequacy of those wey dey elected and di society lack of knowledge of di measures to punish those wey violate dia promises.

E add say di use of financial politics, religion, ethnicity and partisanship dey among di reasons wey make politicians think dem fit use during di election to attract di attention of di voters.

Di professor say di lack of follow-up from di community and making sure say evri politician do wetin e tok, e dey make am difficult to focus on doing di right thing.

"Pipo still no get political awareness, so if pesin make promise and fail, dem go defeat am so dat wan go be a lesson for di future," e tok.

Some commonly heard promises

Professor Babayo say e get some more promises wey don become a habit among politicians, and dem no get any strategy on how to fulfill dem. E list some of such commitments as improving agriculture, economic development, and industry.

"Well, dis things always dey possible, politicians no get di intention to fulfill dem".

In addition, di professor say politicians dey try to create jobs for di youth, in oda to attract dem to vote for dem due to di number of pipo wey dem get to influence in di Nigerian elections.