By Okoi Obono-Obla
In our tension-soaked and sharply divided political ecosystem — engineered and masterminded by desperate megalomaniac politicians with a self-induced messianic “born to rule” mindset who will stop at nothing, including de-marketing and destabilizing the country to win political power for self-glorification and aggrandizement — we have seen, to the shock of every patriot, how far some high-ranking leaders will go.
We saw it glaringly in the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project scandal, where vested interests masquerading as investors were awarded a dubious contract for the 3,050MW project, and where a top-ranking government lawyer manipulated and abused his office in a settlement that almost fleeced the country of $400 million plus astronomical compound interest.
That attempt has now failed. On 17 September 2025, an ICC Tribunal in Paris dismissed the $400 million claim brought by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, holding that the 2020 settlement agreements were not binding because they were executed without presidential approval and were tainted by corruption and contrary to Nigerian public policy. The tribunal ordered Sunrise and its promoter to reimburse Nigeria 75% of its legal costs, about $11.8 million. A separate $2.7 billion claim remains pending.
Today, this same group of selfish leaders has congregated under one political platform. In their macabre scramble for votes, the electorate matters to them only to exploit its vulnerability and gullibility. They lie to get votes and continue to lie about what government is doing to solve the monumental problems confronting the country, preferring to paint a picture of a collapsing nation.
That picture is false. While they de-market Nigeria for political gain, the country is making measurable progress. Bloomberg Economics, in its report released on 5 October 2026, named Nigeria the biggest climber in Africa’s latest investment ranking. According to the 2026 Bloomberg Economics Investment Risk-O-Meter, which assesses 19 African economies, Nigeria rose four places to 8th position, overtaking Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Namibia. Bloomberg said the improvement was driven by stronger performance in three of five indicators: economic strength, fiscal strength and external vulnerability, propelled by the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu.
It has therefore become imperative for the electorate to be clear-headed and conscious, to sieve the chaff from the grain and reject this group of pathologically corrupt, selfish and treacherous politicians who will stop at nothing — including whipping up religious, sectional and ethnic divides — to deceive them, while cunningly masking as their saviours and lovers.
In conclusion, Nigerians must not be deceived again. The forthcoming 2027 elections offer a historic opportunity to permanently show the red card to those who mortgaged the Mambilla project and who now profit from telling the world that Nigeria is collapsing, while credible global institutions like Bloomberg are recording that Nigeria is rising. The choice is between those who de-market Nigeria to win power and those who are reforming Nigeria to restore prosperity.
