The previous year that ended this Wednesday brought along reminiscences that left bitter and sweet experiences in the lives of Nigerians and the country. 2025 was a mixture of the good and bad, with many wishing for its expiration. Its death this midweek expectedly brought relief and offered yet an invigorating hope that, at last, the tumultuous year that threatened us with dangers of insecurity was caving in, and irrevocably opened up new frontiers and horizons for both personal and national renewal.
The recurring security challenges, the controversy, and public outcry over the recurring issue of fuel subsidy removal raged, as local prices of fuel responded to prices of crude oil in the international market. In some homes, cars were abandoned due to the high cost of fuel, and some had to resort to commercial transportation to survive the high cost of fuel. Public sector workers reported to work for only two or three days a week, while others were turned into virtual workers due to the high cost of transportation.
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Smoke Of The Past
The war between Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) over the quality of petrol from the Dangote Refinery culminated in the sacking of NMDPRA boss, Engr. Ahmed Farouk, after the richest black man, petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on how Farouk spent over $5 million on the education of his children in a foreign country. In 2025, there were downward reviews of petrol prices, but the unhealthy rivalry between the Dangote Refinery and marketers proved an albatross in resolving the intractable desire by the latter to ensure they were in complete control of determining the prices of fuel.
Taking into cognisance the tug of war between Dangote and his staff that almost led to the shutdown of the refinery, the refinery owner said there were many attempts to sabotage its operations. In the heat of disagreement over the choice of union membership, among other issues, the refinery sacked 800 staff. When the dust finally settled, the sacked workers were redeployed to the fertilizer plant of the conglomerate. Though threats of industrial tension engulfed the Dangote refinery landscape last year, peace was achieved. However, insiders reveal that the present industrial peace is that of the cemetery, with muted disagreement assuming a submarine rivalry, with actors holding to the end of the stick awaiting the commencement of yet another industrial hostility.
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Renewing Aspiration
The year 2025 was fraught with challenges, but it also resuscitated the hope that, whatever the challenges, the demonstration of political will by the government was enough to surmount these challenges and resolve such problems. This assertion was demonstrated when, on Christmas Day, Nigerians woke up to the fusillade of precise strikes launched on terrorists’ cells in Sokoto State by the United States through the collaboration of both countries. The discordant voices in Nigeria that greeted these strikes revealed the lack of unity among citizens, with some of them describing the strikes as clear attempts at breaching the territorial sovereignty of the nation.
Even when the US strikes were at the request of the Nigerian government, the pro-sovereign analysts insisted on such a breach. Not even the explanation by the government was adequate to persuade them out of their erroneous mindset. The reactions of most of those opposed to the strikes were politically inspired, ahead of next year’s polls that many see as already settled in favour of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election. However, despite the clear advantage Tinubu’s re-election presently enjoys, the rampage of insecurity as seen in some parts of the country can scuttle peace and throw the country into a serious quagmire. To secure the country by taking out perpetrators of insecurity has become an imperative that must be achieved. Therefore, the intervention of the US in launching precise hits on terror cells clearly degraded the capacity of these terror elements to unleash horror on Nigerian communities.
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What To Do In 2026
The Tinubu-led government must never look back in retrieving the country from the hands of deadly terror groups whose only ambition is to disintegrate the country and turn it into a killing field. The secularity of the Nigerian state must never be controverted. Those who dare to defy the government by being sympathisers of terror organisations should be dealt with without any form of hindrance. The idea that some are immune from prosecution on account of their ethnicity and faith must be stopped henceforth. Whoever is sympathetic to these bloodthirsty monsters of insecurity should not be allowed to escape from the long arms of the law.
For a nation that holds so many promises but has been reduced to a weak giant unable to rise to its manifest destiny, this new year should be a year devoted to removing factors responsible for its incapacity for development. As the drumbeats of 2027 sound louder, the government should not be distracted by the politics of elections. The lives of Nigerians remain sacrosanct and they should never be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. Let’s not doubt this: 2027 may turn out dirty, but Nigerians must survive the chicanery of politicians whose interest in power is for personal gains. In fighting for power, let politicians be reminded that it is only when the country survives that winning an election is possible.
The year 2025 turned out to be momentous in various ramifications of national life. The New Year offers renewed opportunities to degrade those forces fighting against Nigeria, but we must never allow “the labour of our heroes past’ to be in vain.
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