Political analyst Mahdi Shehu isn’t holding back. He’s calling out President Bola Tinubu for the recent shake-up of Nigeria’s military leadership, claiming it had nothing to do with fixing the country’s security crisis, and everything to do with protecting his own position.
In a blunt post on X (formerly Twitter) Saturday, Shehu said Tinubu only acted after hearing whispers of a possible coup, not because of the daily bloodshed happening across the country.
He even quoted scripture, James 3:16, to drive home his point: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
Shehu didn’t mince words. He listed state after state, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Yobe, Borno, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Nasarawa, where communities have been terrorized by bandits, kidnappers, and insurgents for months.
Mass abductions. Village raids. Hundreds killed.
According to Shehu, none of it moved the President to act. But the moment coup rumors started circulating? The service chiefs were out.
“The ongoing wanton killings nationwide did not prick Tinubu’s conscience,” Shehu wrote. “The unending kidnappings for ransom did not wake him from his slumber.”
He said it was only when the President felt personally threatened that he made his move, calling it a “panicky” decision rooted in self-preservation, not patriotism.
In his post titled “Tinubu’s Survival Instincts: Man Is Indeed Selfish,” Shehu didn’t stop at the military reshuffle.
He also took a shot at the President’s economic team, pointing out that while 139 million Nigerians are struggling with poverty and hunger, no one in charge of the economy has been sacked.
“With 139 million Nigerians facing abject poverty and hunger, he is yet to sack his ‘wizardly’ economic team. Man is indeed selfish, even in the face of glaring failure,” he wrote.
The post has sparked intense reactions online. Some Nigerians agree with Shehu’s harsh assessment, saying the President’s priorities are backwards.
Others are defending Tinubu, arguing that changing military leadership is a necessary step toward national security, regardless of timing.
