Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti has argued that President Bola Tinubu is not the primary cause of Nigeria’s problems, saying entrenched corruption and weak institutions are the country’s deeper crisis.
Kuti, son of late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, spoke during an interview on the Good News Naija podcast while discussing Nigeria’s insecurity, inflation and growing public frustration with the government.
The musician questioned why the judiciary and other institutions did not prevent Tinubu from contesting the 2023 presidential election if allegations against him were credible.
“Do you think Tinubu is the problem? The judiciary that didn’t stop him from getting there in the first place is a problem. If all the allegations against him are true, how did he contest?” Femi asked.
‘They’re all the same people’
Kuti also criticised Nigeria’s political class, arguing that people accused of corruption continue to move between successive administrations.
“If we had men and women of calibre and integrity, he wouldn’t have been able to contest in the first place. When Obasanjo instructed the arrest of corrupt people, the first person arrested was his daughter. Then Nuhu Ribadu was removed as head of the EFCC; now he is Tinubu’s security personnel.
“They’re all the same people. They go to the same parties and hug themselves. So, if a young boy of 20 has this information, where will his belief in the system be?”
Femi Kuti warns of ‘terminal cancer’
The musician said corruption had spread beyond government and become deeply rooted across Nigerian society.
“Every administration is so corrupt that all they are after is money. They will still steal, but they’ll never do the work. In fact, the whole country is corrupt. You do a railway, people will steal the railings and don’t care about the accidents it might cause because nobody believes in the system anymore,” he added.
Kuti warned that the situation could become difficult to reverse if corruption continues unchecked.
“Over the years, the rot has spread from the head down. What I’m afraid of is that corruption will become a terminal cancer that will be incurable. That’s my fear.”
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