By Tunde Okoro | Najia Pulse
A quiet war is brewing in Nigeria's political landscape, and it is not being fought with bullets but with narratives. As the 'Tinubu Must Go' movement gains ground, a counter-offensive called 'Tinubu Must Stay' is taking shape, led by northern technocrat Kashifu Inuwa. The real question is not whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stays or goes, but whether Nigerians will ever hear the full story of what this administration has actually delivered.
What is the Tinubu Must Stay movement?
Kashifu Inuwa, a respected digital transformation champion from the North and a staunch supporter of President Tinubu and First Lady Remi Tinubu, has launched a movement with a clear mission: continuity, stability, and prosperity. The name itself is a direct counter to the opposition's 'Tinubu Must Go' campaign, which has reportedly gained steam in northern circles aligned with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Inuwa approached a strategic communications expert to help build the movement. The brief was simple but demanding: create a counter-narrative that matches the opposition's energy without conceding its terms. The expert had 24 hours to decide. He took the assignment, but on one condition: the campaign would be built on facts, not noise.
What has Tinubu's administration actually achieved?
When a team of young, politically unaffiliated communicators was asked to independently assess the administration's record, the findings surprised even them. Here is what they uncovered:
- New medical universities have taken off in the South, as well as in Tsafe and Funtua in the North, institutions many Nigerians do not even know exist.
- Hundreds of housing units have been commissioned across northern states.
- Federation account allocations to states and local governments have risen markedly, funds that previous administrations often diverted into federal intervention schemes like PTF, DFRRI, and SURE P.
- Security has improved with new military divisions, sophisticated armaments, and better remuneration for personnel.
These are documented, verifiable facts. The problem, according to the strategic assessment, is not the administration's record. It is the communication of that record. The achievements are buried in technical statistics and figures that ordinary citizens rarely engage with.
Why is the Tinubu Must Go movement gaining traction?
Public disaffection is real. A perception index and sentiment analysis run on PRrev, PRNigeria's cross-platform media monitoring software supported by NITDA, showed negative sentiment on social media at alarming levels. No honest communicator can mask that with slogans or rallies.
The opposition, led by figures like activist Omoyele Sowore, has tapped into this frustration. Sowore, a brotherly friend of the communications expert advising the Tinubu Must Stay campaign, was recently filmed leading a 'Tinubu Must Go' procession. It is a personal dilemma that mirrors the national one: how do you counter a movement when the people leading it are people you respect?
Can facts win the battle for public opinion?
The campaign's strategy is clear: no hired crowds, no orchestrated demonstrations, no manufactured street energy. No faking. The approach is strictly evidence-based, with facts, data, documented outcomes, and verifiable comparisons.
'A communication campaign built on verifiable facts does not need to shout down its critics. It simply needs to be heard.'
The young communicators who were initially most reluctant to support the movement became its most thorough researchers. By the end of their independent assessment, they joined voluntarily, without inducement. That, more than any polling data, suggests the deficit is not in governance but in storytelling.
What happens next for Nigeria's political narrative?
The battle for public opinion in the months ahead will not be won by the side that shouts loudest, marches furthest, or commands the most digital noise. It will be won by the side that builds the most credible narrative around verifiable reality.
If the administration's achievements are as substantial as the data suggests, then failing to communicate them is a failure of professional execution, not a failure of governance. And that failure can be corrected. The question is whether the Tinubu Must Stay movement can get the message out before the noise drowns out the facts.
This is not about blind loyalty to a leader. It is about whether Nigeria can have an honest conversation about what is working, what is not, and what the future should look like. That conversation starts now.