If Tinubu’s Reward For Criticism Continues, We Will Soon Be Governed, Not By Best Minds, But By Loudest Mouths. (OPINION)

By Isaac Asabor

In a country where leadership ought to be anchored on competence, integrity, and patriotism, Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is sadly leaning towards a dangerous playbook: reward your loudest critics with plum positions, not for merit, but to silence them. It is politics of pacification masquerading as inclusion, and it is slowly eroding what little is left of the moral fabric in public service.

For instance, on March 30, 2025, during an Iftar dinner to mark his 73rd birthday, President Tinubu attempted to justify the controversial appointment of Dr. Bosun Tijani as Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy. The president proudly claimed it was evidence of his open-mindedness, that he values “talent even in those who may have once been critics.”

But this is more than generous leadership. It is political optics, particularly as Tijani’s criticisms weren’t offhand comments, but cutting and calculated. Yet, today, he is saddled with one of the most strategic portfolios in the administration.

Where’s the proof that Tijani’s appointment was based on measurable competence or a vision for digital transformation? Nigerians are still waiting.

Another classic example is Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, formerly the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), and a fire-breathing critic of both the Buhari and Tinubu administrations. His appointment last year as Political Adviser to the President in the Office of the Vice President shocked many.

Many believed the appointment was not about tapping into Baba-Ahmed’s experience, but rather a strategic attempt to shut him up and mute the persistent criticisms emanating from the North.

As of now, sources report that Baba-Ahmed has tendered his resignation, though it is yet to be approved by the president. The silence surrounding his exit only raises suspicion. Was he disappointed by what he met in office? Or was his voice no longer useful now that the northern backlash against Tinubu is intensifying?

Indeed, prominent northern political and traditional leaders continue to lash out at Tinubu’s government over the worsening economy, political instability, and raging insecurity. Clearly, the “buy-the-critic” strategy has failed.

But perhaps the most astonishing twist is the reported nomination of Reno Omokri, the same man who relentlessly campaigned against Tinubu from the diaspora, at one point accusing him of links to drug crimes and organizing physical protests in the UK.

Reno’s nomination to a diplomatic role is not just ironic, it is utterly shameful. If his allegations were taken seriously, how does he now represent Nigeria on the global stage under the same administration he described as “tainted”?

This is not about forgiveness. This is about political transactionalism at its peak, critics being rewarded, not because they have changed their views or added value, but because their voices are too loud to ignore.

Without a doubt, it is rotten pattern of political pacification. The pattern is now predictable: Criticise, get noticed, get appeased, then go quiet.

What President Tinubu’s government is doing is weaponizing appointments as hush money, handing plum positions to critics in a bid to muffle dissent. It is a perversion of democracy, an insult to genuine loyalists, and a blow to qualified professionals who don’t play dirty politics.

It also creates mutual suspicion rather than national unity. Those who supported the president from day one now feel used and sidelined. Professionals who have served with diligence now believe noise, not merit, brings promotion. And the masses, watching from the sidelines, are reminded that this government rewards volume, not values.

In fact, appointments should be national assets, not political settlement tools. Nigerians are living in desperate times. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirms inflation has soared to over 33%, while the naira has been battered beyond recognition. Youth unemployment remains at alarming levels, and the spate of kidnapping and banditry is getting worse.

At a time like this, what the country needs is a government of reformers, not rebranded critics. Appointments should be engines of development, not political settlements for those who scream the loudest.

The long-term danger of this approach is clear: it encourages performative opposition. Aspiring appointees will begin to attack the government, not from a place of patriotic concern, but as a strategy to gain visibility and eventual favor. It breeds opportunism, not activism. It incentivizes hypocrisy, not truth.

Since this unarguable retrogressive mode of appointment came to the realization of this writer, the question has been “When did noise becomes a qualification?”

History will not be kind to a leadership that chooses to pacify rather than perform. As things stand, Tinubu’s appointment style suggests that you don’t need to be competent, just be controversial. Don’t show loyalty, just show up on the trending list.

However, to put it advisedly in this context, it is not out of place to opine that Nigeria deserves better.

In fact, if this government is truly serious about transformation, it must abandon this politics of reward for criticism and return to a politics of merit, transparency, and accountability. Otherwise, we will soon be governed, not by the best minds, but by the loudest mouths.