By Chuks Oyema
There comes a time in the career of every politician when the public must ask a simple question: are you speaking for the nation, or are you speaking for yourself? In the case of former Sports Minister Solomon Dalung, the answer is becoming increasingly obvious. His relentless attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suggest a man more interested in political resurrection than national progress.
Since leaving office, Dalung has struggled to command the national attention he once enjoyed as a minister. Today, however, he has found a convenient formula for staying in the headlines: attack PBAT, grant interviews, repeat the attacks, and wait for the publicity.
What Dalung perhaps fails to realize is that Nigerians have not forgotten his own record in government. The same man who now lectures the nation daily about governance was part of an administration that left Nigeria with a battered economy, unprecedented debt burdens, a weakened naira, worsening insecurity, and a subsidy regime that nearly crippled public finances.
It is therefore astonishing that Dalung speaks with such moral certainty, as if he bears no responsibility for the challenges confronting the nation today. The political amnesia is breathtaking.
President Tinubu inherited a country standing at the edge of a fiscal cliff. Difficult decisions had to be made. Unlike many politicians who prefer applause to action, Tinubu chose courage over convenience.
The removal of fuel subsidy was not popular. Exchange-rate reforms were not popular. Fiscal restructuring was not popular. Yet these were decisions previous governments lacked the courage to take.
That is the difference between a statesman and a politician. A politician thinks about the next election. A statesman thinks about the next generation.
While PBAT is making difficult decisions to rescue the economy, Dalung is busy making television appearances to score cheap political points. One is governing; the other is grandstanding.
The tragedy is that Dalung rarely offers alternatives. He criticizes everything but proposes nothing. He attacks policies but presents no credible replacement. He condemns leadership but offers no vision of his own.
This is why many Nigerians increasingly view his interventions as little more than noise. Criticism without solutions is not opposition; it is political entertainment.
The truth is that President Tinubu has become the biggest political brand in Nigeria. Whether one supports him or opposes him, he dominates the national conversation. For politicians whose relevance has faded, attaching themselves to his name is the fastest route back into public discourse.
Dalung appears to have embraced that strategy wholeheartedly. Every issue somehow becomes about Tinubu. Every challenge becomes Tinubu’s fault. Every interview becomes an opportunity to attack Tinubu.
Yet the Nigerian people are wiser than many politicians assume. They understand the difference between genuine concern and political opportunism.
What is particularly ironic is that Dalung’s current relevance depends almost entirely on the man he attacks. Without PBAT, many of his recent comments would attract little public attention. In a strange way, Tinubu has become the oxygen sustaining Dalung’s political visibility.
But borrowed relevance is never permanent. Eventually, politicians must stand on their own achievements, ideas, and credibility. That is where Dalung faces his greatest challenge.
President Tinubu, despite the criticisms, remains focused on implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda. Roads are being built. Investments are being attracted. Public finances are being stabilized. Security agencies are being strengthened. The work of governance continues.
History has never been kind to those who mocked reformers before the results became evident. Many of the leaders celebrated today were heavily criticized while implementing difficult policies.
Dalung is free to oppose the President. That is his democratic right. What he is not entitled to is a monopoly on truth or a revisionist account of recent history that absolves his generation of leaders from responsibility.
For many supporters of PBAT, Solomon Dalung’s endless attacks have little to do with patriotism and everything to do with relevance. Having lost political traction, he appears determined to climb back into the spotlight by dragging the very man who is carrying the burden of rebuilding Nigeria.
In the end, Nigerians will judge both men. They will judge Tinubu by the success of his reforms and the impact of his leadership. They will judge Dalung by the value of his contributions to national discourse. As things stand today, one man is working to transform Nigeria, while the other seems content chasing relevance by dragging PBAT at every opportunity.
Chuks Oyema is National Coordinator, APC Grassroots Governance Group APC G3
