60 years after independence, Tinubu has handed Nigeria back to former colonial master – Suyi Ayodele

By KEMI KASUMU

“While the Tinubu camp has been busy celebrating the “historic” visit, they have not bothered to tell us at whose instance the ‘visit’ was arranged. How much did it cost Nigeria for the hired lobbyists to pull through the ‘State visit’? How much did it cost our purse in terms of estacode, logistics and other allowances to cater for the close to 150 delegates that ‘accompanied’ the President on this ‘visit’?”

A commentary by Suyi Ayodele, Nigerian Tribune columnist, has stirred debate after it criticized recent actions by Nigeria’s leadership.

In the column article published on Tuesday March 24, 2026, Ayodele argued that 64 years after Nigeria gained independence from United Kingdom on October 1, 1960, the country appears to be moving back toward undue foreign influence.

ALSO READ: History Tinubu should have learnt

He specifically accused President Bola Tinubu of “willingly handing over Nigeria to its former colonial master” following developments last week, though he did not provide detailed evidence in the quoted remark.

Many, however, believe that what Tinubu did not know is that by the state visit initiated by the UK royalty, he was being set up to sign Nigeria out and back to the former Great Britain amidst yet to be resolved controversy of tax reforms that, according to former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, will see Nigerians paying 25 percent of their earnings to a government that has no good plans either for their well-being or physical development of Nigeria.

The visit also took place with Tinubu not only relocating the Nigeria’s administration to the UK but also, sources said, he or his handlers organised money to the yet to be confirmed minimum amount of £5,000 to Nigerian students in the UK as a way of preparing the ground for possible event that Obedient group would stage a protest against him in the country.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, achieved independence from Great Britain in 1960 after decades of colonial rule. Since then, its relationship with the UK has evolved into diplomatic, economic, and cultural cooperation.

According to the article titled “History Tinubu have made”, Suyi Ayodele wondered, “How a government that claims to have made huge savings from oil subsidy removal still goes about acquiring foreign loans, as if borrowing is going out of fashion beats sane imagination.

“By January 22, 1962, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was a 10-year-old lad. His 73-year-old age claim gives that statistics. A child strapped on the mother’s back, our elders say, does not know that the journey is far. Tinubu, at age 10 in 1962, would not have been able to appreciate what the elders of that era did to save Nigeria from a second form of slavery.

“But a child, who did not witness history, it is equally said, should at least witness the retelling of history. A history retold, the elders further submit, is greater than the history itself (Bí omodé ò bá bá ìtàn, ó máa bá àróbá; àróbá ni baba ìtàn).

“Whatever Tinubu missed out in 1962, when the young independent Nigeria severed the military enslavement pact known in history as the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact of 1960, is contained in all our history books. Does the President read? Or do those around him read history so as to guide the President properly in his choices of international relations?

“Sixty-four years after the Nigerian Government fully detached itself from eternal open slavery to the United Kingdom (UK), after securing independence from Great Britain on October 1, 1960, President Tinubu, willingly, last week, handed over Nigeria to its former colonial master.

“From Wednesday through Friday, when he finally returned to Lagos, Tinubu, his wife and the close to 150 other entourage to the United Kingdom, were grinning from ear to ear in celebration of the “historic” moment. UK’s Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, while receiving Tinubu at the No 10 Downing Street, Westminster, London, said the visit was “historic” in that in the last 37 years, no Nigerian leader had paid such an official visit to the UK!

“For a government that is desperate for a second term and needs every appearance of international recognition or endorsement, visiting the UK and dining with King Charles and Queen Camilla by President Tinubu, is a huge achievement. Tinubu’s Lagos lap boy, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, summed up the feelings of the camp, when he became so enthusiastic about the visit, and tweeted, to the embarrassment of his media handlers, that: “I received His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu on his arrival at the Fairmont Hotel in Windsor ahead of the state visit.”

“Rather than the normal protocol of the host country receiving the visiting Head of State of another country, Tinubu’s boys were the same set of people who flew ahead of the President to receive him on the ‘official state visit’, and also flew back to line up like expectant primary school pupils to ‘receive’ the president when he returned to Lagos last Friday.

“While the Tinubu camp has been busy celebrating the “historic” visit, they have not bothered to tell us at whose instance the ‘visit’ was arranged. How much did it cost Nigeria for the hired lobbyists to pull through the ‘State visit’? How much did it cost our purse in terms of estacode, logistics and other allowances to cater for the close to 150 delegates that ‘accompanied’ the President on this ‘visit’?

“While we are at that, there is one troubling revelation that came from the visit. By the stroke of the pen, President Tinubu has signed off Nigeria as a new official colony of the UK. This is the summary of the two major agreements he signed while his ‘State visit’ lasted.

“The UK, no doubt, is a master of international diplomacy. From the era of colonialism to post-colonialism and neo-colonialism, the UK has never left anyone in doubt that it would only deal whenever it is sure that its economy and the wellbeing of the UK citizens are secured, protected and guaranteed with solid agreements.

“That was exactly what the UK achieved with Tinubu. The former colonial master proved that it would do anything to preserve its stranglehold on desperate nations headed by equally desperate leaders like Tinubu. So, when the UK saw the opportunity in the much-desired ‘State visit’ by Tinubu, the country recognised that the Nigerian leader needed, very badly, the UK endorsement. And it was willing to give it, but at a huge cost to Nigeria and Nigerians.

“That was why the agreement to ease migrant returns to Nigeria was proposed and Tinubu willingly signed. The British, I bet, must have looked into our President’s dilating eyeballs to read his desperation and concluded that under such a psychological composition, Tinubu would sign anything under the earth. And, true to type, our President did not disappoint!

“By that deal, Nigeria has agreed that the UK can easily remove people, who have no right to stay in the UK, and ship them to Nigeria! All that is required is for the UK Government to issue the UK Letter, an identification document detailing people without valid documents, and without the protocol of procuring any further travel documents, have them loaded to an aircraft en route to Nigeria!”