By Chief Chuckie Nneji
I read with keen interest Citizen Bolaji Akinyemi’s strongly worded essay “The Cost of Keeping Wike: When Political Loyalty Becomes a National Liability and International Embarrassment.”
It was eloquent, impassioned, and charged with moral outrage.
Yet, beyond the fire of rhetoric lies a basic question: in a political culture like ours, can we afford to confuse performance with personality?
Politics Is Not a Choir of Saints
If Donald Trump—whose excesses, insults, and controversies dwarfed anything attributed to Nyesom Wike—could still be rewarded by American voters with a second term, then we must admit that leadership everywhere is a contest of results, not perfection.
Politics, like war, are fought by imperfect men pursuing practical outcomes.
Governor Wike was never introduced into Tinubu’s government as a choirboy; he was brought in as a bulldozer—one who clears the road where bureaucracy and timidity have clogged progress.
Since his appointment, the Federal Capital Territory has begun to look and feel like a real capital again: cleaner roads, revived infrastructure, enforcement of planning laws, and visible discipline in the civil service.
You may not like his voice, but you cannot deny his value.
The Calculus of Political Survival
President Tinubu’s decision to bring Wike into the cabinet was not an act of charity; it was an act of calculation.
In Nigeria’s fractured political map, cross-party inclusion is not moral compromise—it is a strategic necessity.
The FCT had long resisted the APC’s grip, and Wike’s presence changed that dynamic almost overnight.
He became both an enforcer and a bridge—a man who knows how to turn power into structure.
Those who insist that Wike’s behavior is an embarrassment miss the larger arithmetic of governance.
If tomorrow Wike is gone, who within the APC hierarchy can replace his reach, his fearlessness, and his ability to deliver strategic terrain for 2027?
Politics rewards usefulness, not politeness.
When Optics Trump Context
Critics focus on Wike’s temperament, but politics is not etiquette training.
The same bluntness that offends some is the energy that delivers progress in a system allergic to discipline.
History is full of “difficult” reformers—Jerry Rawlings in Ghana, Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, —men who were called arrogant until their results forced admiration.
Wike’s clashes with bureaucrats and uniformed officers should be viewed through the lens of systemic dysfunction.
Too many institutions in Nigeria operate without clarity of boundaries.
His outbursts, while avoidable, expose the friction between assertive leadership and weak institutions.
Blaming him alone is treating a fever while ignoring the infection.
Morality and the Myth of Perfection
We love to moralize about leadership, yet our institutions reward mediocrity more than merit.
No administration in history has been composed of saints; even democracies in the West tolerate imperfection in pursuit of stability.
If the United States could endure Trump, and Britain could survive Boris Johnson’s “Partygate,” Nigeria can certainly accommodate a tough minister who delivers tangible outcomes.
Let us be clear: morality in governance is not about smiles and handshakes; it is about service and accountability.
Wike’s assertiveness may irritate some elites, but for many ordinary Nigerians, he represents action over excuses.
Institutions, Not Individuals, Need Repair
The real problem is not that Wike is too strong; it is that our institutions are too weak.
If the civil service, the police, and local councils functioned efficiently, no minister would wield such overwhelming influence.
So long as the system remains dependent on personalities to work, Nigeria will continue to produce strongmen—because weak systems invite them.
Rather than demonize Wike, we should demand that Tinubu strengthens the structures beneath him.
When institutions stand firm, even the loudest personality must obey their limits.
Performance as Political Currency
In politics, perception matters—but performance sustains it.
Tinubu’s administration needs visible doers, not silent philosophers.
Wike, with all his theatrical flair, is one of the few ministers who project, movement, energy, and measurable output.
Firing him to please critics would hand opponents both ammunition and narrative.
Reforming his excesses while retaining his drive would show the wisdom of balance.
The President’s real challenge is to convert Wike’s energy into institutional legacy—so that Abuja’s progress becomes a model, not a controversy.
Context Before Condemnation
Those who call Wike a liability forget that even tyrants sometimes become tools for reform.
History rarely remembers who was polite—it remembers who got things done.
Leadership, in the end, is judged by what it leaves behind, not how softly it spoke.
If Tinubu dismisses Wike today, it may win him applause from moral critics but weaken his coalition tomorrow.
If he retains him but insists on greater decorum and accountability, it demonstrates control, not compromise.
Final Reflection: A Lesson in Realpolitik
Politics is about managing contradictions.
Wike embodies one—flawed but formidable, brash yet effective.
His presence challenges the President to balance passion with prudence, loyalty with law, and ambition with accountability.
If Trump could survive his storms, Tinubu can certainly navigate Wike’s waves.
The question is not whether Wike talks too loudly; it is whether Nigeria listens too shallowly.
Until we learn to separate noise from value, we will keep losing doers to talkers and exchanging performance for pretense.
*Chief Chuckie Nneji (Odibo Oha II na NkanuLand)
