Photo: The Punch
Another Presidential Hopeful, Another Set of Promises — But Wait
Every four years, Nigerians hear the same song. "I will fix insecurity." "I will end hunger." "I will create jobs." Then election comes and goes, and we're still queuing for fuel and checking our shoulders walking home at night. So when Dr Esther Okereke, the presidential candidate of the New Republicans Movement (NRM), stepped forward to promise Nigerians rescue from insecurity, hunger, and unemployment ahead of the 2027 elections, the immediate reaction from many Nigerians was — we don hear am before.
But here's the thing: before we dismiss every aspiring leader with the same cynicism, maybe we owe it to ourselves — as voters, as citizens who suffer the consequences — to actually examine what is being promised and whether any of it holds water. So let's do exactly that.
Who Is Dr Esther Okereke, and Why Should You Pay Attention?
Dr Esther Okereke is flying the NRM flag for the 2027 presidential race, and she's positioning herself as a credible alternative to Nigeria's two dominant political machines — the APC and the PDP. Now, the NRM is not exactly a household name in Nigerian political circles, and that alone raises questions about structure, reach, and resources. Politics in Nigeria, as we all know, is not just about ideas — it's about ground game, party machinery, and unfortunately, sometimes, how deep your pockets are.
That said, Okereke's emergence is significant because it adds a female voice — and a technocratic one at that — to what is shaping up to be a crowded 2027 presidential conversation. And her focus on three specific pain points — insecurity, hunger, and unemployment — shows she understands what is killing ordinary Nigerians every single day.
Let's Talk About the Promises — Are They Realistic at All?
Okereke has promised to tackle Nigeria's triple crisis of insecurity, hunger, and unemployment. These are not small promises. These are the three monsters sitting on the chest of every Nigerian family from Maiduguri to Makurdi. So how realistic are they?
On Insecurity: Nigeria is currently battling Boko Haram remnants in the Northeast, bandits in the Northwest, separatist tensions in the Southeast, farmer-herder conflicts across the Middle Belt, and kidnapping gangs along major highways. Any presidential candidate who claims they have a magic wand for all of this needs to explain — specifically — how. Broad declarations without concrete intelligence reform plans, military restructuring proposals, or community policing blueprints are just campaign noise. If Okereke has detailed security policy papers, those need to be made public for scrutiny.
On Hunger and Food Security: With inflation biting hard and the naira still struggling, food prices have become a nightmare for the average Nigerian. The promise to "rescue Nigeria from hunger" resonates deeply, but rescuing 220 million people from hunger requires massive agricultural investment, better rural infrastructure, input subsidies for smallholder farmers, and stable forex policy that doesn't make imported fertilizer cost like gold. Has NRM costed any of this? That's the real question.
On Unemployment: Nigeria's youth unemployment figures are staggering — some estimates put it above 40% when you factor in underemployment. Creating meaningful jobs requires industrialization, power sector reform (we're still talking about light in 2024!), and an enabling environment for Small and Medium Enterprises. Again — the promise sounds good, but the roadmap matters.
How Does Okereke Stack Up Against Other 2027 Hopefuls?
She's not alone in this race, and the field is already filling up with familiar and new faces. Here's how the conversation looks so far:
- Peter Obi (Labour Party): Obi is widely expected to run again, riding the Obidient wave from 2023. His economic messaging around productivity and fiscal discipline resonates with educated urban voters, but critics say he lacks political structure outside social media enthusiasm.
- Atiku Abubakar (PDP): The Turaki of Adamawa has run for president more times than most Nigerians have changed phones. His pitch is experience and Northern consolidation, but his credibility gap with younger voters remains a challenge.
- Rabiu Kwankwaso (NNPP): The Kwankwasiyya movement is strong in Kano and parts of the North, but national expansion has been slow. His working-class champion narrative is compelling, though.
- Rotimi Amaechi: The former Transport Minister and Rivers State Governor has been positioning himself quietly, with infrastructure credentials from his ministerial days, though controversy follows him closely.
- Dr Esther Okereke (NRM): Fresh face, specific focus areas, but needs to demonstrate party structure and funding capacity to be taken seriously beyond press releases.
In this crowd, Okereke's differentiation lies in her gender and her outsider status. But outsider status only works when backed by serious grassroots organizing — ask Peter Obi how 2023 felt without that structure.
The Real Problem With Presidential Promises in Nigeria
Let's be brutally honest with ourselves. The problem isn't that Nigerian politicians don't make good promises — they make excellent promises. The problem is accountability. There is no serious mechanism to hold a president to specific campaign pledges once they're sworn in. No independent promise-tracking body. No constitutional consequence for policy abandonment. Voters have no legal recourse when a president pivots 180 degrees after inauguration.
Until we build that culture of policy accountability — demanding manifestos, debating them publicly, tracking implementation — every presidential promise, whether from Okereke, Obi, Atiku, or whoever, deserves measured skepticism.
Final Verdict: Take Her Seriously, But Demand Details
Dr Esther Okereke entering the 2027 presidential conversation is not a bad thing — in fact, more voices with fresh perspectives can only enrich Nigeria's democratic discourse. Her focus on hunger, insecurity, and unemployment is spot-on because those are the issues keeping Nigerians awake at night.
But promising to fix these problems and actually fixing them are two very different things separated by a vast ocean of governance capacity, political will, and national resources. Nigerians have been burned too many times to accept slogans at face value.
So the challenge for Okereke and every other 2027 hopeful is simple: show us the work. Drop detailed, costed, time-bound policy plans. Build real party structure beyond social media. Engage communities — not just elites. And earn the trust that Nigerian voters have been withdrawing from politicians for decades.
2027 is still far, but the conversation has started. Na our vote, na our power — make we use am wisely.
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