A former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has warned that the attempt by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu to silence opposition in the country will backfire, saying the country cannot survive when the voices of dissents are being silent.
George also warned the president to seek the “truth’ about what’s really going on in the country, saying his aides have been lying to him that all is well in the country.
The Elder statesman made the assertion in a letter to President Tinubu, warning him not to confuse “control for strength”, adding that what is currently happening in the polity has become a source of worry for many well-meaning many Nigerians.
According to George, there are indications that the administration is gradually trying to suppress the opposition, saying the action poses a danger to the country because “Democracy cannot survive where opposition is weakened, ridiculed, or systematically neutralised.”
He stressed that the president has surrounded himself with sycophants who are telling him all is well in the country, whereas what is on the ground is very different from what they tell him, warning that the country is under a serious “economic strain” that has pushed the people to the limit, noting that the current situation “cannot afford political provocation.”
“Mr. President, history is littered with leaders who mistook control for strength. They surrounded themselves with applause, silenced criticism, and dismissed warnings until reality corrected them, often irreversibly. I request you fervently not to walk that path,” George said.
“The assumption that power can be consolidated without consequence is a grave miscalculation. The belief that influence, patronage, or financial leverage can substitute for justice and fairness is equally flawed.
“As one of the global economic thinkers, Professor Ross Gittins rightly observed societies do not find stability in material appeasement alone. As, material incentives and political patronage do not create lasting satisfaction or loyalty. Money does not define leadership and cannot buy legitimacy. It cannot command respect, and certainly cannot secure legacy.
What sustains leadership is trust and trust is built on fairness, equity, transparency and justice. Today, that trust is under pressure.
”Nigerians are not merely concerned they are watching.
They are burdened by economic hardship, rising costs, and a growing sense of uncertainty. In such a climate, any perception rightly or wrongly of political suppression becomes combustible.
“Let me be unequivocal:
a nation under economic strain cannot afford political provocation. This is how instability begins not suddenly, but gradually through decisions that appear strategic in the moment but prove destructive in consequence.
“Mr. President, you stand at a decisive crossroad. You can choose to correct course, strengthen democratic institutions, and restore national confidence.
”Or you can allow the current trajectory to continue, one that risks deepening division and inviting consequences that no administration can fully control.
“There is also a matter of counsel. Those who tell you that all is well, those who dismiss legitimate concerns, who encourage aggressive political consolidation, who interpret caution as weakness are not safeguarding your leadership; they are endangering it.
Leadership demands the courage to hear the truth, not just loyalty. Let me remind you: Power is temporary. History is permanent. No leader escapes the judgement of history.
”The question is not whether your tenure will end; it will end.
The question is how it will be remembered,” he said.
