Former Minister of Power and Steel, Elder Wole Oyelese, has warned that Nigeria is edging dangerously close to a national implosion as corruption festers, morality declines, and the masses continue to suffer in silence.
In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, the elder statesman and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the country is “sitting on a moral volcano,” cautioning that if leaders fail to act decisively, public anger could soon erupt.
“Each act of injustice, every looted fund, and every display of indifference to the suffering of the people adds heat to that volcano,” Oyelese declared. “When leadership loses its conscience, the governed will eventually rise—not out of disloyalty, but because they can no longer breathe.”
He decried the trend of shielding corrupt officials and quietly writing off stolen billions while millions of Nigerians go hungry. According to him, “Nothing threatens a nation more than when thieves become kings and the law becomes their protector.”
Oyelese urged President Bola Tinubu to “step on toes, no matter how large,” and confront entrenched corruption with courage, warning that Nigeria “cannot survive on selective courage.”
He also criticised state governors for what he described as the “emperorship mentality” that has overtaken public office, arguing that with huge monthly allocations, no governor has the moral right to shift blame to Abuja for poor governance.
“The people are hungry and angry, but not foolish,” he cautioned. “Their silence must not be mistaken for consent or cowardice.”
The former minister called for genuine social intervention and full local government autonomy to restore development at the grassroots. He maintained that President Tinubu must “do the needful” to ensure administrative and financial independence for local councils.
“Local Government Autonomy is not a constitutional ornament—it is the lifeline of democracy,” Oyelese said. “When councils are free to function, development breathes again, and hope returns to the villages and towns.”
He urged political leaders to recover the moral compass of leadership before it is too late, warning that “those who sit atop the mountain of privilege must remember that when the base erupts, it swallows the peak.”
“The poor do not want revenge; they want relief,” he concluded. “Let us heal this nation before frustration turns to fury. True social intervention begins with a morality-fueled conscience.”
