The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike is not merely a disgrace to his office; he is a disgrace to the very idea of governance. Even by Nigeria’s tragic standards of official misconduct, it takes a particularly virulent strain of arrogance, entitlement, and moral bankruptcy to commit the scale of abuse and land-grabbing spree, currently unfolding under the watch of Wike. In a country long brutalized by theft masquerading as leadership, Wike has not just crossed the line of impropriety; he has incinerated it, salted the earth beneath it, and declared himself king over the ruins. In a country sinking under the weight of corruption, this isn’t just greed or corruption. This is looting. Naked, shameless looting, that goes beyond greed. This is genocidal elitism – a total annihilation of fairness, and betrayal of the public trust.
Since assuming office in August 2023, Wike has weaponized his position as FCT Minister and turned the Federal Capital Territory into a personal estate – allocating over 2,000 hectares of prime Abuja land – not for the public good, not for development – but to his son through a shell company registered just days before the allocations began. Wike did not even pay for the land. He did so without paying a kobo in statutory fees; no ground rent, no title registration, no survey costs; just a signature and the impunity of a man who knows no one will stop his flagrant violation of the public service codes and the Nigerian Constitution. This is not governance. This is not policy. This is national cannibalism.
The scale of the theft is staggering. Officials estimate the lands gifted to Joaquin Wike are conservatively worth over $3.6 billion – yes, billion; a fortune stolen from the people of Nigeria under the pretense of ministerial discretion. In areas like Maitama, Guzape, Asokoro, and Gaduwa, these allocations have displaced ordinary citizens and even diplomatic missions. Like a modern-day Pharaoh building dynasties on the backs of the dispossessed, Wike has turned the Federal Capital Territory into a plantation, its fertile fields fertilized with the shattered hopes of middle-class families, diplomats, civil servants, and generations unborn. He stole lands from honest Nigerians families and gave them to his son so he could become the crown prince of confiscation. He seized land previously granted to the Austrian embassy – a diplomatic atrocity – and reassigned it to himself. This is not governance. This is aristocratic pillage in broad daylight, and the president watches from his balcony in silence.
Even more repugnant is Wike’s callous response to internal warnings from aides, brushing off concerns with stunning hubris: “My goal is to make my children the largest landowners in Abuja.” This isn’t just a corruption scandal. This is a generational theft, a multi-billion-dollar heist of public assets repackaged as “allocations.” And to what end? To raise entitled political heirs, shielded from scrutiny, who will inherit not only stolen wealth but the machinery to repeat their father’s sins on a grander scale.
We are long past the age of subtlety. Every second Nyesom Wike remains in office, President Tinubu’s silence mutates into complicity. This is no longer a question of political loyalty – it is a question of whether the Nigerian state still exists as a moral entity. President Tinubu: Your Inaction Is an Indictment
Where is your outrage, Mr. President? Where is your leadership, your oath, your spine? The Nigerian Constitution you swore to uphold has been flouted, mocked, and set ablaze by a man you appointed. Article 5 of the Fifth Schedule prohibits exactly what Wike has done – the abuse of public office for personal gain. Yet here we stand, watching billions in public land reallocated to a teenager whose only qualification is being born to a thief.
Mr. President, the time for political cowardice has passed; this is a gut-check moment. And right now, your belly is hollow. It is not enough for the presidency to quietly “consider” a probe while Wike continues to act with impunity. This is not the moment for gentle rebukes, private calls, or selective silence. This is a national disgrace unfolding in real time, and it calls for decisive, public, and punitive action. Wike’s actions are a textbook violation of the constitution. Any further delay in his suspension or dismissal suggests complicity from the very top. Mr. President, your silence is deafening. Your indecision is beginning to look like approval.
For a man who campaigned on reform and competence, Tinubu’s failure to rein in one of the most corrupt actors in his cabinet raises grave doubts about his sincerity and legacy. Allow Wike to continue, and you open the floodgates for other ministers to feast on the carcass of public trust. You tell Nigerians that they are sheep, fit only to be slaughtered by an elite that feeds on their silence. You declare to the world that Nigeria is not a nation – it is a jungle ruled by hyenas in agbadas. But it does not have to be this way. You can choose to act. Not tomorrow. Not after the next political calculation. Now. Nigerians are watching. The world is watching. You cannot afford to shield Wike any longer. And let us be unequivocal: Wike is not a political asset; he is a liability of epic catastrophic proportions. His presence in the cabinet makes a mockery of every anti-corruption pledge Tinubu ever made. It sends a clear signal to other ministers: plunder what you can, so long as you can spin it as development.
What must be done immediately is to suspend Nyesom Wike pending a public and independent investigation. Besides, a criminal investigation involving EFCC, ICPC, and independent auditors should be conducted, including a full asset tracing of Joaq Farms & Estates Ltd. and any other proxy entities used by Wike or his family. In addition, all land allocations made under his tenure should be revoked and publish publicly, so that stolen lands can be returned to rightful owners or the public trust. And if any violations of public office codes or land use regulations are confirmed, Wike and his co-conspirators should be prosecuted under every applicable law. Let the word go forth from this day: Nigeria shall not be ruled by land thieves, nor will it be governed by cowards.
This moment is a crucible. Mr. President, if you fail to act, you do not just lose moral authority – you lose the republic. If Wike is allowed to carry on, the rot will metastasize. If Wike is allowed to walk away from this scandal untouched, it will set a terrifying precedent. The message will be clear: Nigeria is not a democracy, not a republic -but a playground for elites who treat national resources as personal inheritance. The disease of entitlement will infect your cabinet, your party, and your legacy. President Tinubu, history is not kind to kings who stood idle while their people were plundered. Enough is enough. Nyesom Wike must go; today, not tomorrow. Let the land be reclaimed from the clutches of this glutton in a minister’s robe. This Is a test of Tinubu’s integrity and Nigeria’s future. Speak now, or history will condemn you as the president who watched his nation be auctioned by one man; and did nothing. President Tinubu must decide now whether he stands with the Nigerian people or with the cabal of political profiteers who are bleeding this country dry. History will remember what he chose.
