As Nigerians Struggle, 2027 Campaign Billboards for Tinubu Spread Nationwide

As gunshots ring through the outskirts of Abuja and people die from hunger across Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s glowing face smiles down from massive billboards dotting the nation’s capital.

Tinubu 2027: Renewed Hope Continues,” the banners read.

But for tens of millions of suffering Nigerians, that hope has long expired, replaced by despair, insecurity, and growing outrage. Even more disturbing is how this premature re-election campaign is being paired with an aggressive effort to control Nigeria’s media narrative. From street corners to news headlines, Tinubu’s government appears to be running a dual campaign, one to secure political survival and another to erase dissenting voices by buying favourable press coverage and drowning out criticism amid a national crisis.

In what many are calling an unprecedented abuse of power, there has been a pattern of government-sponsored editorial manipulations, where mainstream Nigerian outlets are quietly paid to promote Tinubu’s image ahead of the 2027 elections, even as the country spirals further into economic ruin and mass violence.

They’re campaigning with propaganda while we bury our children. Those billboards are a slap in the face” citizens say.

While official spokespersons claim the campaign posters were erected by “support groups,”  it’s hard to believe such a widespread branding effort, including video jingles, pro-Tinubu documentaries, and opinion pieces, could exist without state coordination. Especially when state funds are suspiciously absent in places where they’re truly needed:

Food relief, security, hospitals, and schools.

At the same time, several national newspapers, online blogs, and television stations have begun running sponsored content praising Tinubu’s policies, dismissing criticism of his administration, and framing his second term as “a historic necessity.” In return, these media houses allegedly receive exclusive access to government advertising contracts, political interviews, and other financial incentives.

While the press is being paid to smile, the country bleeds.

In just the last few months, attacks by bandits and insurgents have killed over 200 people in Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, and even the FCT outskirts. In Abuja’s Gwagwalada and Kuje districts, kidnappers operate freely.

State visits, especially the recent condolence mission to Benue State following a deadly massacre, have been cynically engineered into planned campaign stops. Instead of genuine mourning visits, these official trips have been repackaged as political theatre:

Local government supporters facing the cameras with pre-printed banners, cheering youth groups, and staged photo‑ops with condolence journals emblazoned with Tinubu’s smiling visage.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s economic condition continues to deteriorate. With over 133 million people living in multidimensional poverty, and basic food items like rice and yams out of reach for most families, the country is facing one of the worst hunger crises in decades. Inflation stands at over 34 per cent, and food inflation exceeds 40 per cent. But, the dominant stories on television screens are about “economic progress” and “transformative leadership.”

There is a genocide of truth happening in Nigeria. We are watching a regime use starvation as a silencing tool, and the press is playing along.

In several cases, columnists known for criticising Tinubu’s economic reforms have disappeared from national dailies, replaced by ghostwritten tributes to the president’s “visionary leadership.”

What makes this all the more insulting to Nigerians is the tone-deafness of the campaign itself. In areas where terrorists have sacked entire villages and residents forced into IDP camps, Tinubu’s smiling face greets them on highway signs and urban billboards. Not one food truck. Not one condolence visit. Just branding.

It’s like putting perfume on a corpse, they are rebranding national failure.

Opposition parties have condemned the premature 2027 campaign as both unconstitutional and unethical, particularly when conducted amid a humanitarian crisis. But the Tinubu-led government has so far shown no intention of slowing down.

On the contrary, sources in the APC say internal funds are already being raised to “dominate the narrative through 2026.” Back in Abuja, where the streets grow darker and emptier by the day, residents watch as state-sponsored billboards glow brightly through the night, while electricity is rationed and water is scarce.

Hunger has been normalised. Gunfire is now background noise. And the only thing more terrifying than the insecurity outside is the deliberate dishonesty now echoing from the nation’s media.

Tinubu is not preparing for an election. He’s preparing a nation for collapse, while making sure no one reports it honestly.

If there was any remaining doubt about the real legacy of this government, it may be summed up in this chilling paradox:

Nigeria is starving, but the campaign is well-fed.

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