WHEN THE TABLE TURNS, BE CAREFUL

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By BUKAR Mohammed

In the turbulent theatre of Nigerian politics, power is never permanent. It shifts, it rolls—and when it turns, it often comes with a storm.

The North stood behind Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, not with hesitation, but with full conviction. It wasn’t a passive endorsement. Northerners campaigned vigorously, silenced opposition from within, and even went as far as betraying their own to ensure his presidency was actualized.

But what did they get in return?

For the elites: a knife in the back, dressed in the robes of vendetta politics.
For the masses: insecurity, poverty, and hunger.
For the North as a region: brutal sidelining—where the most competent were ignored, and the most useless among them were placed in positions of power.

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The judiciary? Captured.
The legislature? Rendered a puppet.
The promises of renewed hope? Now bitter pills swallowed daily.

Even the South, who might assume they are now the inner circle, should take a closer look: their traditional institutions weakened, their cultural symbols defiled, and the appointments handed to them more tokenistic than transformative.

And here lies the deeper question: Have you ever imagined what you dished out in Rivers happening to Lagos and Ogun?

The weaponization of institutions.
The betrayal of the very voices that gave you legitimacy.
The arrogant dismissal of others—as if tomorrow won’t come.

Have you stopped to imagine what that looks like when it’s your turn?

Be careful.

The North does not forget. The Fulanis do not forgive lightly. The Gobirs—fierce and loyal—don’t beg. And the Hausas, with their boundless energy and courage, don’t stay quiet forever.

This is not a threat. It is a mirror. A call to rethink.
To govern with equity.
To remember that no throne is eternal.

Today, you rule. Tomorrow, another will.
And the same institutions you captured may be used against you.
The same masses you ignored may rise.
The same North you pushed aside may return—but this time, with an agenda born not of support, but of reckoning.

Govern wisely. Balance the scale. Respect every region.
Or else, when the table turns—and it will—what you served may be returned tenfold.

When the table turns… be careful.

Yoruba Ronu!!

Bukar Mohammed is a public analyst from Kano.