A heated argument between two Nigerians living in the United Kingdom has drawn attention online after they disagreed sharply over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s record in Lagos and the reforms implemented by his administration at the federal level.
One of the participants questioned Tinubu’s achievements during his tenure as Lagos State governor and challenged the claim that his current administration has delivered meaningful reforms.
“Tinubu didn’t do anything in Lagos. The only Governor that did a lot in Lagos is Lateef Jakande,” one of the participants said during the argument.
The speaker also criticised the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, questioning its pace and suggesting that the project could take decades to complete.
“He’s doing one coastal road that’s going to finish in about 30 years. Fuel is ₦1,400. What reforms has he done?” the participant asked.
The comments triggered a broader debate about Tinubu's political record, particularly the difference between his tenure as Lagos governor and his current role as President of Nigeria.
Tinubu served as governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007. His administration oversaw reforms in areas including internally generated revenue, transportation, urban planning and public-sector administration.
However, assessments of his Lagos record remain politically contested, with supporters pointing to institutional and revenue reforms while critics dispute the scale of his direct achievements.
The claim that the late Lateef Jakande was the only Lagos governor who achieved significant development is therefore a political opinion rather than an established historical conclusion.
Jakande, who governed Lagos from 1979 to 1983, is widely associated with mass housing, education, healthcare and public transportation initiatives during his administration.
At the federal level, Tinubu's administration has implemented several major economic policy changes since May 2023.
These include the removal of the petrol subsidy, foreign-exchange reforms aimed at unifying the exchange-rate system, the introduction and expansion of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme, and the establishment of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). The Presidency describes these measures as structural reforms intended to stabilise government finances and attract investment.
The government has also linked its economic programme to infrastructure projects, agricultural interventions, power-sector reforms and efforts to expand domestic refining and gas utilisation.
The effects of those policies, however, remain a subject of political and economic debate, particularly because the removal of the petrol subsidy contributed to a sharp increase in fuel and transportation costs.
The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the flagship infrastructure projects of the Tinubu administration.
The Federal Government describes the project as a 750-kilometre coastal corridor connecting Lagos with states across Nigeria's southern coastline. A completed stretch in Lagos was temporarily opened to traffic in December 2025.
The Presidency said in September 2026 that the 28-kilometre Ogun section of the highway was scheduled for completion before the end of 2026 and described the road as strategically important to the proposed Gateway Deep Seaport and Ogun Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.
There is no verified basis in the sources reviewed for the claim that the entire project will take 30 years to complete. The project's scale, multiple sections and construction schedule have nevertheless generated continuing public debate.
The argument also centred on petrol prices, with the participant citing a price of about ₦1,400 per litre as evidence of the pressure Nigerians continue to face.
The Tinubu administration has defended the subsidy removal as necessary to prevent further strain on public finances, while acknowledging that the policy created significant short-term hardship for households and businesses. The Presidency said the government has subsequently pursued measures such as CNG conversion and expanded domestic gas infrastructure to reduce transportation and energy costs.
The exchange between the two UK-based Nigerians ultimately reflected a much wider national debate: whether Tinubu's economic reforms should primarily be judged by the policies introduced, their infrastructure projects and longer-term objectives, or by their immediate effect on the cost of living.
The participants did not reach agreement, with the debate illustrating the sharply different views Nigerians continue to hold about Tinubu's record in Lagos and his performance as President.
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