THE ROAR AFTER THE SILENCE: ATIKU’S REVIVAL WILL SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF A FAILED STATE. Aare Amerijoye DOT.B

The silence that followed “The work is not yet finished” was not peace, it was an interlude before the storm, and now the storm is coming. Nigeria cannot stay in this zombified limbo, limping under the carcass of an administration whose only energy is in deceit, whose only achievement is the art of failure.

The APC has detonated democracy, scattered the pieces across the land, and left the people to scramble over the wreckage. But some wreckage is alive, ready to explode with possibility. We wrote of a grand unfinished mission, now we stand at the pivot, the moment that will either bury Nigeria’s greatness forever or resurrect it in a blaze the world cannot ignore.

Before APC’s collapse began, this nation was a steady climb, shaky but ascending. Obasanjo and Atiku had built within the storm, institutions, policy frameworks, a sense that Nigeria was reclaiming its own soul. Now, all those pillars lie battered. The judiciary is manipulated, the legislature is cowed, the media is muzzled, the people are hollowed. This is no longer misgovernance, it is structural decay, it is systemic sabotage, it is a theft of destiny. Yet, the question must now be asked with the tremor of urgency, can we reclaim the state before the state destroys us entirely?

In every generation, history demands a crucible, a leader who faces the inferno and walks through it. Atiku Abubakar is being called into that crucible. He must stop being the nostalgic standard-bearer of what once was and become the fierce architect of what must be. To finish the job, Atiku must now reforge national identity, because Nigeria’s fracturing along ethnic, religious, and regional lines is the greatest threat.

He must articulate a unifying creed that tells Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Tiv, you are Nigeria, you matter in the whole.

He must slay the patronage systems that divide us and resurrect citizenship as sacred.

He must deploy crisis governance, because this will not be ordinary leadership of speeches and photo ops.

Atiku must govern like one inheriting a house on fire, with triage, urgency, and ruthless focus. He must place performance above politics, competence above calculation, integrity above intrigue. He must reindustrialize and reengage the youth, because the catastrophic dropout of Nigeria’s youth into despair, radicalization, or exodus is our greatest hemorrhage. He must wind back the clock on failing tertiary systems, but also launch mass apprenticeship, tech hubs in every region, and youth dividends that are not handouts but stakeholdings.

He must redraw the security blueprint. Boko Haram, banditry, herders’ crises, these are not separate wars, they are symptoms of a collapsed security architecture. The next phase must be regional strike forces, intelligence fusion, border security reimagined, and accountability for generals who fail.

He must build macro credibility, because no investor will trust Nigeria while the naira is collapsing, debt spiraling, and policy flip-flopping.

From day one, he must reestablish macro anchors. Prudence must become his currency. He should appoint technocrats, not sycophants, impose fiscal discipline, not political largesse. Electoral integrity must be his redemption, because the APC’s destruction of democracy will be perpetuated if the blueprint is not reversed. Atiku must marshal a coalition not of ethnicity but of justice, one that refuses stolen votes, rigged tribunals, and gaslighting of the electorate. He must make free elections not a slogan, but a sacrament.

Let no one mistake this as mere politics, the stakes are apocalyptic. If Nigeria fails, the entire region crumbles, economies collapse, refugees surge, wars spill. If Nigeria succumbs to kleptocracy and chaos, the dream of African self-determination dies in its cradle. If we allow this moment to slip, to be swallowed by fatigue, cynicism, or compromise, then our children will inherit not just a broken state but a cursed one.

The APC has already delivered us this warning, when the ruling party’s rot is deeper than the foundation, no amount of scaffolding will hold. They have shown us what happens when democracy is emptied. Now, they must also show us what happens when it is resurrected.

This is not Atiku’s fight alone. The nation must be the army. Writers, students, activists, traditional rulers, clergy, labour, every agent of conscience must fan this flame into inferno. Speak, mobilise, refuse compliance with the rotting order. The silent majority must no longer whisper, it must roar. The narrative must pivot from “we are victims” to “we are architects.” Every local government headquarters, every market square, every school yard must become a pulpit of awakening. Let the PDP, let the opposition, let the betrayed masses unite under the banner that Nigeria will not die on this watch.

Obasanjo’s words are not a footnote, they are a nuclear fuse tied to Nigerian destiny. The unfinished business is not a slogan, it is a moral debt owed to our ancestors and owed to our children. Atiku Abubakar is not a messiah, but he may become a martyr or a hero depending on the choices he makes now. Will he cower behind corridors of power, or step into the trenches of history?

Will he be reactive or revolutionary? Will he finish the work, or watch the work finish him? Nigeria is bleeding, the APC has bled us dry, but blood can be redemptive if channelled into restoration.

Rise Nigeria, this is our hour, this is our reckoning, this is the point of no retreat. The unfinished work demands completion, the bell of duty tolls. Let the storm come, let it shatter what must be shattered, let it cleanse what must be cleansed. Then, on the other side, let us build. Let the work be finished, not by accident, not by illusion, but by will, by vision, by victory.

Aare Amerijoye DOT.B

Director General

The Narrative Force