A nation ravaged by inflation, joblessness, insecurity, and an overwhelming cost of living crisis, words matter. On June 12, 2025 Democracy Day Nigerians didn’t expect magic, but they hoped for empathy. What they got instead was a soundbite that landed like a hammer on a bruised nation. On Democracy Day, instead of a show of leadership, President Tinubu told Nigerians. 

“Call me any name, I am not here to make you happy.” This, from the President of a country in distress.

Those words landed like salt on fresh wounds.

 This, on a day meant to honour the resilience of a people who once fought tyranny, now battling hunger.

For the millions sitting in the dark, skipping meals, trekking to work, struggling to pay rent, and watching their dreams corrode under harsh policies, the President’s tone struck a raw nerve. It wasn’t just what he said it was what he refused to acknowledge. He spoke of the heroes of democracy, praised those who had laid down their lives for freedom, and even nodded to judicial reforms and a promise of a new minimum wage. But what of the mother who cannot afford to feed her children? The teacher walking kilometres because transportation is now luxury? The graduate selling sachet water by the roadside or doing Okada? What was said to them?

Instead of reassurance, there was resistance. Instead of comfort, confrontation. At the very moment when people needed a balm, a leader chose a shield. It is one thing to be realistic, another to be cold. No apology was made for the pain Nigerians are enduring due to policy shifts. No specific commitment to short-term relief. No acknowledgement of the suffering tied to fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation, skyrocketing food prices, or mass layoffs. Just a promise that the future will be better somehow if we endure.

To be fair, the President outlined ambitious plans.A new minimum wage is supposedly being negotiated, investments are being attracted, economic growth is projected. But none of these points mean much if the people don’t believe as hunger spreads. Trust is not earned through hard truths alone,it is forged in the fire of empathy, in the courage to stand with your people not only in vision but in vulnerability.

There is a kind of leadership that speaks to the head. But Nigeria today needs one that also speaks to the heart. What Tinubu missed on Democracy Day was the opportunity to unify, to assure, to demonstrate emotional intelligence in a time of national fragility. Instead, his words deepened a percep8tion already swelling in the streets.That those in power live far from the reality of the people.

Democracy Day should not be a rhetorical exercise. It should be a reaffirmation of the social contract,a day when the government pledges not just allegiance to power, but compassion toward its people. When the highest office holder shows he sees and hears the cries beneath the statistics, beyond the GDP projections.

Mr. President, Nigerians are not asking for smiles and sound bites. They are asking for survival. They are asking that the government recognize that policies no matter how well-intentioned must be paired with palliatives, that reforms must be explained and cushioned, and that silence on suffering is not strength. We do not want a happy leader. We want a humane one.

Tough talk isn’t enough,democracy day isn’t a therapy day.

You evoked the memory of MKO Abiola. Then act like him. He died for the dream that Nigeria could be better. Don’t bury that dream with defiant sound bites. Dig it up with real action, human sensitivity, and a new tone that says not, “Call me any name,” but “I see you”. I feel your pain. And I will not let go of your hand.”

Democracy survives not by speeches, but by how those in power treat the powerless. So speak again, sir. Speak with empathy. And this time, speak like a leader who truly understands what it means to govern in a democracy.

On Democracy Day, words carry weight. Now, Mr. President, we need words that heal  followed by deeds that deliver. That is democracy in action.

Vanguard News