Veteran northern political figure and Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party, has ignited nationwide debate after declaring that Nigeria has deteriorated so severely that only a return of British colonial rule could “sanitise” the country and restore order.
Speaking during an interview with AIT on Monday, Galadima said the Nigerian state has failed in critical areas including security, agriculture, democratic governance and rule of law, leaving the country on the brink.
“If they can’t secure this country, then let them ask Britain to come back and colonise us,” he said. “They should come back, enforce the rule of law, teach us democracy and stop corruption.”
Pressed on what Nigerians must do to alter the current trajectory, Galadima urged citizens to reject vote-buying, which he described as a catalyst for bad leadership.
“It’s very simple: don’t take their N200 and their Indomie,” he said. When the interviewer argued that poverty often makes vote-buying inevitable, Galadima replied sharply: “Then take it and suffer.”
The outspoken NNPP stalwart, who has spent decades in Nigeria’s political trenches, said citizens cannot evade responsibility for repeatedly electing failed leaders. Despite spiralling insecurity in the North that has forced thousands of farmers off their land, he said he still works on his own farm.
“If I stay at home, I die of hunger. If I go to the farm, maybe I survive,” he said.
Galadima accused the current administration of destroying local agriculture through border policies that favour importers. “A bag of beans is ₦25,000. How many must a farmer sell to buy one bag of fertilizer?” he asked, lamenting that farming has been “suffocated.”
Painting an alarming picture of Nigeria’s security decline, Galadima warned that even the capital is vulnerable.
“At the rate we are going, if bandits coordinate among themselves, they can take over Abuja,” he said. “If 500 motorcycles with three bandits on each come from Kaduna, Lokoja and Keffi, what military unit will stop them?”
Addressing the heated public discourse surrounding Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi, Galadima noted that Gumi once served in the Nigerian Army, saying: “He was a captain or a major.” While disagreeing with some of Gumi’s views, he insisted the cleric remains a Nigerian offering alternative ideas amid government inaction.
Galadima accused political elites of benefiting from chaos: “The right thing doesn’t bring money into pockets,” he said. He further argued that Nigerian leaders surround themselves with praise-singers rather than truth-tellers. “From sycophants and bootlickers, you will never hear the truth.”
Calling for drastic solutions, Galadima said Nigeria may require foreign mercenaries if the government is unwilling or unable to reclaim the country from bandits, corruption and institutional decay. His controversial remarks, including the call for recolonisation, were defended as patriotic rather than inflammatory.
“Does it matter whether it is a blue man, a black man or a yellow man who brings peace and puts food on your table?” he asked. “I am patriotic. That’s why I have the guts to say this.”
Galadima’s comments have since sparked intense reactions across the country, highlighting deepening public frustration over insecurity and governance failures.