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| President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu |
As Nigeria’s political class begins the long, noisy march toward the 2027 general elections, a pro-Tinubu organisation is moving early to shape the narrative of the current administration. The PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, a grassroots network mobilising support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s expected re-election bid, has announced it will unveil a book on 5 November 2026 that seeks to present the president’s first three-and-a-half years as a coherent programme of structural reform rather than a series of isolated, often painful, policy shocks.
The volume, titled The Courage of Forum: Architecture of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Beyond 2027: Statecraft and Vision for National Renewal, will be launched at the Bola Ahmed International Conference Centre in Abuja. According to organisers, the book is intended as both a record of policy and a political statement: that the difficult decisions of 2023–2026 form the necessary foundation for long-term national recovery.
From Campaign Promises to Contested Reality
Tinubu assumed office in May 2023 on a platform that promised economic reset, security improvements and institutional reform. Within days of inauguration he removed the decades-old fuel subsidy, floated the naira, and began a series of fiscal and monetary adjustments that sent inflation soaring, compressed household purchasing power and triggered widespread public discontent.
Supporters argued the moves were unavoidable after years of fiscal haemorrhage; critics said the social safety nets were too thin and the sequencing too abrupt.
Nearly three and a half years later, the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement is attempting to reframe that turbulent period. At a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Jethro Annum, Secretary of the Central Planning Committee for the book presentation, described the work as “a compendium of giant strides” that examines major policy decisions, their objectives, the challenges encountered, and their longer-term implications for Nigeria’s development trajectory.
Annum listed the core subjects covered: fuel subsidy removal, comprehensive tax reforms, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), financial autonomy for local governments, the creation of Forest Guards, the proposal for state police, and various market liberalisation measures. These, he said, reflect the administration’s stated commitment to restructuring public finance, expanding access to education, strengthening grassroots governance, addressing insecurity and fostering a more competitive economy.
Context and Counter-Narratives
The book arrives at a politically sensitive moment. Opposition parties are already consolidating messaging around the cost-of-living crisis, insecurity in several regions, and questions about the pace and equity of economic recovery. Independent analysts note that while revenue from oil and non-oil sources has improved in nominal terms and the fiscal deficit has narrowed relative to earlier projections, real incomes for many households remain under pressure and poverty metrics have not yet shown decisive improvement.
By packaging the administration’s record as an “architecture” of reform, the PBAT group is doing more than celebrating policy. It is attempting to pre-empt the 2027 campaign debate by defining success on its own terms: courage in the face of short-term pain, structural change over populist continuity, and a long-term vision that extends “beyond 2027.” The title’s emphasis on “statecraft and vision for national renewal” signals an effort to elevate the discussion from immediate economic hardship to questions of institutional design and generational strategy.
Similar efforts have appeared in previous Nigerian election cycles. Incumbent administrations and their allies frequently publish mid-term reviews or “achievement reports” that seek to set the terms of political debate before formal campaigning intensifies. What distinguishes this project is its explicit framing as a forward-looking blueprint rather than a simple scorecard, and its timing more than a year before the next presidential poll.
What the Book Claims to Examine
According to Annum, the volume does not merely list initiatives; it analyses the reasoning behind them and the obstacles encountered. Subsidy removal, for example, is presented as a necessary correction to a system that disproportionately benefited smugglers and the wealthy while starving the budget of resources for infrastructure and social investment. Tax reforms are framed as an attempt to broaden the revenue base and reduce over-reliance on oil. NELFUND is positioned as a shift toward sustainable higher-education financing. Local-government autonomy and the push for state police are described as steps toward genuine federalism and more responsive security architecture. Forest Guards are linked to efforts to reclaim ungoverned spaces used by bandits and insurgents.
Whether the book engages seriously with the human and economic costs of these policies—or with independent assessments of their implementation—will determine its credibility beyond the circle of committed supporters. At present, the organisers have offered only high-level descriptions.
Political Significance of the Launch
The choice of venue—the Bola Ahmed International Conference Centre—and the deliberate use of the president’s full honorific title reinforce the project’s political character. The PBAT Door-to-Door Movement itself operates as a mobilising structure rather than a formal party organ, focusing on direct community engagement. Launching a substantial publication allows the group to move beyond door-to-door canvassing into the realm of ideas and historical documentation.
For the broader political environment, the book serves several functions. It provides talking points for pro-Tinubu organisers. It seeks to create an official or semi-official narrative that can be referenced throughout the campaign season. And it signals to potential allies and fence-sitters that the president’s camp intends to defend the reform agenda rather than retreat from it.
Independent observers will watch closely for the quality of the analysis, the range of voices included, and whether the text acknowledges trade-offs and unfinished business. Nigerian political literature is littered with celebratory volumes that age poorly once new data or subsequent administrations reassess the record. A more rigorous treatment—one that grapples with inflation’s impact on the poor, the uneven recovery across regions, and the still-incomplete security picture—would carry greater weight.
Looking Toward 2027
With formal campaigning still months away, the November 2026 launch is an early marker in what is expected to be a fiercely contested election cycle. The PBAT Door-to-Door Movement is betting that a carefully framed account of “courageous” reform can help convert short-term hardship into a longer-term political asset. Whether Nigerian voters ultimately accept that framing will depend less on the book’s existence than on measurable improvements in living standards, security and institutional performance between now and election day.
For now, the announcement itself is a clear signal: Tinubu’s supporters intend to fight the next election not only on the streets and in the communities, but also in the realm of narrative and historical interpretation. The book The Courage of Forum is their opening contribution to that contest.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers Global, News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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