Politics

5 Funny (But Painful) Lies Nigerians Told Themselves After the 2023 Elections

Published by Tope Fakinlede on July 30th, 2025.

5 Funny (But Painful) Lies Nigerians Told Themselves After the 2023 Elections

It’s 2025, and Nigerians are still battling outrageous food prices, fuel queues, and electricity that plays hide and seek. But let’s take a nostalgic trip back to 2023 — election season. Remember the optimism? The slogans? The confidence that “this time, e go different”?

Well… two years in, reality has humbled even the loudest believers. Here are five classic lies Nigerians told themselves after casting their votes — if any sound familiar, no shame, we were all in this together.

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🧠 1. “This One Na Real Change – He Go Blow Our Mind!”

People swore the new president would break the cycle — the political “Jagaban” who’d finally fix things. Fast-forward to today, and the only thing blowing minds is the ₦90,000 price tag on a bag of rice.

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💸 2. “Dollar Go Fall, Fuel Go Normalize”

Some folks had high hopes: “Dollar go reach ₦400, fuel go drop like it’s hot.” Instead, subsidy disappeared faster than salary alerts, and the economy said plot twist. The black market dollar rate? Let’s not cry today.

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🍅 3. “Food Go Cheap Once Him Enter”

Voters pictured markets overflowing with fresh, cheap produce. “Farmers go rejoice, tomatoes go dey like sand,” they claimed. Now, a small basket of tomatoes costs like a dinner at a fancy restaurant, and even pure water is doing luxury behavior.

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🔌 4. “Light, Data, Roads — Everything Go Work Sharp Sharp”

The manifesto said “power, roads, broadband for all.” Two years later, we’re still doing midnight battles with NEPA, mobile data finishes before Instagram loads, and Lagos potholes now qualify as tourist attractions.

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🌍 5. “Make We Support Our Own – E Go Better”

Tribal sentiments ran hot in 2023 — “Vote your brother, your sister, your tribe.” But now, hunger and hardship are serving everyone equally, with no regard for ethnicity. United we stand, divided by stress.

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📲 What Nigerians Are Saying Online:

@BigJollof: “If self-deception paid in dollars, we’d all be rich by now 😭”

@SabiTruth247: “We voted ‘premium suffering’ like it was a promo package. No cap.”

@LagosLandlord: “I planned to start a business under this government… now I’m dodging my POS girl.”

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Some lies are sweet at first, but 2025’s economy isn’t here for fantasies. Next time, maybe hope should come with receipts.