From a bustling highway to a humming airport and barracks, Tinubu’s name is being woven into the fabric of the nation’s public space.
Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu’s name has been attached to at least seven public facilities, including highways, airports, and military barracks. This trend has ignited discussions about the appropriateness of naming state-owned infrastructure after a sitting president, with critics questioning the timing and motives behind the decisions.
The Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), a procurement advocacy group, condemned the practice as “extreme sycophancy, unethical, and questionable.” The group argued that such renamings, while symbolic, raise concerns about propriety and the potential politicization of public assets under the current administration.
Here are seven notable places that have been plastered with the president’s name two years after he came into office.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MINNA
On March 10, 2024, Umar Bago, governor of Niger, renamed the Abubakar Imam International Airport in Minna, the state capital, after Tinubu.
The federal government had, in 2023, directed the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to rename 15 federal airports after notable Nigerians, including former president Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2023, Minna airport was named after Abubakar Imam, a Nigerian writer and journalist from Niger state, who pioneered the first Hausa-language newspaper in northern Nigeria. Less than a year after, the airport was renamed after Tinubu.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU WAY, ABUJA
On May 28, 2024, Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), named the Abuja Southern Parkway after Tinubu, following its completion.
The road stretches from the Christian Centre to Ring Road One and is considered one of the city’s major spines, complementing the northern parkway, the major arterial known as Sani Abacha road that runs across Mabushi and terminates at Life Camp.
BOLA TINUBU BUILDING, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
On May 29, 2024, the national assembly management named its library after Tinubu.
The construction of the library started during the 9th assembly under the chairmanship of Ahmed Lawan, then-senate president and Femi Gbajabiamila, former speaker of the house of representatives.
The library was almost at the completion stage before the 9th assembly ended its tenure in June 2023.
It was completed by the 10th assembly and inaugurated by Tinubu after it was renamed after him.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION COMPLEX (BATTIC)
On December 10, 2024, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) christened its command and control centre as Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex (BATTIC).