Our Story
Today is July 2025
Ten years ago, I was fortunate to travel to America on a partial scholarship. I vividly remember trying to raise money for my air ticket, paying around 150 thousand naira for my return flight. Today, that same flight in Nigeria would cost me around 2 million naira. The stark reality is that this increase isn’t due to a radical rise in dollar price the same ticket but a 2000% depreciation in the value of the naira, to put this in context if you saved 1.5 million in 2015 it would have been worth 10,000 today that same 1.5million naira is now worth 1000 thousand dollars.
This is a classic middle class story to depict the state of things. I could share numerous doomsday statistics about Nigeria and Africa as a continent, the reality is that all is not well, things are no longer at ease.
What’s glaring is to most Africans is that no matter how hard you work to provide your family and loved ones, the poor decisions made by those in power continue to undermine your efforts, you constantly lag behind your peers globally from earning power to quality of life.
The story of Africa’s 54 countries is one of democracies, politics, and leadership that have consistently failed to meet the expectations of its citizens. It’s clear that our abundant resources are useless in getting us out of this mess because the growth of any nation depends on its ability to harness and unlock its resources for development. This ability is directly tied to the quality of its politics and governance.
Politics and the quality of governance surpasses everything. It surpasses the private sector, families, your aspirations, our natural and human resources — it just trumps everything.
Powered by this realization, I came to the conclusion that I have two options: I can either wake up and fix politics or continue to be a victim.
This is why I founded Mandate 4, a full-service nation-building agency with 4 mandates,
Our thesis at Mandate 4 is built on the premise that an engaged, empowered, and enlightened citizenry, served by a values-based and competent leaders and elite who prioritize citizen interests above their own, supervised and regulated by strong institutions, are the pillars of a thriving democracy. This democracy will consistently meet the expectations and aspirations of citizens like you and me.
Our goal is to reshape Africa’s political and governance landscape by creating a democratic space that empowers citizens, institutions, and values-based leaders to operate according to our thesis. Together, we tackle complex governance and socioeconomic challenges, address systemic issues, and build prosperous nations and states.
Welcome to Mandate 4—nation-building is what we do.