Actor Okele Suggests ‘Signing’ Foreign Presidents to Fix Nigeria’s Economic Woes

|By Oko-Echem Agnes

Popular Nigerian actor Tunde Usman, better known as Okele, has sparked online conversation after suggesting that Nigeria should adopt a “football-style transfer” system by signing foreign presidents to tackle the nation’s economic crisis.

In a viral video shared on his Instagram page, Okele reacted to the soaring price of cooking gas and rising cost of living, proposing that Nigeria should recruit proven leaders from other countries—just as football clubs hire foreign coaches—to replace underperforming politicians.

Speaking in Yoruba, the comic actor lamented the worsening hardship faced by Nigerians and argued that if countries could hire foreign coaches to improve their teams, then Nigeria could do the same with political leadership.

“Instead of wasting money campaigning for political parties, why can’t Nigeria sign any ex-president who has done well elsewhere to fix our problems?” Okele said. “If the person fails, we sack him like a football coach and sign another one.”

The actor’s humorous yet thought-provoking comment has since generated mixed reactions online, with some Nigerians applauding his creativity while others dismissed the idea as satire highlighting leadership failure.