For the uninitiated, god mode can be a state in which an individual is not susceptible to defeat or failure.
The term, for Nigerians in the know, also finds application in the computer world.
Those who play video games can use god mode – a hidden code or command that a video gamer unlocks and uses to gain an advantage in a game – and it makes their characters invulnerable and invincible.
In Windows Operating Systems, a “god mode icon” can be created to access different control panels in the same place, thereby making the computer perform optimally.
In the world of professional wrestling, a popular World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, Roman Reigns, put “god mode” on the map, making it a popular catchphrase among wrestling fans.
The Pensacola, Florida-born grappler who goes by the nicknames “The Tribal Chief” and “Head of the Table” had often printed “god mode activated” on his tee-shirt during his four-year reign as the WWE Champion, a feat only a handful of wrestlers have accomplished in the history of the sport.
In Africa’s biggest democracy, Nigeria, the presidential election will be held in 2027, and the country’s President, Bola Tinubu, may have also activated god mode in his own right.
Tinubu will aspire to serve another four-year term as president in a country plagued by socio-economic malaise. Analysts say he will need more than luck to scale through.
The only former president who gave Nigerians the impression that he was operating in god mode but lost a presidential election eventually in 2015 is Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party.
Jonathan was President in the quiet days of the PDP’s might in Nigeria and those in his administration, as well as his supporters, thought that he was invincible and untouchable.
But Jonathan lost his re-election bid. Many analysts have explained that his bungling treatment of the country’s national security issues and the then endemic corruption in the country, were his major albatrosses.
Jonathan’s inability to unite those in his party is also listed as a contributory factor to his political downfall.
“Jonathan had it all,” began a current affairs analyst, Muyiwa Bello.
“He had a growing economy and his party, the PDP, seemed unstoppable. His greatest undoing, however, was the appalling security situation in the country and the endemic corruption that was eating the country up.
“And despite the fact that he had the support of many Nigerians, especially those in the South, Jonathan failed to unite those in his ruling party. He lacked that reconciliatory ability to accommodate members of his own party who defected to the current ruling party, the All Progressives Congress.
“In fact, his ‘I don’t care attitude’ was the stimulus for the downfall of the PDP in 2015.”
Bello noted that a “similar pattern” of defection has been observed in the APC, but he stated that Tinubu was “handling things differently.”
“In Tinubu’s government and the APC, I see a similar pattern now with the defection of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. But the President is a better people-person than Jonathan.
“He is handling things differently and I won’t be surprised if that god mode everyone seems to be talking about is sustained for a long time,” he concluded.
Even though Tinubu is being praised in some quarters, the opposition to his government and potential second-coming as president have not abated one bit.
The President’s allies have, therefore, been suggesting to Nigerians that the President has entered god mode. They have informed friend and foe alike that Tinubu will be unstoppable in the 2027 presidential election.
The President’s supporters have also specially announced to his detractors and opponents that they do not have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the presidential race.
Thus, from the National Chairman of the APC, Umar Ganduje, to other party chieftains like Bashir Ajibola and George Akume – the National Secretary of the APC and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation respectively – the ruling party’s message is quite simple: no vacancy in Aso Rock.
Tinubu’s activation of god mode has also been adduced to explain why many of the political juggernaut’s past critics and some opposition politicians have been flocking to him.
Former presidential spokespersons, Reno Omokri, and Daniel Bwala used to be crybabies who seized every opportunity to criticise almost everything Tinubu did before he became president.
The two men have already made a 180-degree turn and will fight tooth and nail to defend the President now.
A group of lawmakers, both in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria, have jumped ship, too. They have made the APC their new home and others may soon follow suit.
Last month, during the APC’s National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja, the first in two years, the NEC members passed a confidence vote in Tinubu.
As the icing on the cake, the President also got his party’s nod to seek re-election in 2027 and he demonstrated his intent to unify the APC by urging aggrieved party leaders to “be calm.”
“I am happy with your vote of confidence, and I accept it. The vote is a challenge to do more work,” Tinubu said at the occasion.
He added, “Let’s set up committees to look into the lingering problems in the states and appeal to party leaders in various states to, please, be calm and be collaborative.
“In all the various states let us set up reconciliatory committees to liaise with these aggrieved leaders. I am appealing to them, please, be calm.”
A Tinubu critic and member of the Obidient movement, Harrison Ogunleye, told The Point, “I don’t think that Tinubu has entered god mode yet.
“How can he enter god mode now when he did not perform exceptionally well in the last election?
“He didn’t defeat Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and my future president, Peter Obi, convincingly.
“In the next presidential election, Nigerians will prove that Tinubu’s victory was a fluke.
“And you don’t even need to look too far to realise that Tinubu has not lived up to the expectations of the millions of Nigerians who thought he had something to offer.
“What has the president done for Nigerians? The people are poorer now and they need someone who will liberate them from poverty and the grip of insecurity.
“So, if you ask me, I think it is Peter Obi who has actually activated god mode as we continue to move towards the general elections season in Nigeria.
“And did you notice that despite the attacks and smear campaign against him, Obi has been waxing stronger. He will prove that he is well-loved and the best presidential candidate to come out of Nigeria.
“Tinubu has to make a camel pass through the eye of a needle before Nigerians will believe that his Renewed Hope agenda is working for them.
A legal practitioner, Clement Iloh, disagreed with most of Ogunleye’s assessment.
According to him, there are many noticeable improvements in the country which will help Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Iloh said, “Whether political opponents believe it or not, things are getting better in Nigeria and there are some noticeable improvements in the country that will help Tinubu’s re-election bid.
“The prices of food products, for example, are going down now. If this can be sustained, it will be game over for the opposition in the election.
“The next one year will answer a lot of questions for Nigerians. By that time, Nigerians will fully see that this country is heading to the promised land.
“I was among those who thought that this country was finished. Things were really bad when this government took over but they are shaping up now.
“Tinubu also has a lot going for him now. He could possibly even be on god mode now and cannot be beaten in another election by Atiku, Obi or any other politician, for that matter.
