Tinubu’s 3rd Anniversary: Leaders who failed spectacularly to keep their promise

By Jide Ajani, General Editor

Throughout history, there have been leaders whose grand ambitions and promises ended in spectacular failure.

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For example, King John of England (1199–1216) promised his people good governance, a curb on his own abuses of feudal rights, and rule with justice for his subjects. Yet John had no real intention of abiding by the charter and immediately began scheming to have it annulled. This bad faith plunged the country into a civil war known as the First Barons’ War. England’s notorious monarch died in the midst of this chaos, having lost a vital war that gave rise to the cornerstone of modern liberty.

Similarly, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1215–1250), who promised the people a Crusade that he claimed was divine, repeatedly took a sacred vow to lead a Crusade to the Holy Land at the Pope’s request. He eventually traveled to the Holy Land and negotiated control of Jerusalem, but he had long since broken his vows. He was excommunicated not once but twice for his delays and perceived insubordination. His endless conflicts with the papacy drained imperial resources and resulted in the failure of his most crucial political promises.

Then there was Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–1991), who promised Russians prosperity. He said his programs of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) would bring efficiency to the socialist system and prosperity to the Soviet people. However, his half‑measures and compromised approach to reform left the Soviet economy in a chaotic “no man’s land.” The resulting hyperinflation and food shortages led to a catastrophic drop in living standards, and the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, leaving him as a leader without a country.

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888–1918) promised Germans a glory never seen before, that he would lead Germany to its “place in the sun” as a dominant world power, rivaling and even challenging the British Empire. His aggressive and erratic foreign policy created a system of opposing alliances that isolated Germany. His promise of “unlimited support” to the Austro‑Hungarian cause triggered World War I, a conflict in which he proved to be an ineffective, indecisive leader. His promises of glory ended in Germany’s humiliating defeat and his own forced abdication and exile.

Wang Mang, Emperor of the Xin Dynasty (China, 9–23 AD), promised Utopian Equality, a return to the idealized “well‑field system” of communal land ownership, abolition of slavery, price controls on grain and silk, and the cancellation of all private debts. His edicts were indeed Utopian, as they were unenforceable and created total economic paralysis. Merchants stopped trading, landlords hid their land, and peasants faced starvation as price controls led to shortages. Simultaneously, massive flooding of the Yellow River devastated crops.

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