Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, said Nigerians are facing the most difficult period under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Atiku disclosed this in a statement from his spokesperson Phrank Shaibu on Wednesday.
This comes amid Tinubu’s government remarks targeted to downplay the hardship and insecurity Nigerians face.
Reacting, Atiku condemned the Presidency’s latest attempt to blame the media for the worsening insecurity and economic hardship in the country, describing it as a dangerous exercise in denial by an administration increasingly detached from the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.
The former vice president said hunger has become one of the defining features of the Tinubu administration.
“The latest comments from the presidency reveal a disturbing disconnect between those who govern and the people they govern. Nigerians are enduring one of the most difficult periods in our recent history, yet instead of acknowledging their pain and outlining practical solutions, the government is attempting to persuade citizens that what they see, hear, and experience every day is somehow an illusion created by the media.”
“The father who goes to bed wondering how to provide the next meal for his family does not need a newspaper report to confirm hardship. The mother who now pays three or four times more for basic food items than she did two years ago does not require a television broadcast to understand inflation. The small business owner whose capital has been wiped out, the graduate trapped in unemployment, and the pensioner whose savings have become worthless do not need media interpretation to understand their circumstances.”
“To suggest that this suffering is exaggerated is to mock the lived experiences of millions of Nigerians. It is to tell citizens that their empty pockets, unpaid bills, and empty kitchens are products of imagination.”
“The media did not invent the killings in Benue. The media did not invent the massacres in Plateau. The media did not invent the bandit attacks in Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger. The media did not invent the abduction of school children and teachers in Oyo. The media did not invent kidnapping-for-ransom, which has become one of the country’s fastest-growing criminal enterprises. The media did not invent terrorism, nor did it create the criminal gangs that continue to terrorise communities and disrupt economic activities across the nation.”
