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Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has lambasted the administration of President Bola Tinubu over worsening insecurity and economic hardship in the country.
Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the Presidency’s latest attempt to blame the media for the state of affairs in the country was a dangerous exercise in denial.
The former Vice-President noted that it was both astonishing and insulting that, at a time when millions of Nigerians are struggling to survive, the Tinubu administration has chosen to attack the messenger rather than confront the message.
According to him, “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.”
Atiku, who is also the African Democratic Congress (ADC) 2027 presidential candidate, said hunger has become one of the defining features of the Tinubu administration.
He noted that 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.”
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“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.”
“The farmer who cannot access his farmland because armed men have taken over his community does not need media validation. The trader who fears travelling on Nigerian highways does not need a newspaper headline. The parents who send their children to school with anxiety over the possibility of abduction do not need television analysis to understand the security situation.”
The former Vice-President added that it is alarming that the Presidency is apparently justifying insecurity by allegedly insinuating that many kidnapping incidents occur because citizens fail to heed police advisories against travelling at night.
“The primary duty of any government is the protection of lives and property. Citizens do not surrender their freedoms in exchange for curfews imposed by fear. A trader travelling from Kano to Lagos, a businessman returning from Abuja to Kaduna, a farmer transporting produce to market, or a family embarking on a legitimate journey should not be blamed when criminals attack them. The blame belongs squarely where it should — on those charged with securing the country.
“By that flawed logic, if armed robbers strike during the day, should Nigerians be advised not to leave their homes at all? If kidnappers attack on a highway, should the solution be to stop using the highway rather than securing it? Governance cannot be reduced to issuing warnings while criminal elements take control of public spaces.
“What Nigerians expect from their government is not an endless stream of advisories but decisive action. The measure of a secure nation is not how effectively citizens can avoid danger, but how effectively the state can eliminate it,” he stated.
