From Idu Jude, Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, key political stakeholders in Abuja over the weekend expressed concern about Nigeria’s leadership system, alleging that it has weaponised poverty to the detriment of the masses.
This call was countered by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who, at the event, emphasised that he will continue to advocate for a stronger coalition to unseat the APC government.
Speaking collaboratively to drive home the theme of the occasion, “Weaponisation of Poverty as a Means of Underdevelopment: A Case Study of Nigeria”, used to mark the 60th birthday of former Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, they highlighted problems affecting the poor masses orchestrated by negligence and lack of leadership capacity.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, observed that many politicians do not understand poverty; they believe it is merely about people sleeping on empty stomachs. “In all my days as a banker and an economist, I looked at the poverty index, and I always discovered that less than 18 percent of Nigerians live below 20 dollars a day. Many are in multidimensional poverty. The numbers are bad, but you don’t know how bad they are until you look into the eyes of poverty. That was an eye-opener for me.
“I did not know what poverty means until I became an Emir. When you go to a village, you see the water they drink, see the house they live in. And when you are told that there is a primary school in the village, it is always without a roof or a teacher. When you see malnutrition, and see how they look, then you understand what poverty is.”
Sanusi posited that the poverty in urban areas like Lagos or Kano is nothing compared to what is seen in the hinterlands.
“So, the first question we need to ask ourselves as leaders is, do we actually love the people, or do we just love ruling over them? Do we love Nigeria as human beings? By the way, what is Nigeria? It is the people who live in it. What are our priorities? We build skyscrapers, and we think we are developing; we build bridges where they are not needed, but there are areas where people cannot come out of their houses to go to the market. Pregnant women cannot get antenatal care. Just yesterday, one hundred and fifty died in Mokwa, Niger State. I think we should come down to that basic question: do we love the people? Because if we do, they will not be uneducated, and because if we do, they will not be malnourished or die hungry. And for those who are saying that we should be careful in case the country slips into crisis, please wake up. We have been living with Boko Haram insecurity, and you are still saying that; please, what are we in? We are already in crisis.”
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, revealed that Nigeria’s problems date back to 1914. He said that poverty eradication programmes have existed through many administrations but became more pronounced under Tinubu’s administration. “Like I told my friend Chibuike, after the primaries of 2023, we had problems, but I told him that when the country gets into bigger problems, then we can talk, and here we are, we can now talk again. Since 1914, we have been building together, forming a coalition to bring Nigeria back on track, but we have not seen results.”
Commenting on the theme “Weaponisation of Poverty as a Means of Underdevelopment,” he said, “I don’t think people weaponise poverty, but the fact is that politicians are not even smart enough to recognise what poverty is in the first place. Having been in the private sector and public service, I have been a good observer of our political deterioration; the problem is that the people we hand over political leadership to do not have the capacity. Some of them don’t even know what to do with it but only want to cling to power, and I can say that whenever you see a hint of progress, it is because a competent person is there. Such was the practical example of Chibuike Amaechi during his time as the Governor of Rivers State, and those needed for 2027 are people like him.”
Speaking also, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Seriake Dickson, said that eleven years on, politicians still weaponise poverty as an excuse for underdevelopment. “Please listen to me as we continue to form a coalition for 2027 (shine your eyes well well) because the present government formed a coalition to put Nigeria through, but they keep weaponising poverty.”
The celebrant, Chibuike Amaechi, further highlighted that he craves good governance for every Nigerian child, as he did as state governor. “Back then, in Rivers State, my main priority was to ensure that insecurity was stamped out, and I did this by ensuring that opportunities were created to put food on the table. This is because I discovered that hunger is one of the reasons, if not the only reason, for youth restiveness. I always made sure that salaries were paid and that there was money circulating in the state’s economy. When salaries are paid, crimes are reduced immediately, families end quarrels, and school fees are paid. It was a strategy to stop social vices. This is because I believe that 99.9 percent of the cause of insecurity in Nigeria is due to poverty.
“There was this issue of not caring for the common masses. I am ashamed of this country, but I can also say that it is not the problem of leaders but the problem of the followers. Like I told some people, we may have a Muslim-Muslim ticket, but the question is, can we create a Muslim market? So, if the followers cannot remove bad leadership through protest, we can remove them through our civic duties come 2027. We must submit to opposition if that is the only way out. We have seen that Nigeria is a country of just sharing money, not revamping the economy.”
He said that the cause of insecurity in Nigeria is 99.9 percent poverty-related. “Even Boko Haram is hungry,” he said.
Former Vice-President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was, however, resolute, as he continues to call for and believes that forming a coalition for a new government remains the only way to defeat President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
The keynote speaker, Prof. Chidi Amuta of the University of Port Harcourt, summed up that the immediate challenge of democracy in Nigeria, and indeed the rest of Africa, is to recalibrate its relevance from the perspective of its meaning to the poor majority.
He said, “There can’t be a democracy in Nigeria as long as there is any child who will not be in school tomorrow because their parents cannot afford the fees.
“We cannot talk of democracy in Nigeria as long as there are children anywhere in the land who have to depend on oil lamp light or even moonlight to study for their exams,” he said.