Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu, saying that more than two years into his administration, there is still no sign he can effectively tackle the widespread hunger and poverty in the country.
Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Party, described the level of hunger as unacceptable, especially among the underprivileged and downtrodden.
“Whatever reform the Tinubu government might claim to be undertaking, the point remains that food insecurity is a daily occurrence nationwide. There is no government worth its salt that does not place priority on the welfare and security of the people,” Atiku said in a statement issued on Monday by his spokesman, Paul Ibe.
He warned that “most violent socio-political uprisings and revolutions around the world have been driven by widespread hunger and unbearable living conditions, especially the paradox of extreme poverty in a land of abundance.”
Atiku said millions of Nigerians are increasingly trapped in poverty and misery under Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that the situation is fueling a surge in crime, terrorism, kidnapping, cultism, drug abuse, ritual killings and large-scale fraud.
He recalled how hunger and government insensitivity sparked uprisings such as the French Revolution, the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Arab Spring, and Nigeria’s own EndSARS protest.
“Whether the present powers accept it or not, the reality of our existence is that the poor are increasingly dying of hunger while the majority of the living poor exist at the mercy of the ill-advised policies of this government,” Atiku said.
He stressed that reforms should be made with a human face, since they are meant for citizens and not the other way round.
