By Our Reporter
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As more Nigerians continue to fall into the poverty trap, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has lamented the rising levels of hunger currently ravaging the country, especially among the underprivileged poor and downtrodden, despite President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.
Recall that earlier this September, Nepal witnessed a Gen Z led protest over corruption and a controversial social media ban. Demonstrators torched parliament and government buildings, leading to widespread destruction and dozens of casualties. The unrest forced Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli to resign on September 9 after losing legitimacy.
Atiku warned that most violent socio-political upheavals and revolutions worldwide have often been fueled by widespread hunger and dire material conditions—particularly the paradox of squalor amid abundance.
In a statement on Monday, signed by Paul Ibeh, his Media Adviser, Atiku stated that the primary goal of any government is the security and welfare of its citizens. However, he lamented that the Nigerian masses are increasingly trapped in misery and poverty under the Tinubu-led APC administration.
According to Atiku, “the current situation does not give cause for cheers as it engenders an increasingly progressive propensity for criminal activities in forms such as fraud, terrorism, kidnapping, cultism, drug addiction, and ritual sacrifice, among others.”
The Waziri Adamawa recalls that “the most violent socio-political upheavals and revolutions worldwide have often been driven by widespread hunger and unbearable material conditions—especially the paradox of squalor amid plenty in our land.”
He counseled that the unacceptable current situation offers an opportunity for reflection, citing the French Revolution, the 1917 Russian Revolution, and the Arab Spring—when a young man, overwhelmed by frustration, set himself ablaze, sparking violent socio-political upheavals from Tunisia to the entire Middle East and North Africa.
Atiku said that, “Back home here in Nigeria, it may not be out of place to argue that even the “ENDSARS” protest was fueled by the traumatizing frustration of hunger and government insensitivity.”
He also lamented that two years after assuming office, there are still no clear signs that this government is capable of tackling the severe hunger staring the poor in the face.
“Whatever reforms the Tinubu government claims to be undertaking, the point remains that food insecurity is a daily reality nationwide. There is no government that does not prioritize the welfare and security of its people,” Atiku said.
He further emphasized that reforms are made for citizens, not the other way around, and that this administration’s reforms should have a human face.
“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 survive at the mercy of misguided policies by this government,” the former Vice President concluded.
