The fallout of the policies of President Bola Tinubu’s led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is killing Nigerians even as there are no efforts to stem the tide, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, has said.
Shaibu said in a statement on Thursday that the unprecedented hunger, poverty, and hardship in Nigeria were part of what he described as “Tinubu’s ultimate plan to decimate Nigerians and pauperise them until they have no shred of dignity left.”
According to Atiku’s aide, “Tinubu is like a quack doctor trying to treat a cancerous patient. But the quack doctor is likely to kill the patient even faster than the cancer itself. This is the dire situation that Nigerians have found themselves in.
“Rather than get to work, he continues to blame his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, for handing him an empty treasury and a weak economy and the opposition for instigating mass protests. He talks as if Buhari was not a member of their diseased All Progressives Congress. He also forgets that his own kabukabu policies and its fallouts are what is instigating the mass protests across the country.”
He said that on Tinubu’s watch, poverty has reached an all-time high, with food inflation at 33%. He noted that the resulting effect would be a drop in unemployment, a rise in suicide levels, an increase in crime as well as a spike in the number of out-of-school children.
Operators in the private sector of the economy continue to complain about how the Tinubu administration has led them into uncertain times, resulting in about 10 million small and micro businesses being closed.
The free fall in the exchange rate and haphazard nature of government policies under Tinubu’s administration have made a rubbish of projections made by businesses during the last quarter of 2023.
Shaibu noted that in the past, garri and beans were considered food for the poor but even today, the poor cannot afford to buy beans which now costs N1,500 per mudu and with no prospects of a stop in the rising prices. SMA baby formula now costs N8,000 from N2,200.
“Just over a year ago, a 50kg bag of rice was N47,000, but today it is N77,000. Beans used to be N36,000, but now it is N42,000. Bread was N700 for a loaf, but now it sells for N1,200. A single egg now costs N150. Imagine how much a crate costs? Even the agbado corn that Tinubu used in campaigning is also expected to go up by over 25%, according to AFEX.
“The tragedy now is that a vast majority of Nigerians whose means can’t afford decent meals, unfortunately contend with staples meant for animals.
“A recent BBC investigative report says that many people consume rejected rice gains by millers. The report specifically says that those rejected grains are purchased by fish farmers to feed their fisheries.
“In a similar context, a random visit to the Garki Market in Abuja will behold a large number of people queuing for maize shafts which they now turn into solid food. Normally, these shafts are sold to livestock farmers, but now Nigerians resort to these forms of staple as human food.”
To underscore how dire the situation has become, he quoted the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Lagos, as saying in December that the hospital recorded a 100% increase in the number of psychiatric patients admitted in the hospital.
“Just last month, a female banker committed suicide inside the banking hall, claiming that the economic hardship is unbearable. Indeed, as it is stated in Proverbs 29, verse 2: When the righteous rule, the people rejoice. But when the wicked rule, the people suffer. That is Nigeria’s current quagmire where life is brutish, short and nasty and kidnappers have taken over the land”.
He recalled that, “When the Nigeria Economic Summit Group asked him last year to explain how he would pull out over 128 million Nigerians out of the poverty that his political party, the APC, had plunged them into, Tinubu responded by saying that he would not reveal his strategy because he didn’t want the other candidates to steal his plan. But his secret plan has now been revealed, which is to pauperise and decimate Nigerians.
“This was a man who advised the government in 2021 to recruit 50 million youths into the Nigerian Army in order to tackle unemployment. His balabu economic prescriptions have gradually brought Nigeria to its knees, putting the Naira as the worst performing currency in Africa, according to Bloomberg. This is just less than one year in office.
“After removing petrol subsidy abruptly and forcing the CBN to float the currency, he promised to provide succour to Nigerians and then went ahead to approve N3bn to review the social register. Monies meant for poor Nigerians were stolen by his appointees. A separate N40bn meant for poor Nigerians was diverted. His interior minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, whose company got a questionable contract from this humanitarian fund, is still keeping his job.
“This President then suspended all humanitarian programmes amid this hardship under the guise of investigation. It is obvious that Tinubu’s ultimate goal is to transform Africa’s largest economy into a land of sweat and tears. Worse still, his so-called plan to convert CNG Buses and reduce the cost of transportation has also failed after appointing the FIRS Chairman, Zaccheus Adedeji, as Chairman of the committee. This is another example of putting loyalty ahead of competence.”
Atiku’s aide said Tinubu’s perspective on economy had been limited by the fact that he had surrounded himself with his Lagos circle and had put loyalty ahead of competence in his appointment process.
He argued that at least half of Tinubu’s cabinet members ought not to have been appointed in the first place but that the President decided to play politics, playing fiddle while Nigeria burnt.
Shaibu stated, “At a time Nigeria was facing its worst fiscal crisis, this man decided to waste the country’s resources by appointing the largest cabinet in the history of Nigeria with 48 ministers even though 36 ministers would have met the constitutional threshold. Many of these ministers have been seat warmers and have achieved nothing in the last six months.
“Some ministries were split into three, and three ministers were appointed to head each new unit. Even though Nigeria’s revenue shrunk, he decided to buy a yacht, renovate the Presidential Villa and that of the Vice President, sent a delegation of hundreds of people to Dubai for the COP28, and then approved over N120bn for SUVs for National Assembly members in order to win their loyalty over.
“He was doing all these while asking Nigerians to endure and sacrifice. At least even his own personal praise singer, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1), is now among those lamenting that the suffering is too much. He should be patient, Tinubu still has three years and three months to increase the poverty level.”
Atiku’s aide said Tinubu clearly knew little about Nigeria’s economy as he had been limited only to Lagos, which had always had a formal economy.
He said the President knew nothing about security or building a national economy, hence his over-reliance on IMF and other multilateral organisations.
He said, “Tinubu rode to power on the lie that he transformed Lagos economy. The truth is that Lagos had been the country’s commercial capital even before he was born. All banks, telecommunications firms, and oil companies are headquartered in Lagos. About 70% of Lagos’ revenue comes from income tax paid by staff of these companies.
“All Tinubu did was to enforce tax payment which the military government had neglected. This was the financial miracle he claimed to have performed. Now, he has been brought to the national level to repeat the so-called miracle, but the failed magician cannot rework his artistry.