Perhaps, pre-empting President Bola Tinubu’s speech today, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar berated the Tinubu administration over growing insecurity and the worsening economic situation in the land, saying Nigerians are now compelled to treat ransom payments like regular household items.
Addressing Nigerians as his administration clocked three, Tinubu had said communities and highways were becoming safer and economically productive, despite challenges.
To him, advances were being made in the fight against terrorism.
In a statement yesterday and issued by Phrank Shaibu, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Abubakar, popularly known as Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate in the 2027 poll, noted that ransom payments have now become part of daily survival for many families.
Atiku stated: “Ransom payments have become as routine as school fees and house rent in many homes.”
“Families go to bed praying not to receive midnight calls announcing the abduction of loved ones,” he added.
He also cited rising insecurity for the collapse of food production, saying farmers can no longer access their farmlands due to attacks by armed groups.
“As a result, food production has declined sharply, leading to hunger, rising prices, and widespread hardship,” he declared.
Atiku further accused the administration of focusing on propaganda instead of addressing real economic and security challenges, urging urgent action to prevent further decline.
On the country’s debt, Atiku said the comparison of Nigeria’s debt profile with other African countries by the Presidency showed a disconnect from the suffering of ordinary citizens.
“It is both astonishing and insulting that at a time when millions of Nigerians can barely afford one meal a day, the presidency is celebrating debt figures as though indebtedness were an achievement.
“In many parts of Nigeria today, travelling by road has become a gamble with death,” he said.
Acknowledging that borrowing can be useful when properly managed, Atiku argued that Nigeria’s current debt has not translated into improved living conditions.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Atiku.
