By Emeka Nwokocha

Since President Ahmed Tinubu took over the reins of office as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, precisely on May 29, 2023, the economy of the country has taken a nosedive with attendant mass suffering becoming the order of the day.

Regrettably, the people’s repeated appeals to him to listen to their plight and ameliorate their suffering have been flagrantly rebuffed, just as frightening indicators foretell that things will get worse in the coming years if the President sticks to his policies.

President Bola Tinubu has clocked two years in office and he is courageously galloping to complete his four-year tenure.

Surprisingly, in the face of the numerous challenges confronting poor Nigerians such as food crisis, high cost of living, unemployment, and worsening insecurity, the President is craftily making a little sense out of his two years of his administration by deploying all potent stunts to impress Nigerians with his trumpeted achievements and seeking the people’s continued loyalty and support to his government.

Much of the President’s self-praising stunts recently played out in his two year anniversary speech on May 29.

In his speech, President Tinubu was unequivocally sure he had made the desirable progress with his self-styled economic revamping policies, asserting that his economic reforms are working.

Though, he acknowledged the hardship his policies have caused innocent poor Nigerians through two turbulent years, but proudly went further to justify the people’s agony in a subtle way, “We are laying the foundation for a sustainable future. Together, we are creating a system where prosperity is shared, and no one is left behind.”

Against the backdrop of the echoes of despair pervading the country, the President ought to know that despite his continuous move to woo the citizens, the grim truth about his government leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

Truth is, from East to West, North to South, the agonizing story is same, just as evidence of widespread hardship laced with tears, sorrow and pain stares us in the face.

Suffice it to say that the fledgling Nigerian democratic system has witnessed phases of challenges but continues to forge ahead even when the hopeful citizens are not getting any dividend for their unwavering resilience and unfettered patriotism.

In this current times, there is too much hunger maiming the citizens and dotting the nook and cranny of the country, but the media space is abuzz with President Tinubu’s claims that things are getting better, and that the economy is making progress and that Nigerians are strengthening their faith in his government’s renewed hope mantra.

But putting the President’s claims to test tells that they are obviously not as they seem. Even as the claims are being reinforced and reproduced in tantalizing forms, they will only stay in the memory of the people for a moment then pale into insignificance as untainted truths about the President’s government policies begin to gain traction.

Interestingly, international entities are not cowed by the self-praise mechanism of President Tinubu, just as his propagandic machinery will be silenced by the people’s irrepressible and sustained demand for good governance.

A peep into the global archives would reveal a startling report by UNICEF, stating that Nigeria has the second-highest number of stunted children globally, with an estimated 2 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

Also, according to the World Bank’s record, 15% of the world’s extreme poor population lives in Nigeria, amounting to over 106 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty.

The global financial institution further warned that poverty rate in Nigeria is expected to increase by 3.6 percentage points by 2027.

Further query into Nigeria’s worsening economic situation brings to the fore the National Bureau of Statistics’ report in 2022 that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor.

There is no denying the fact that hungry-looking faces of poor Nigerians are roaming the streets; the hurtful scenes of innocent children scavenging for food; and the malnourished bodies and souls of innocent children and aged people tucked away in remote camps and villages, whose faces are rarely seen on the lenses of press cameras, unquestionably validate the UNICEF, World Bank, and NBS scary reports.

Against the backdrop of these hurting narratives that starkly define the Nigerian governance system, it is common knowledge that only a country under the grip of oppressive and heartless leaders would intentionally and gleefully subject its citizens to abject poverty, torture, and deplorable living conditions in the midst of plenty.

Worried by this ugly trajectory, concerned Nigeria would always ask, “What does it cost Nigerian leaders to lead right? Why would the leaders treat Nigerians as slaves and deny them opportunity to lead a comfortable life?

As we pensively think through these thought provoking questions, it is pertinent to recall that the Nigerian state has been under the yoke of opportunistic, transactional and selfish leaders who are on a desperate mission to capture state’s resources and confine the citizens to perpetual lack and slavery.

Truth is, the opportunistic politicians have captured our nascent democracy and operate a phoney government that bankrolls their flamboyant lifestyles while the citizens are abandoned in deplorable living conditions characterized by abject poverty, destitution, hunger, malnutrition and forlorn hope.

No doubt, the narrative about Nigeria possessing significant natural resources but having a large portion of its population living in abject poverty, is a worrisome phenomenon.

There is no mincing words that the Nigerian state will not make any meaningful progress when the political leaders intentionally and tenaciously obstruct credible democratic system that promotes rule of law, accountability, probity and prudent use of state’s resources to improve the welfare of the citizens.

In a nutshell, the deliberate ploy by our political leaders to purnish Nigerians and hold them captive in perpetuity can only be halted when the people take up their gauntlet to defend and protect the fundamental principles of democracy as empowered and echoed by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Section 14. (1), to wit: “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice.”

(Published by The Southerner on Saturday, May 31st, 2025)