Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communications to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has expressed concern about the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s “shambolic policies” on Nigeria’s population.
In a statement in Abuja on Thursday, Shaibu highlighted the potential consequences of these policies, stating that they could lead to the destruction of the country’s population if not addressed.
He further criticized the lack of efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the policies under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
Shaibu said, “The unprecedented hunger, poverty, and hardship in Nigeria are part of Tinubu’s ultimate plan to decimate Nigerians and pauperise them until they have no shred of dignity left.
“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.”
The aide of Atiku emphasized that poverty has reached its highest level under Tinubu’s leadership, with food inflation at 33%. This will lead to increased unemployment, higher suicide rates, more crime, and a larger number of children out of school.
The private sector has also expressed dissatisfaction with the Tinubu administration, as it has caused uncertainty and resulted in the closure of around 10 million small and micro businesses.
Additionally, the exchange rate has plummeted and government policies have been inconsistent under Tinubu’s administration, undermining businesses’ projections for the last quarter of 2023.
Shaibu also mentioned that in the past, garri and beans were seen as food for the less privileged. However, even now, the poor cannot afford to purchase beans, as its price has increased to N1,500 per mudu, and there seems to be no indication of the prices stabilizing. Additionally, the cost of SMA formula has risen from N2,200 to N8,000.
He said, “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.”
