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Aare Amerijoye Dotb
Bayo Onanuga’s recent retort to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is a perfect illustration of what happens when spin triumphs over substance. Intended as a defence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government, it instead exposes the widening gulf between the administration’s self-congratulatory narrative and the daily misery confronting ordinary Nigerians.
It is intellectually lazy to dismiss Atiku’s concerns as a product of political bitterness. Atiku is not an angry Twitter user ,he is a former Vice President, a two-time presidential front-runner, and an active policy thinker. His critique is rooted in the cold facts of economic hardship, policy misdirection, and dwindling public confidence, not personal vendetta. One wonders: are Nigerians who lament the soaring prices of food, fuel, and transport also motivated by personal animosity?
Mr. Onanuga’s insinuation that Atiku might “still be living in Dubai” betrays the intellectual desperation of his argument. It is not only juvenile but irrelevant. Physical location does not invalidate patriotism or perception. Nigerians in the diaspora,doctors, engineers, policy experts, continue to contribute meaningfully to national discourse and development. Must one reside in Garki or Yaba to see that things have gone south under this administration? Indeed, if proximity were the measure of competence, Abuja wouldn’t be brimming with ineptitude today. Leadership is not about postcodes but perspective, purpose, and performance.
Mr. Onanuga claims the Tinubu administration has embarked on “the most ambitious and audacious economic reforms in decades.” But ambition without strategic execution is chaos in motion. Yes, the removal of fuel subsidies and forex unification were long overdue, but timing, sequencing, and safety nets matter. Executing these seismic reforms without adequate preparation is akin to yanking life support from a critically ill patient, expecting them to sprint.
What followed was predictable: the naira collapsed, inflation ballooned, and hunger metastasised. This is not reform, it is economic cruelty dressed in technocratic language.
Proponents of Tinubuomics love to echo rising stock exchange figures and increased investor pledges, as if these indicators pay the rent or fill a child’s lunchbox. The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index climbing from 50,000 to over 110,000 means little to the 133 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty. High finance is not food security, and stock surges do not equate to public prosperity.
On wages, Mr. Onanuga touts a new minimum wage of ₦70,000, conveniently ignoring the surge in cost of living that has rendered such increments symbolic. What’s the point of a wage hike if a bag of rice costs ₦65,000 and electricity tariffs have quadrupled? Is this the prosperity promised?
Then there is the much-hyped student loan scheme. While the administration parades it as revolutionary, the facts remain unflattering. The scheme is inaccessible to most students, riddled with administrative bottlenecks, and offers no clear framework for repayment or job placement. Listing 600,000 applicants as a victory is premature when only a handful have received approvals. Comparing this fledgling scheme to Atiku’s private university is a red herring, policy and philanthropy are not the same currency.
Healthcare “revitalisation” remains a paper promise. Nigerians still die from minor illnesses, basic drugs are unaffordable, and the brain drain of medical personnel continues unabated. If indeed the administration has expanded healthcare access, where is the proof? Empty clinics and underfunded hospitals say otherwise.
On borrowing, Mr. Onanuga tries to dance around the facts. Whether it’s $1.2 billion or $12 billion, what Nigerians want to know is: what exactly are we borrowing for? Why the secrecy and inconsistency? Atiku’s observations are not Twitter rumours, they are drawn from official documents and corroborated by economic analysts. Gaslighting the public only deepens suspicion.
The talk of reducing debt service-to-revenue ratio is equally misleading. A dip from 93% to 60% means little when driven by one-off revenue inflows and increased taxation. Meanwhile, service delivery remains stagnant, and capital projects are scarce. Nigerians are simply paying more for less.
The claim that “food production is rising” is perhaps the most out-of-touch statement in Mr. Onanuga’s essay. Ask farmers in Zamfara, Benue, or Katsina who can’t access their farmlands due to insecurity. Ask the families who now consider tomatoes a luxury. Agricultural productivity is not measured by government press releases but by affordability and availability. By that measure, the nation is in trouble.
And to accuse Atiku of offering no alternatives? That is either forgetfulness or willful distortion. His 2023 policy document remains one of the most detailed in Nigeria’s recent democratic history, focusing on restructuring, energy security, job creation, social investment, and institutional reform. These were not empty campaign slogans,they were implementable ideas, many of which the Tinubu administration would do well to revisit.
The attempt to blame Atiku for past privatisations is a diversionary tactic. Yes, assets were sold,but often under transparent frameworks with international oversight. If there were wrongdoings, the appropriate institutions should investigate, not politicians flinging mud in newspaper columns.
Today, under President Tinubu, real wages are falling, public trust is eroding, and the so-called renewed hope has become recycled despair. The evidence is not partisan; it is statistical and experiential. The World Bank, IMF, NBS, and even street-side market women all sing the same refrain: things are hard, and the government seems unsure.
Atiku Abubakar has spoken out, not because he is bitter, but because he is brave. He has chosen facts over flattery, and nation over nostalgia. In a true democracy, critique is not rebellion, it is civic responsibility.
Mr. Onanuga would do well to recognise that this is not a contest of egos, but a question of empathy and governance. History will not remember those who defended failure with fine grammar, but those who confronted it with courage, clarity, and conscience.
Aare Amerijoye DOT.B
Director General
The Narrative Force.
SB E-news
SB events magazine
Efficiency magazine
Efficiency award for Excellence EAE.
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