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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

Nigerians and the yoke of suffering

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources Context piece
  • The commentary criticizes President Bola Tinubu for saying hunger and poverty existed in Nigeria before he took office.
  • It argues that Nigeria’s persistent hardship reflects a broader failure of political leadership, while warning that elites have used public frustration to gain or retain power.
  • The writer says Nigerians can change the country’s condition only through determined action rather than promises, blame or surrender.

President Bola Tinubu’s remark that hunger and poverty existed in Nigeria long before he took office triggered accusations that he was insensitive, inhumane and out of touch. Yet the problem, Monday Philips Ekpe argues, was less the truth of the statement than the person who said it.

Tinubu, who swore in on May 29, 2023 to create an environment where Nigerians could be happy, should not have publicly reminded people of a failure that remains painfully present. Ekpe compares it with a star striker missing a decisive penalty, then telling supporters that even the greatest players make mistakes. The explanation may be true, but it does little for those living with the consequences.

Insensitive. Inhumane. Clueless. Opportunistic.

— Critics of Bola TinubuThe commentary lists the accusations directed at Tinubu after his statement on hunger and poverty.

The writer urges Nigerians to look beyond the president’s verbal misstep and confront the country’s deeper socioeconomic crisis. Nigeria’s suffering amid abundant resources, and its status as the country with the world’s largest number of multidimensionally poor people, should not be treated as permanent. China, India and other countries once carried similarly bleak labels before becoming global leaders in different fields.

You are all living witnesses to the great economic predicament and uncertainty which an inept and corrupt leadership has imposed on our beloved nation for the past four years.

— Sani AbachaAbacha used these words in the December 31, 1983 coup announcement to describe Nigeria’s condition.

Changing Nigeria’s position, Ekpe writes, will demand a shared goal and determination from leaders and citizens. Wishful thinking, finger-pointing, denigrating the country, surrender, empty promises and political grandstanding have kept the country stuck for too long.

The commentary also accuses political elites of using hardship to manipulate voters and secure acceptance for their entry into government. Military leaders did the same in earlier decades. In a December 31, 1983 coup announcement, then-Brigadier Sani Abacha invoked economic misery, corruption, poor management and shortages to justify the military takeover. For Ekpe, the repeated use of suffering as political leverage is itself part of Nigeria’s long-running problem.

Our economy has been hopelessly mismanaged; we have become a debtor and beggar nation.

— Sani AbachaThe statement cited economic mismanagement and hardship as grounds for the military takeover.
About this summary

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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