Published by Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
In a series of public engagements in the weeks leading up to the 2026 presidential primary, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has repeatedly acknowledged the severe economic pain enveloping the nation, a concession that has done little to quell a deepening crisis of confidence as soaring inflation, mass unemployment, and a collapsing naira have pushed millions of Nigerians into extreme poverty. While the administration points to long-term structural reforms as the only path to stability, opposition leaders and civil society organisations have decried what they describe as "organised hardship," warning that the government’s prescriptions are failing to alleviate the suffering of ordinary citizens.
Speaking at a project inauguration in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on 10 April 2026, Tinubu acknowledged that fuel prices were "biting hard" and promised measures to ease the burden on vulnerable Nigerians. However, he also urged citizens to "count their blessings" relative to Kenya and other African countries he claimed were grappling with deeper economic crises. "Let’s just thank God together that you are better off listening to them in Kenya and other African countries," the president said, while blaming global forces—specifically the Israeli military action that rattled global oil markets—for the surge in fuel prices to nearly ₦1,350 per litre. The comment drew sharp criticism from Nigerians struggling with a cost-of-living crisis that has made basic necessities unaffordable for a significant portion of the population.
The economic distress has only deepened since Tinubu marked his first anniversary in office. The removal of the fuel subsidy in May 2023, which the president has consistently defended as a necessary and irreversible reform, triggered a cascading surge in fuel prices and transport costs that has since compressed household incomes across the country. A bag of cement now sells for over N12,000, and the average cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice has climbed to N30,435, according to market data. Cooking gas, which cost N1,000 per kilogram in January 2026, has jumped to N1,500 per kilogram, with marketers now paying up to N26.2 million for a 20‑metric‑tonne truck. The National Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers has warned that citizens may soon “rise against the owners of gas filling stations” if the situation is not checked.
The United Nations has issued a stark warning that 35 million Nigerians are likely to face acute hunger between June and August 2026, as worsening insecurity, economic hardship, and funding shortages deepen the country’s food crisis. The UN also disclosed that an estimated 6.4 million children across northern Nigeria are expected to suffer acute malnutrition this year, while nearly 3 million children under five face life‑threatening severe acute malnutrition nationwide. Worsening insecurity has forced farmers off their lands, while rising logistics costs have elevated production and distribution expenses across the country. The crisis in Zamfara State, for example, has become so severe that Médecins Sans Frontières has described the rainy season as a “season of death,” with malaria, cholera, and malnutrition cases surging in displaced communities.
In response to the growing backlash, President Tinubu used the 2026 Workers’ Day celebration on 1 May to declare insecurity and poverty as national emergencies. Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, the president acknowledged that the twin crises remain significant obstacles to national development and assured workers that his administration was responding with deliberate and sustained measures. He announced that the Community Protection Guards Initiative has recruited 45,000 young Nigerians to strengthen community security, while social protection programmes now reach 15 million vulnerable households, with government estimates indicating that nearly 7.5 million Nigerians have been lifted out of poverty.
The government has pointed to a series of palliative interventions as evidence of its commitment to mitigating the impact of its reforms. The Presidential CNG Initiative has mobilised over $1.02 billion in private investments and converted 100,000 commercial vehicles to gas, reducing transportation costs for workers by about 40 percent. A N200 billion MSME intervention fund has supported over 1 million small businesses, while the new national minimum wage has been implemented across federal institutions. Infrastructure projects such as the Lagos‑Calabar Coastal Highway and the Ajaokuta‑Kaduna‑Kano Gas Pipeline have generated over 600,000 jobs, according to the president. “We moved away from wasteful fuel subsidies, unstable exchange rates and weak infrastructure. Today, we are witnessing a turnaround,” Tinubu declared in his acceptance speech after securing the APC presidential ticket.
However, critics across the political spectrum have dismissed these claims as insufficient and disconnected from the reality of the average Nigerian. Traders at a timber market in Lagos, where petrol prices are around ₦1,350 per litre, have voiced strong frustration over the rising cost of living. One trader, in a comment captured on social media, was particularly blunt in his criticism, accusing the president of having little understanding of governance and warning that only the unwise would support him for a second term. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who has emerged as the most vocal opposition critic, has repeatedly described the Tinubu administration’s economic approach as “organised hardship dressed up as reform”. “Nearly three years on, it is painfully clear that what was renewed was not hope, but hardship,” Atiku said on May Day.
Even within the APC, there are calls for the president to address the root causes of the crisis. A founding member of the ruling party, Osita Okechukwu, has urged Tinubu to leverage his second‑term endorsement to urgently tackle hunger, insecurity, and unemployment. He warned that persistent hardship could undermine the party’s chances in the 2027 general election, despite the president’s overwhelming victory in the primary, where he polled nearly 11 million votes—2.2 million more than he received in the 2023 general election. Critics, however, described the figures as “manufactured,” dismissing the symbolic vote as a dangerous precedent for Nigeria’s democracy.
The central question on the minds of many Nigerians is whether the government’s economic reforms will translate into tangible relief before the 2027 elections. The Fiscal Responsibility Commission has been urged to mandate a quarterly subsidy savings report, independently audited and publicly accessible, as the government has yet to account for the trillions of naira saved from the removal of the subsidy. A Vanguard editorial noted that the coexistence of rising debt and claimed savings continues to look, to most Nigerians, like a broken promise. “If Nigerians conclude that sacrifice is demanded of them but gains are withheld or diverted, government in future will find it nearly impossible to secure public support for any serious economic adjustment,” the editorial warned.
For now, President Tinubu has made it clear that the reforms are irreversible and that the country must not “go backwards” after years of painful economic restructuring. He has called on Nigerians to remain patient, insisting that the widespread hardship and rising cost of living do not outweigh the long‑term benefits. But for a people facing a deepening hunger crisis, soaring inflation, and a collapsing social fabric, patience is a commodity as scarce as the next meal. As the 2027 elections approach, the president’s acknowledgment of their struggle may be politically necessary, but without tangible results, it is unlikely to be sufficient.
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