Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says President Bola Tinubu’s administration is attempting to shift the responsibility for the country’s worsening insecurity and economic challenges onto the media and citizens.
On Tuesday, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president
on information and strategy, accused sections of the Nigerian media of creating
a false impression that the country is overwhelmed by insecurity.
Speaking on Arise TV, Onanuga said media reports often
portray insecurity as if it has engulfed every part of Nigeria.
“The problem is that the media in Nigeria are even creating
the problem. The way they’re reporting security is as if the entire country is
consumed,” he said.
He added that incidents of kidnapping and attacks remain a
concern, many of which occurred at night despite warnings from security
agencies against night travel.
“Any time I read about either kidnapping or an attack
somewhere, sometimes I look at the time. I say, wow, it happened at 8 p.m, it
happened at 9 p.m, sometimes 1 a.m. A long time ago, the police told people to
stop travelling at night.”
Reacting in a statement issued on Wednesday by Phrank
Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication, Atiku said the
presidency’s remarks blaming citizens for insecurity indicated that Nigerians
could only be safe for a limited part of the day.
“Is the presidency admitting that Nigerians can only be safe
for a few hours of the day? Is this an official declaration that Africa’s
largest economy has been reduced to an eight-hour economy where citizens must
shut down their businesses, abandon legitimate travel, and retreat indoors once
the sun sets?” the former vice-president said.
Atiku noted that the burden of security should be placed on
agencies responsible for protecting lives and properties instead of the
citizens.
“The primary duty of any government is the protection of
lives and property. Citizens do not surrender their freedoms in exchange for
curfews imposed by fear,” he said.
He said insecurity across the country could not be dismissed
as media exaggeration due to evidence in the daily experiences of Nigerians.
“A trader travelling from Kano to Lagos, a businessman
returning from Abuja to Kaduna, a farmer transporting produce to market, or a
family embarking on a legitimate journey should not be blamed when criminals
attack them. The blame belongs squarely where it should — on those charged with
securing the country,” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate cautioned that the
normalisation of insecurity by advising citizens to avoid travelling at certain
hours would severely affect the economy.
“A nation cannot prosper when its people are told that
safety ends at sunset. Economies grow because people can move freely, trade
freely, and conduct lawful activities without fear,” Atiku said.
On the economy, Atiku accused Tinubu’s administration of
being disconnected from the realities facing Nigerians.
He said rising food prices, worsening inflation,
unemployment, and declining purchasing power have left millions of families
struggling to survive.
“The father who goes to bed wondering how to provide the
next meal for his family does not need a newspaper report to confirm hardship,”
Atiku said.
He criticised attempts by the presidency to blame the media
for reporting on insecurity and economic challenges, noting that journalists
were only reporting realities already being experienced by citizens.
“Blaming journalists for reporting insecurity and hardship
is like blaming a thermometer for a fever,” Atiku said.
“Nigeria does not need explanations for suffering. Nigeria
needs solutions. Nigeria does not need lectures about perception. Nigeria needs
results.”
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