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Hardship: Tinubu Unaware of Nigerians’ Hunger and Anger — Ndume

Written by Jerry Alomatu on July 11, 2024

News Views: 39

Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu is unaware of the severe hunger and anger currently affecting Nigerians. Speaking with journalists at the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Wednesday, Ndume asserted that the president is isolated in the Presidential Villa, surrounded by misinformation and shielded from selfless Nigerians who can convey the truth to him.

Ndume’s comments were in response to a recent Senate resolution advising the federal government to address the nation’s hunger crisis or face public backlash. On Tuesday, Ndume co-sponsored a motion by Senator Sunday Karimi, Chairman of the Committee on Senate Services, titled “Urgent Need to Address Food Insecurity and Market Exploitation of Consumables in Nigeria.”

Expressing his concern, Ndume highlighted the lack of significant actions taken to mitigate the security challenges that pose a continuous threat to food security in the country. He stated, “Mr. President is not in the picture of what is happening outside the villa. He has been fenced off and caged. So many of us won’t go through the backdoor to engage him.”

He further criticized the president’s current communication strategy, mentioning that President Tinubu has been restricted from direct public engagement and relies primarily on press statements from his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale.

Ndume warned of escalating public dissatisfaction, emphasizing the urgent need for government intervention in the food scarcity issue. “Nigerians are getting very, very angry. The government is not doing anything about the food scarcity and it needs to do something urgently. We don’t have food reserve,” he said. “There is unavailability of food. Food crisis is the worst crisis that any nation can encounter. If we add that to the security crisis, it will be severe.”

In his concluding remarks, Ndume urged President Tinubu to become more aware of the dire situation, stating, “The president should wake up; it seems he isn’t in the picture of what is happening because he has been caged off.”