Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday faulted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 65th Independence Day address, saying Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the administration’s policies.
Tinubu, in his nationwide broadcast, had spoken of “turning the corner,” of laying foundations “in concrete and not on quicksand,” and of progress in education, healthcare, the economy, and security.
But Atiku, in a statement by his aide on Public Communications, Phrank Shuaibu, dismissed the claims, declaring: “The yam may be plentiful, but if the pot is empty, the stomach still rumbles.”
He said while the President boasted of more schools, pupils still sit on bare floors, teachers abandon classrooms over poor pay, and hospitals remain ill-equipped. “A man who builds many huts without roofs has only built shade for goats,” he added.
On the economy, Atiku said Nigerians were bearing the brunt of biting reforms. “Food prices are higher than the rooftops, transport has swallowed incomes, and many families now eat less than one meal a day. If these are the ‘seeds’ of reform, then the fruit is still bitter,” the statement said.
The opposition leader also questioned the government’s security claims, recalling the recent killing of Arise TV anchor, Somtochukwu, during a robbery. “A farmer cannot boast the bush is cleared while weeds still choke his yam,” he lamented.
Atiku stressed that Independence anniversaries should be a time for sober reflection, not self-praise. “Nigeria is 65 years old. But our leaders still serve promises as though they were meals. The yam is there, but the pot remains empty,” he said.
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