Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed President Bola Tinubu over his recent claim that “prosperity is on the horizon” and that Nigerians are experiencing an improved quality of life, declaring that such a Nigeria exists only in the President’s imagination.
In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu and made available to The News Chronicle, Atiku questioned whether Tinubu was referring to a different country, insisting that millions of Nigerians continue to grapple with soaring inflation, crippling economic hardship, worsening insecurity and widespread hopelessness.
“Mr. President says prosperity is on the horizon. Nigerians are asking: whose horizon?” Atiku said, arguing that the President’s optimism bears no resemblance to the daily realities of ordinary citizens.
He pointed to struggling traders whose businesses have been crippled by inflation, civil servants whose salaries can no longer sustain them, manufacturers battling rising energy costs, unemployed graduates with bleak prospects, and farming communities displaced by terrorists and bandits.
The former Vice President also lamented the growing wave of kidnappings and violent attacks across the country, saying many families now live in fear while millions have been forced to reduce the number of meals they eat each day just to survive.
Atiku acknowledged that Tinubu inherited significant challenges but stressed that no leader is elected to inherit excuses.
“The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it,” he said.
According to him, after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration can no longer continue blaming previous governments for Nigeria’s woes.
“The Nigerian people are not interested in who created the problem. They want to know who will solve it,” he said, accusing the administration of running out of ideas while presiding over unprecedented economic hardship, fiscal recklessness and major appropriation scandals.
Atiku further faulted Tinubu for attributing Nigeria’s problems to its growing population, arguing that countries such as China transformed their large populations into economic assets through investment in manufacturing, education, infrastructure, technology and export-driven industrialisation.
“Nigeria’s youthful population is not a burden; it is our greatest strategic advantage. Our people are not the problem. President Tinubu’s failed leadership is,” he declared.
The ADC presidential candidate also described as insensitive the President’s recent remark that hunger existed in Nigeria even before he was born.
“Nigerians did not elect Tinubu to eliminate the hunger of 1940. They elected him to confront the hunger of today,” Atiku said, insisting that the failures of previous generations cannot justify the worsening hardship under the current administration.
He maintained that hope cannot be sustained by speeches alone but must be backed by policies that deliver affordable food, stable electricity, jobs, quality education, accessible healthcare and improved security.
“Government inspires hope through performance, not rhetoric,” he stated.
Atiku urged Tinubu to move beyond official briefings and ceremonial appearances to experience firsthand the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“If the President truly believes that the quality of life is improving, then one must respectfully remind him that the Nigeria he is talking about exists only in his head. It is certainly not the Nigeria where families are choosing between food and medicine, where communities are fleeing armed violence, where kidnappers dictate the rhythm of daily life, and where hope is becoming more expensive than bread,” he said.
