Atiku, Nigerians Need Bread, Not Foreign Investigations
By: Victor Otuya
There is hunger in the land, and this reality can hardly be disputed.
Across major cities and communities — from Mile 2, Oshodi, Apapa and Ajegunle in Lagos to markets in Port Harcourt, Abuja, Aba, Sokoto and Kano — millions of Nigerians are struggling with the rising cost of living.
For many families, every naira now has to be carefully accounted for. Mothers are wondering how to stretch limited household incomes, fathers are struggling with school fees and other family obligations, while many young Nigerians with university degrees are taking up whatever jobs they can find simply to survive.
The rising cost of food, transportation, energy, healthcare and other basic necessities has placed enormous pressure on ordinary citizens and small businesses.
It is against this difficult economic background that reports of former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, engaging American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan in connection with allegations concerning President Bola Tinubu’s past in the United States have generated public debate.
The question many Nigerians are asking is simple: How does such an investigation address the immediate hardship confronting the ordinary Nigerian?
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with demanding transparency and accountability from public officials. Indeed, accountability is an essential pillar of democracy. Opposition parties and presidential candidates have a responsibility to scrutinise those in power and raise legitimate questions where necessary.
But opposition politics must go beyond criticism. It must offer credible alternatives.
Nigerians need solutions
Nigeria is facing serious economic and social challenges. The opposition should therefore be challenging the government with concrete proposals on how to make life better for citizens.
Nigerians want to hear practical answers to questions such as:
How will food prices come down?
How will millions of unemployed young people find meaningful work?
How can farmers gain access to affordable credit, security, modern equipment, storage and markets?
How will electricity become more reliable and affordable for homes and businesses?
How will the country reduce the enormous cost of running small businesses?
These are the issues that confront Nigerians every day.
A trader is worried about the cost of restocking. A farmer is worried about insecurity and access to fertiliser. A manufacturer is worried about electricity and multiple taxation. A parent is worried about school fees. A young graduate is worried about unemployment.
These citizens need political leaders who can offer credible solutions to these problems.
What should the opposition be talking about?
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is a former vice president and a prominent elder statesman who has participated in Nigerian politics for decades. Given his experience and national stature, Nigerians are entitled to expect a comprehensive vision from him and other presidential aspirants.
The opposition should be putting forward clear and measurable proposals in at least four critical areas.
First, food security.
How can Nigeria increase food production and reduce the cost of basic food items within the next few years? Farmers need access to affordable financing, improved inputs, irrigation, security, storage facilities and reliable markets.
Second, employment and enterprise.
Nigeria’s youthful population represents an enormous opportunity, but only if young people have access to jobs and productive economic opportunities. Political parties should explain how they intend to create millions of sustainable jobs while supporting traders, artisans, manufacturers, technology companies and small businesses with affordable financing.
Third, electricity and infrastructure.
Reliable power is essential to economic growth. A tailor, welder, mechanic, farmer, entrepreneur or manufacturer should not have to spend an unreasonable proportion of their income generating electricity.
Every presidential candidate should therefore present a realistic roadmap for improving power generation, transmission and distribution while making electricity more accessible to productive businesses.
Fourth, healthcare and education.
The quality of a nation’s healthcare and education systems directly affects its future.
How will governments expand access to affordable primary healthcare? How will they improve public schools and universities? How will they ensure that children from poor households are not denied quality education because of their parents’ economic circumstances?
These are the questions that deserve serious national debate.
Accountability must be pursued responsibly
None of this means that allegations concerning public officials should be ignored.
If credible evidence exists regarding wrongdoing by any political leader, such allegations should be properly investigated through legitimate legal and institutional channels. Nigeria has courts and law-enforcement and anti-corruption institutions that have constitutional and statutory responsibilities in these matters.
However, political campaigns should not become consumed by investigations into events from decades ago at the expense of the urgent challenges facing citizens today.
Foreign investigations may generate headlines and attract international attention, but they cannot, by themselves, reduce the price of food, create jobs, improve electricity supply or provide healthcare to vulnerable Nigerians.
The real test of political leadership is not simply the ability to expose the weaknesses of an opponent. It is the ability to present a better alternative.
Let 2027 be about ideas
As the 2027 elections approach, all political parties — including the APC, ADC, PDP and Labour Party — should be challenged to place their policies before Nigerians.
Let them come forward with their economic blueprints.
Let Nigerians ask them how they intend to reduce poverty, create jobs, improve security, stabilise the economy, strengthen education and healthcare, and make the country a better place to live and do business.
There should be vigorous debate, but it should be a debate about ideas rather than insults; policies rather than personalities; solutions rather than distractions.
Nigeria cannot afford another election cycle dominated by political mudslinging, while ordinary citizens struggle to put food on their tables.
The country needs leaders who wake up every morning asking a simple question:
What can we do today to make life better for the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians?
That should be the central question of the 2027 political debate.
Nigeria is bigger than any individual politician or political party. The unemployed graduate, struggling farmer, market woman, teacher, artisan, small-business owner and vulnerable family all deserve a government that puts their welfare at the centre of public policy.
The time for politicking will come. But the time to solve Nigeria’s problems is now.
We are all Nigerians. No Nigerian should be left behind.
Victor Otuya is a journalist and wrote from Sapele, Delta State.
