WARNS AGAINST TAKING NIGERIANS FOR GRANTED
By Williams Adesoji
Renowned social critic, human rights and pro-democracy activist, Comrade Igbotako Nowinta, has accused Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, of taking the patience and inaction of Nigerians for granted, warning that comments allegedly dismissing the widespread hunger and hardship in the country could further deepen public anger against the administration.
Nowinta, who is also an international conflict resolution expert and Executive Director of the Nigeria Good Governance Research Centre (NGGRC), made the remarks in a statement titled, “Bayo Onanuga is Playing With Fire: Taking Our Inaction For Granted,” issued to journalists in Abuja on Friday, June 26, 2026.
The activist was reacting to recent media reports quoting the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, as saying, “I don’t see the hunger Nigerians complain about.”
Describing the alleged statement as “unguarded, outrageous and insensitive,” Nowinta said the remarks had reinforced public perception that key beneficiaries of the current administration were determined to deploy propaganda and denial in an attempt to whitewash the economic realities facing millions of Nigerians.
“The outrageous comments of Bayo Onanuga have further justified the fact that the absolute beneficiaries of the Tinubu government are ready to shamelessly conjure a series of lies and propaganda in the name of whitewashing the terrible realities confronting the masses of our people,” he said.
According to him, Nigerians are currently grappling with unprecedented economic hardship, rising inflation, worsening insecurity and a declining standard of living, making any attempt to dismiss the people’s suffering both provocative and dangerous.
“In the face of stark systemic dysfunction, a crippled economy, dereliction, nonchalance and vicious neglect being administered by the government at the centre, Bayo Onanuga has the effrontery to be playing with fire and taking the passivity and inaction of the masses for granted,” the statement read.
The activist further alleged that the country had been subjected to severe economic pressures under the current administration, including what he described as excessive borrowing, widespread poverty and growing insecurity.
He argued that the prevailing conditions have heightened the desire among many Nigerians to seek political change through democratic means during the 2027 general elections.
“In a country exhausted by President Tinubu’s ravenous appetite for foreign loans, fascistic tendencies, universal poverty and insecurity, the mission of patriotic Nigerians must now be an uncompromising and inevitable determination to reclaim the country in the next presidential election,” he stated.
Nowinta also called on citizens and civil society organisations to become more actively engaged in the nation’s democratic process, urging Nigerians to organise and align with progressive forces to demand accountability from those in authority.
He maintained that the hardships currently being experienced by ordinary citizens amounted to a grave assault on the welfare and dignity of the Nigerian people.
The activist warned that dismissive comments from government officials on issues affecting citizens’ daily lives could further widen the trust deficit between the government and the governed, stressing that leaders must demonstrate empathy, responsiveness and a sincere commitment to addressing the country’s economic challenges.
