The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, has displayed a shocking level of contempt for the people of Akwa Ibom, telling a campaign rally in Uyo that citizens are only hungry because they are lazy.
Addressing supporters on Saturday during President Bola Tinubu’s campaign stop in the state, Yari dismissed the biting hunger and unprecedented food inflation that have defined the Tinubu administration. He challenged the crowd, asking whether anyone had taken money to the market in Akwa Ibom and found no rice to buy. He argued that real hunger only exists when there is absolutely no food available in the markets.
“If there is no food in the market, that is what we are calling hunger,” Yari said. “But anyone who is not a lazy person, definitely he will have food on his table.”
This is a cruel mockery of the Akwa Ibom people and every Nigerian struggling to survive the brutal economic reality created by President Tinubu’s policies. It is a staggering affront to the dignity of hardworking citizens who are skipping meals, rationing food, and watching the price of basic staples skyrocket beyond their reach.
Yari’s statement is a direct reflection of the Tinubu campaign’s mindset. Yari is the Director-General of Tinubu’s campaign. He speaks for the President. He travels with the President. He shares the stage with the President. When he opens his mouth to belittle hungry Nigerians and call them lazy, he is echoing the mindset of the man he is campaigning for. Tinubu stood on that same stage in Uyo and mocked the opposition, but he has nothing to say about the hunger ravaging the country. Instead, his campaign chief blames the victims.
Look at the reality Tinubu has created. A bag of onions now costs N300,000, which is more than four times the national minimum wage of N70,000. The naira has lost more than 70 per cent of its value. The national debt has climbed to N166.79 trillion. The World Bank confirmed that the cost of a basic food basket has risen fivefold between 2019 and 2024. This is not the result of Nigerians being lazy. This is the result of a government that removed fuel subsidies, floated the naira, and watched as the cost of living exploded, while doing absolutely nothing to cushion the blow for ordinary citizens.
While Nigerians go hungry, what is the Tinubu government doing? It is approving N1 billion to buy seven brand new 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado SUVs for APC youth leaders. It is spending N37.64 billion on presidential travel. It is asking the Senate to approve another $20.5 billion in foreign loans. It is painting an uncompleted stadium in Jos just to host a campaign rally. The government has money for luxury, money for campaigns, and money for foreign loans, but it has nothing for the hungry.
Tinubu’s campaign is built on hubris. They believe they can degrade the people, mock their suffering, and still ask for their votes. The people of Akwa Ibom are not lazy. They are farmers, traders, fishermen, and workers who have been abandoned by a government that cares more about luxury vehicles and foreign trips than about the empty pots in their kitchens.
Tinubu owes the people of Akwa Ibom an apology. He owes every hungry Nigerian an apology. But he will not apologize. Because he shares the same disdain that Yari displayed. Until Nigerians make him pay at the ballot box, the insults will continue, and the hunger will only get worse.
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