Prosperity Exists Only in Your Head – Atiku tells Tinubu

By Opeyemi Adelakun

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s claim that prosperity is on the horizon and that Nigerians are experiencing an improved quality of life, describing the remarks as detached from the country’s realities.

In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said millions of Nigerians continue to battle rising inflation, soaring living costs, unemployment, insecurity and declining purchasing power.

He questioned whether the President was referring to a different Nigeria, arguing that ordinary citizens were struggling to survive amid worsening economic conditions.

“The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it,” Atiku said.

The former vice president maintained that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration could no longer continue blaming previous governments for the country’s challenges.

He alleged that the current administration had presided over deepening economic hardship, fiscal recklessness and a lack of transparency, leaving millions poorer while only a privileged few benefited from government policies.

Atiku also criticised Tinubu’s comments on Nigeria’s growing population, arguing that countries such as China transformed their economies by investing in manufacturing, infrastructure, education, technology and export-led industrialisation rather than treating population growth as a burden.

According to him, an ADC-led government would prioritise investments in manufacturing, agriculture, modern infrastructure, quality education, skills development and export-oriented industries to harness Nigeria’s youthful population for economic growth.

He further described as insensitive any suggestion that Nigerians should accept present hardship because previous generations also endured difficult times.

“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,” Atiku said.

The statement followed President Tinubu’s recent remarks expressing optimism that his administration’s economic reforms were beginning to yield results and that prosperity was on the horizon for Nigerians.