Atiku To Tinubu: Stop Blaming Nigerians, Media For Insecurity

 Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says President Bola Tinubu’s administration is attempting to shift the responsibility for the country’s worsening insecurity and economic challenges onto the media and citizens.

On Tuesday, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, accused sections of the Nigerian media of creating a false impression that the country is overwhelmed by insecurity.

Speaking on Arise TV, Onanuga said media reports often portray insecurity as if it has engulfed every part of Nigeria.

“The problem is that the media in Nigeria are even creating the problem. The way they’re reporting security is as if the entire country is consumed,” he said.

He added that incidents of kidnapping and attacks remain a concern, many of which occurred at night despite warnings from security agencies against night travel.

“Any time I read about either kidnapping or an attack somewhere, sometimes I look at the time. I say, wow, it happened at 8 p.m, it happened at 9 p.m, sometimes 1 a.m. A long time ago, the police told people to stop travelling at night.”

Reacting in a statement issued on Wednesday by Phrank Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication, Atiku said the presidency’s remarks blaming citizens for insecurity indicated that Nigerians could only be safe for a limited part of the day.

“Is the presidency admitting that Nigerians can only be safe for a few hours of the day? Is this an official declaration that Africa’s largest economy has been reduced to an eight-hour economy where citizens must shut down their businesses, abandon legitimate travel, and retreat indoors once the sun sets?” the former vice-president said.

Atiku noted that the burden of security should be placed on agencies responsible for protecting lives and properties instead of the citizens.

“The primary duty of any government is the protection of lives and property. Citizens do not surrender their freedoms in exchange for curfews imposed by fear,” he said.

He said insecurity across the country could not be dismissed as media exaggeration due to evidence in the daily experiences of Nigerians.

“A trader travelling from Kano to Lagos, a businessman returning from Abuja to Kaduna, a farmer transporting produce to market, or a family embarking on a legitimate journey should not be blamed when criminals attack them. The blame belongs squarely where it should — on those charged with securing the country,” he said.

The ADC presidential candidate cautioned that the normalisation of insecurity by advising citizens to avoid travelling at certain hours would severely affect the economy.

“A nation cannot prosper when its people are told that safety ends at sunset. Economies grow because people can move freely, trade freely, and conduct lawful activities without fear,” Atiku said.

On the economy, Atiku accused Tinubu’s administration of being disconnected from the realities facing Nigerians.

He said rising food prices, worsening inflation, unemployment, and declining purchasing power have left millions of families struggling to survive.

“The father who goes to bed wondering how to provide the next meal for his family does not need a newspaper report to confirm hardship,” Atiku said.

He criticised attempts by the presidency to blame the media for reporting on insecurity and economic challenges, noting that journalists were only reporting realities already being experienced by citizens.

“Blaming journalists for reporting insecurity and hardship is like blaming a thermometer for a fever,” Atiku said.

“Nigeria does not need explanations for suffering. Nigeria needs solutions. Nigeria does not need lectures about perception. Nigeria needs results.”

https://www.thecable.ng/atiku-to-tinubu-stop-blaming-nigerians-media-for-insecurity/