Stop Blaming Media For Hardship, Insecurity In Nigeria— Atiku Tells Tinubu

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has asked President Bola Tinubu to desist from shifting responsibility for worsening insecurity and economic hardship to the Nigerian media.

Atiku, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his senior special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, described recent remarks from the Presidency as a “dangerous exercise in denial,” arguing that the government has become disconnected from the daily realities facing millions of Nigerians.

The former vice president described it as “astonishing and insulting” that at a time when citizens are grappling with soaring inflation, hunger, unemployment and insecurity, the government chose to attack journalists rather than address the challenges confronting the country.

According to him, ordinary Nigerians do not need media reports to understand the severity of the economic crisis.

“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. The mother who now pays three or four times more for basic food items than she did two years ago does not require a television broadcast to understand inflation,” Atiku said.

He argued that hunger has become one of the defining features of the current administration, with many families reportedly skipping meals, withdrawing children from school, abandoning healthcare and struggling to meet basic needs.

“To suggest that this suffering is exaggerated is to mock the lived experiences of millions of Nigerians. It is to tell citizens that their empty pockets, unpaid bills and empty kitchens are products of imagination,” he added.

On the security situation, Atiku accused the Presidency of attempting to shift responsibility for persistent attacks across the country onto the media.

He maintained that reports of killings, kidnappings and banditry reflect realities faced by Nigerians daily and are not inventions of journalists.

“The media did not invent the killings in Benue. The media did not invent the massacres in Plateau. The media did not invent the bandit attacks in Zamfara, Katsina and Niger. The media did not invent kidnapping-for-ransom, which has become one of the country’s fastest-growing criminal enterprises,” he stated.

The former vice president expressed particular concern over comments suggesting that many kidnappings occur because citizens ignore security advisories against travelling at night.

According to him, such reasoning amounts to an admission that Nigerians can only feel safe during limited hours 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?” Atiku queried.

He argued that the primary responsibility of government is to protect lives and property, insisting that citizens should not be blamed when criminals attack them while carrying out lawful activities.

“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.

Atiku further warned that normalising insecurity by advising citizens to avoid certain places or times rather than eliminating criminal threats could undermine economic growth and public confidence.

“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,” he stated.

The former vice president also defended the role of the media in a democratic society, insisting that journalists should not be vilified for reporting insecurity and economic hardship.

“The media exists to report facts, amplify public concerns and give voice to citizens. Blaming journalists for reporting insecurity and hardship is like blaming a thermometer for a fever,” he said.

Atiku argued that the verdict on the Tinubu administration is being delivered daily by Nigerians struggling with the rising cost of living, business closures, declining purchasing power and persistent insecurity.

He also questioned what he described as the government’s tendency to blame external factors for policy failures, citing rising food prices, naira depreciation and worsening security challenges.

“The truth is simple: the failures of this administration are rooted in the outcomes of its policies, not in the reporting of those outcomes. It is therefore both irresponsible and insensitive to blame the media for conditions created by government decisions,” he said.

Atiku added that Nigerians are not looking for explanations or excuses but concrete solutions to the country’s mounting challenges.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Onanuga said media reports frequently portray insecurity as though it has engulfed the entire country.

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

“Don’t let people threaten you that the entire country is under siege. It’s not. There are security breaches. There are major security breaches,” he stated.