Nigerians have never starved this much since independence, laments Abba, who rips into official GDP figures
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“President Tinubu said that he inherited a terrible economy but he has made the economy worse.
“It is not what the government says that they have really achieved. Go to the market, the cost of living has escalated. Transportation [cost] has escalated.
“Now, anybody who is a pensioner, your pension money cannot buy fuel that will fill your tank ….
“You tell us about the figures that GDP has gone up, what is the use of GDP when I’m hungry?
“People are hungry. We have never been in this situation since we achieved independence. We don’t need to call it hunger, it’s starvation.
“You said you are reforming the economy, so what do I do with it? What is my business with how much we have in foreign reserves when I’m hungry?
“I’m sick then you come and increase my sickness and then you tell me ‘don’t worry, I’m doing it just to help you to stabilise’, is it when I’m dead that I will overcome it?” – Abba.
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Alkasum Abba, a professor of economics, has poured cold water on the official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures being bandied by President Bola Tinubu and his officials, claiming the economy has stabilised or is stabilising, when the reality is that Nigerians have never starved this much since independence in 1960.
Abba insisted on Trust TV that the President has damaged the economy more than how he met it on assumption of office in May 2023, citing the cost of living that keeps on rising despite the “reform agenda” of his administration.
“President Tinubu said that he inherited a terrible economy but he has made the economy worse,” Abba argued.
“It is not what the government says that they have really achieved. Go to the market, the cost of living has escalated. Transportation [cost] has escalated.
“Now, anybody who is a pensioner, your pension money cannot buy fuel that will fill your tank.
Tinubu in his Independence Day broadcast on October 1 claimed that Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio has risen to 13.5 per cent as of September 2025, up from less than 10 per cent, which he said called for celebration.
But Abba countered that with the economic hardship everywhere in the country, the figure has no use when Nigerians are starving.
“You tell us about the figures that GDP has gone up, what is the use of GDP when I’m hungry?
“People are hungry. We have never been in this situation since we achieved independence. We don’t need to call it hunger, it’s starvation.
“You said you are reforming the economy, so what do I do with it? What is my business with how much we have in foreign reserves when I’m hungry?
“I’m sick then you come and increase my sickness and then you tell me ‘don’t worry, I’m doing it just to help you to stabilise’, is it when I’m dead that I will overcome it?”
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