Peter Obi of the Labour Party says Nigeria, under President Bola Tinubu’s watch, has become one big nation united by hunger and starvation.

“Today, we are one big nation united by hunger and starvation, to the point of dying to make ends meet,” Mr Obi said in a statement shared on his X account on Monday.

Berating the government for wasting resources on expensive renovations, Mr Obi urged Mr Tinubu’s “government to lead the crusade against hunger by investing aggressively in our agricultural sector.”

“Most distressing is that in all our adversity, our leaders have resorted to spending stupendous amounts of resources on wasteful items like ordering expensive renovations of offices and residences that are already in luxurious conditions.

“We have seen our government spend more money on car parks for politicians than for the running of half of our teaching hospitals. In all this, there has been scanty attention to the living conditions of the ordinary people they were elected to care for,” Mr Obi said. 

Nigerians in Lagos protested rising food prices on Monday, calling on the government to ameliorate their suffering. 

Last week Monday, residents of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, also protested, chanting “Tinubu ole.” Similar protests had been held in Osun, Niger, Kano and Lagos, Mr Tinubu’s home state.

Market surveys by Peoples Gazette in February showed that prices of most food items have increased by almost 100 per cent since Mr Tinubu assumed office last year.

Though spiking prices of food predated Mr Tinubu’s government, the sudden fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira have seen petrol prices jump from N145 to N630, shooting prices up astronomically as the naira continues its freefall against the dollar, trading for N1,825 against a dollar last week Tuesday. 

Mr Tinubu, in response to public outcry on the rising cost of food driven by skyrocketing inflation in the country, had directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release about 42,000 metric tonnes of grain, including maize, millet and garri.

He also charged National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, State Security Service and Nigerian police to go after food hoarders. The Nigerian Customs also announced the distribution of confiscated food items to Nigerians to ameliorate hunger.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in a summary of its assessment of Nigeria’s economy, lauded Mr Tinubu’s government for structural reforms, scrapping fuel subsidies and floating the naira.