Amid an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, Nigerians are deploying humorous memes on the Internet to deprecate President Bola Tinubu’s harsh and scattershot economic policies.

Last week, Peoples Gazette reported that Mr Tinubu was incensed by Nigerians, who labelled him T-Pain—a nickname derived from the initial of his name and the pain being felt by citizens under his administration. 

Despite Mr Tinubu’s reported displeasure over his new moniker, Nigerians have intensified their criticisms, flooding the social media landscape with a collage of memes mocking the president.

Prominent among these memes is a viral meme featuring a capsule pack emblazoned with Mr Tinubu’s face, titled ‘T-Pain Weight Loss Pill’, a cryptic pointer to rising hunger amongst Nigerians caused by Mr Tinubu’s World Bank-sanctioned economic measures. 

A meme depicting Mr Tinubu as a Pharaoh is also ubiquitous online. This image echoes the public’s perception of Mr Tinubu’s subjecting Nigerians to hardship reminiscent of the biblical Israelites’ plight in Egypt under Pharaoh’s yoke. 

An X user, @chiditweets042, shared two memes of Mr Tinubu. One with Mr Tinubu’s face with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s haircut and body, while the other portrayed Mr Tinubu as a notorious terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. 

Mr Tinubu’s face is also superimposed on a photograph of Sammy Larry, a figure notorious for allegedly bullying late musician Mohbad. At the same time, another meme depicts Mr Tinubu as Scar, the villain from the popular movie The Lion King, among other memes mocking the president. 

Mr Tinubu’s government has yet to respond to a montage of memes mocking and portraying him in a bad light. During his campaign for the presidency in 2023, he said he no longer engages with trending topics on social media due to the abusive responses he receives from Nigerians.

The memes mocking Mr Tinubu come as Nigerians vent their anguish over the rising cost of living after the president removed the petrol subsidy, with the pump price soaring from N145 to N1030 per litre.

Mr Tinubu’s unsuccessful attempts to rein the plunging value of the naira have led to its further depreciation, with an exchange rate of N1,700 to a dollar in the black market. 

Though the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and economic experts have lauded Mr Tinubu for the subsidy removal and exchange rates unification, galloping inflation continues to wreak havoc on millions of Nigerians. 

On Friday, former Governor Peter Obi, Mr Tinubu’s arch-nemesis, excoriated the president for messing Nigerians around and wasting the country’s resources.