Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said he does not observe the widespread hunger and hardship many Nigerians have reported amid the country’s ongoing economic challenges.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Tuesday, June 23, Onanuga argued that public discourse has become dominated by assumptions that overlook positive developments.
“We have been pigeonholed into certain assumptions, certain conclusions,” he said.
Referring to a viral incident during the early days of the Tinubu administration, he recalled how a video of the President returning from a mosque in Lagos was accompanied by a voice-over suggesting widespread hunger.
“I think the President went to Lagos, he was coming from the Central Mosque, and somebody now did a voice-over saying ‘Ebi n pawa o,’ and that means we are hungry. Since then, people have been saying that,” he said.
Onanuga said his personal interactions and checks with his private staff do not reflect the severe level of hunger being publicly discussed.
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“I’m a Nigerian. I have people working for me privately. I don’t see the level of hunger people are talking about because I see them, and I keep asking them questions: how are things, how are they adjusting, what are the problems?” Onanuga stated.
He pointed to several government interventions as evidence of improvement, particularly the more than 100% increase in the national minimum wage (from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000), the introduction of interest-free student loans for university students, and access to single-digit interest loans for civil servants.
Onanuga also cited infrastructure projects, such as the new coastal road shortening travel times in Lagos and newly paved concrete roads in areas like Ijebu-Ode, as direct benefits to citizens.
His comments come against the backdrop of persistent high food inflation and public complaints about cost-of-living pressures.
The remarks have drawn mixed reactions online, with some accusing the presidential adviser of being out of touch with the realities facedby ordinary Nigerians.