Stop the Propaganda and Lies: ADC Dares Tinubu to Confront the Suffering on Nigeria’s Streets.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester
Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

In what can only be described as a thunderous wake-up call to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his deeply embattled administration, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has broken the silence most political parties have either ignored or cowardly danced around. In a sharply worded statement, the ADC demanded that President Tinubu “STOP THE PROPAGANDA AND LIES,” urging him to step out of the fortified comfort of Aso Rock and witness firsthand the despair and destitution that has overtaken the streets of Nigeria.

And the ADC is not wrong.

This is not the time for fancy speeches, PR gymnastics or sugar-coated economic figures dished out from manicured podiums in Abuja. It is the time for TRUTH. RAW, BITTER, UNFILTERED-TRUTH. Nigeria is bleeding, economically, morally and socially. The distance between the President and the people has never been wider. Tinubu’s administration has become like a GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE, physically, emotionally and economically absent. (wahala dey)

From ‘Renewed Hope’ to Relentless Hardship. When Bola Tinubu emerged in the controversial 2023 elections with his “Renewed Hope” mantra, Nigerians, especially those who still carried a flicker of optimism, dared to believe that maybe, just maybe, he would steer the nation away from the edge of the economic abyss. Barely two years into his presidency, that HOPE has turned into HOPELESSNESS. The only thing that has been “renewed” is SUFFERING.

Inflation is dancing on the roofs of every household. The cost of basic food items has tripled. Transportation has become a luxury. The minimum wage, even where it is paid, is an insult to human dignity in this HYPER-INFLATED ECONOMY. Yet, the President and his handlers parade statistics that have no bearing on lived reality. Is it not insulting that while Nigerians are forced to queue for hours to buy rice, yam or cooking gas, Tinubu’s government recently approved ₦10 billion for solar panels at Aso Rock, an OBSCENE DISPLAY of disconnected governance?

ADC’s Challenge: Not Just Political Rhetoric. The ADC’s bold call is not mere opposition politics. It is a reflection of what millions of ordinary Nigerians are screaming in silence. When the ADC asked President Tinubu to “visit the streets,” they were not asking for a convoy tour or staged photo ops. They meant: take off the AGBADA of DENIAL, remove the CAP of ARROGANCE and walk the streets (unfiltered, unguarded) and see how the people you SWORE to SERVE are SURVIVING.

Visit Mushin, Agege, Sabon Gari, Aba, Nyanya, Dutse, Ajegunle, Warri, Onitsha, Ughelli or Maiduguri. Visit any of the forgotten communities where poverty has replaced peace and where hunger is the only thing in abundant supply. Step into the overcrowded schools with leaking roofs and no teachers. Peek into the public hospitals where mothers die giving birth and children perish from treatable illnesses. Then maybe, just maybe, you’ll understand why propaganda is not policy and why slogans won’t fill empty stomachs.

The Lies Must Stop. The Tinubu administration must stop insulting the intelligence of Nigerians. Enough with the press briefings that paint a UTOPIAN Nigeria no one can SEE or TOUCH. Enough with the delusional PRAISE-SINGING by ministers, aides and political jobbers who are more concerned about their portfolios than the people.

YOU CANNOT PREACH PATIENCE TO A MOTHER WHO HASN’T FED HER CHILDREN IN TWO DAYS. YOU CANNOT CALL FOR SACRIFICE FROM WORKERS WHO HAVEN’T BEEN PAID IN MONTHS. YOU CANNOT CLAIM PROGRESS WHEN THE ONLY THING PROGRESSING IS CORRUPTION, INFLATION, INSECURITY AND POLITICAL DECEPTION.

Let us not forget: this is the same administration that removed FUEL SUBSIDY without any meaningful cushioning plan, sending transport costs skyrocketing and plunging millions into further poverty. The so-called palliatives that followed were both inadequate and insultingly distributed. One bag of rice per community cannot cure systemic hunger.

The Streets Do Not Lie. The streets speak the truth politicians are too scared to confront. They tell the story of a nation on the brink, where citizens no longer look to their leaders for SALVATION but to SURVIVAL INSTINCTS, PRAYERS or MIGRATION ROUTES. Japa is not just a slang; it is a LIFE-SAVING strategy for millions of youths who have LOST FAITH in Nigeria. Every week, new images emerge of Nigerians STRANDED, SUFFERING or DYING abroad in search of a better life. This mass exodus is a damning referendum on the failure of the political class. A country that cannot keep its citizens SAFE, FED, EDUCATED and HOPEFUL has no business hosting summits on economic prosperity.

Time for Tinubu to Wake Up. President Tinubu must understand that Nigeria is not a political chessboard to be moved at his convenience. It is a nation crying out for responsible leadership. He must descend from his high tower, shake off the layers of detachment and connect with the pain of ordinary Nigerians. He should not just meet with CEOs and foreign diplomats. Let him sit in a KEKE NAPEP with a working-class father earning ₦35,000 a month. Let him try to buy bread and beans from a roadside vendor without flinching at the price. Let him stay without power for 48 hours like millions of citizens do every week.

A Country on the Edge. What we are witnessing is a slow-motion national collapse disguised as reform. The economic team is either clueless or complicit. The National Assembly is docile. The judiciary is silent. The opposition parties are fragmented. Civil society is being bullied; and the people? They are enduring more than any citizenry should ever have to.

THERE IS A LIMIT TO ENDURANCE.

As John F. Kennedy once warned, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Nigerians are not asking for LUXURY; they are demanding DIGNITY, and if that is too much to ask from the so-called “Jagaban,” then the moral license to govern is revoked.

Quotes That Echo the People’s Pain. “A hungry man is not a free man.” ~ Adlai Stevenson

“Leadership is not about being in charge, it is about taking care of those in your charge.” ~ Simon Sinek

“Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.” ~ Eric Hoffer

These quotes are not mere intellectual indulgences, they are mirrors. Let Tinubu look into them and reflect.

The Bottom Line: Governance Is Not a Performance. Governance is not a theatre where the elite perform and the people applaud. It is a sacred responsibility. Bola Tinubu must either rise to the OCCASION or ADMIT he is UNFIT for the burden of the presidency. The ADC has spoken for the voiceless. It is now up to Tinubu to listen.if he continues on this path of ALOOFNESS and DECEPTION, history will not be kind. For when the dust settles, it is not the spin doctors who will be remembered; it is the SUFFERING of the PEOPLE and the SILENCE of the PRESIDENT that will be etched into the conscience of a nation betrayed.

Written by George Omagbemi Sylvester
Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com