By ALO 360 Editorial Board
Bayo Onanuga’s recent remark on Arise Television that he does not “see the level of hunger Nigerians are complaining about” is more than an unfortunate statement. It is a troubling reflection of a government that increasingly appears detached from the daily realities confronting millions of Nigerians.
Words matter, especially when they come from the official spokesperson of the president. Such comments are often interpreted as reflecting the mindset of the administration itself. If the man whose duty is to communicate government policy genuinely believes that hunger in Nigeria is exaggerated, then one is compelled to ask whether those at the highest levels of government still understand what ordinary Nigerians endure every day.
For many citizens, hunger is no longer a statistic. It has become a daily reality. Parents now skip meals so their children can eat. Workers spend almost all their earnings on transportation and food. Small businesses are shutting down under the weight of rising operating costs. Families that once belonged comfortably to the middle class are now struggling to survive.
The data tells a story that no amount of political messaging can erase.
According to the Global Hunger Index, Nigeria ranked 103rd out of 121 countries in 2022. By the 2025 report, the country had slipped 12 places to 115th out of 123 countries, placing Nigeria among the nations with the highest levels of hunger in the world. That is not opposition propaganda. It is independent global evidence that food insecurity has worsened.
The numbers are equally alarming at home. In 2023, about 18.3 million Nigerians were facing acute food insecurity. By 2026, that figure had risen to approximately 30.6 million people — an increase of about 67 percent in just three years. Behind those figures are real people: families unable to afford three meals a day, children attending school hungry, and elderly citizens forced to choose between food and medicine.
Poverty has followed the same disturbing trajectory. Around 56 percent of Nigerians were estimated to be living in multidimensional poverty in 2023. Today, that figure has climbed to about 63 percent. This means millions more Nigerians now lack access not only to adequate income, but also to quality healthcare, education, sanitation, housing and other basic necessities that define a decent standard of living.
Even the simple act of eating healthily has become increasingly expensive. In 2023, the cost of a healthy diet for one adult per day was estimated at between ₦700 and ₦800. Today, that same diet costs well above ₦1,500 daily — an increase of more than 92 percent. For households with five or six members, maintaining a nutritious diet has become practically impossible.
Government officials often point to macroeconomic indicators, rising revenues and ongoing reforms. While those figures may satisfy economists, they mean very little to citizens whose purchasing power continues to decline. Economic reforms are important, but reforms that leave millions poorer without adequate social protection cannot be judged successful simply because government revenues have increased.
The irony is difficult to ignore.
When the current administration increased the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000, it presented the decision as a major intervention. Yet exchange rate realities tell a different story. In 2014, Nigeria’s minimum wage of ₦18,000 was worth roughly 90 US dollars. Today, the new ₦70,000 minimum wage is worth only about 51 US dollars. In nominal terms, wages have increased. In real purchasing power, workers are poorer.
The same trend is evident across virtually every aspect of daily life.
Petrol, which sold for less than ₦300 per litre in 2023, now costs well above ₦1,200 in many parts of the country. Cooking gas now sells for over ₦2,500 per kilogram, making clean cooking increasingly unaffordable for ordinary households. Electricity supply remains unreliable despite repeated promises of improvement, forcing businesses and families to depend on expensive alternatives.
Security has also failed to improve at the pace Nigerians were promised. The country remains one of the world’s most terrorism-affected nations, ranking among the worst globally. Banditry, kidnapping and attacks on farming communities continue to undermine food production and deepen inflation. Every new attack further widens the gap between official assurances and the lived experiences of citizens.
None of these realities disappear because a government spokesman says he does not see them.
Leadership demands constant engagement with the people, especially those who are hurting the most. Governments must resist the temptation to measure national wellbeing through the experiences of officials living behind the fortified walls of government residences. The true condition of a country is found in its markets, its villages, its classrooms, its hospitals and its streets.
It is understandable that every administration wants to defend its record. Governments naturally highlight achievements while explaining the rationale behind difficult policy choices. But there is a significant difference between defending policies and appearing to deny obvious suffering. The latter erodes public confidence and creates the impression that those in power no longer understand the country they govern.
President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly described his reforms as difficult but necessary. History may eventually judge some of those reforms positively. However, history will also ask whether sufficient measures were put in place to protect ordinary Nigerians while those reforms took effect. A reform agenda cannot be declared successful if millions of citizens become significantly worse off in the process.
Someone within government must be willing to tell the president the truth.
Nigeria’s challenges cannot be solved if those responsible for solving them first convince themselves that the problems are exaggerated. Honest diagnosis remains the first step toward meaningful solutions. Hunger is real. Poverty is rising. The cost of living continues to squeeze households. Businesses are struggling. Insecurity persists.
These are not merely opposition talking points. They are realities supported by data and experienced daily by millions of Nigerians.
The Tinubu administration cannot afford to become isolated from those realities. Governance succeeds not when leaders believe everything is well, but when they honestly confront what is wrong and work relentlessly to make it better. Nigerians deserve a government that not only celebrates progress where it exists but also acknowledges pain where it persists.
Only then can genuine hope replace official optimism.
