Former NHIA Executive Secretary, Prof. Usman Yusuf, has sharply criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, describing it as marked by unpopularity, divisiveness, and self-interest two years into its tenure.
In the video from 12:47, He contrasted the current leadership unfavourably with past generations that invested substantially in education, healthcare, and security, which fostered national progress and citizen welfare.
Prof. Usman lamented the dire security situation, noting that daily violence overwhelms the military, which is fatigued and psychologically strained after years of continuous deployment.
“You think you are safe? Nobody is safe if your neighbour is not safe,” he said, recalling his grandmother’s advice to pray for others’ children as well as one’s own.
“Our land is drenched in blood. We are burying our dead every day—civilians and uniformed personnel alike. Fifty in Plateau, thirty in Katsina, one hundred in Zamfara. Life has become nothing.”
Prof. Usman warned that Nigeria’s military, numbering less than 300,000 deployed across all states and the FCT, is overstretched by insurgencies like Boko Haram, which has lasted 16 years, and banditry ongoing for over a decade.
He cited the late Army Chief of Staff General Lagbaja’s observation that soldiers are developing battle fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorder, with some resorting to drugs.
He stressed that security is not solely the military’s responsibility but a collective one, blaming politicians for creating the crises and ignoring the people’s suffering.
“Politicians are not listening to the cries of our children at the war front, those that make it possible for us to come here and talk. We need to have an adult conversation but the politicians are not ready. They are dancing.”
On economic policies, Prof. Usman criticized the government’s approach to subsidy removal, saying, “When this government came, they said they were going to remove subsidy but what plans do you have to ameliorate the sufferings of our people? None. This is what we are seeing! The repercussions and suffering we are seeing are because of the misguided policies of this government. No plan to mitigate the consequences and no consultations. You don’t consult people, you do whatever you want. People are suffering, you are not listening.”
He added a key observation: “A governor is saying my state is on fire. A minister in Abuja is saying he is lying. They are not listening.”
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