An elder statesman Usman Bugaje has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Anniversary speech saying it failed to touch on issues affecting Nigerians.
The country marked its 64th Independence Anniversary on Tuesday, starting with a nationwide broadcast in which Tinubu reeled out several plans and achievements by his government including the move to convoke a national youth conference.
But Bugaje claimed Tinubu spoke like a man who did not understand the country’s challenges.
“The first thing is that that is not a speech. It’s empty. The words are completely empty,” he said on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“It’s not even a standard at all. There are issues that worry people. He is supposed to speak about food security. That is what happens. He is supposed to tell us what he has done about food security,” the former House of Representatives member argued.
“Has he spoken about the climate change that has wiped away whatever little gains we have made?
“Look at Maduiguri, look at Kebbi, look at Ibadan, look at so many other places flooded. He doesn’t even know what is happening in the country from the speech,” Bugaje added.
The scholar advised Tinubu to seek ways to address and not just identify problems facing Nigeria.
“He doesn’t realise that when he has been elected, not to acknowledge our suffering, but to fix it. And when he speaks to us, he should be speaking about how he should fix the problem.
“And then he does not live as if he knew that these things are happening. He’s buying a new jet, he’s traveling all over the place,” the activist said.
“His family members admit all sorts of things. Is this the way to really empathize with citizens who cannot eat, who cannot sleep, who cannot go back to school, who cannot go to the hospitals?”
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