Presidency: Hunger claims exaggerated, Nigeria not collapsing

The presidency has revealed that the hunger claims in the country are being exaggerated and that Nigeria is not on the brink of collapse as asserted by ‘fear-mongering journalists’.

Sunday Dare, special adviser to the President on media and public communications, affirmed in a statement on Friday morning that while the country is facing economic challenges, they are not as critical as reports suggest.

The presidential spokesperson released the statement on his X platform to particularly tackle the issue of media sensationalism.

He critiqued a recent editorial comment titled “Nigeria is Collapsing under Tinubu’s Watch”, revealing that it is a misrepresentation of the actual state of the nation, solely aimed at fuelling public despair.

“The claim that 33 million Nigerians are at risk of hunger is a projection, not a confirmed reality,” Dare said, referring to figures from the Cadre Harmonisé report—a regional tool used to predict potential food insecurity.

“While no one in the Tinubu administration denies that some of our citizens face economic challenges, it is essential to separate honest concern from exaggerated pessimism and generalisation.

The Tinubu administration is not indifferent to the genuine concerns of the people. The irony is that what is often criticised today are, in fact, the policies that will ensure that Nigerians have a more secure, stable, and prosperous future,” he added.

Sunday Dare, while addressing the editorial exaggeration, mentioned several programs of the FG which is aimed at alleviating poverty, stabilising the naira, increasing food supply, among others.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not indifferent to Nigerians’ difficulties. On the contrary, he is taking deliberate, targeted steps—many already yielding results—to reset our economy from a legacy of consumption without productivity, opacity without accountability, and policy that served the powerful, not the people,” he said.

“Here are some of the measures taken by the government to ensure we never get there: Over 42,000 metric tons of grains were released from federal strategic reserves; 117,000 metric tons were under additional procurement.

The presidential spokesperson acknowledged the need for criticism in the released statement but advised that it should be rooted in truth and not aimed at inciting public rage.

“Criticism is welcome, but it must be rooted in truth — not fear-mongering,” he added.

Although he mentioned the news platform that published the editorial, Sunday Dare hoped that other news agency would not go through such a route, as it “does not serve the public good”.