BY SUNDAY DARE
A recent editorial by Daily Trust paints an exaggerated and unbalanced portrait of Nigeria as a nation overwhelmed by hunger, hardship, and helplessness. We were not surprised by the newspaper’s opinion, as the paper has consistently and deliberately misinformed its readers about the government’s policy. The Tinubu administration believes in the right of the media to offer constructive criticism, but it must be anchored on facts, not distortion or selective pessimism. The Daily Trust has on several occasions breached this rule by misrepresenting government policies and actions—a trend for which the newspaper has publicly apologised at least twice.
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.
Misrepresentations, selective use of projections, and alarmist narratives do not serve the public good; they distract from the genuine progress underway nationwide.
To suggest, as Daily Trust did in its biased editorial, that “Nigerians are hungry” without recognising the government’s ongoing interventions perpetuates despair instead of empowering citizens with the truth.
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.
This is the context that Daily Trust omitted in its jaundiced editorial.
1. UNICEF Projection vs. Cadre Harmonisé Analysis.
The editorial referenced a UNICEF “prediction” from April 2025 stating that 33 million Nigerians, including 16 million children, would face hunger in 2025. This figure has been widely cited but wrongly interpreted.
What was presented was not a UNICEF-specific report but the Cadre Harmonisé Food and Nutrition Insecurity Analysis, jointly prepared by the Federal Government of Nigeria, FAO, WFP, and UNICEF. It is not a current count, but a worst-case projection for the June–August 2025 lean season, assuming no mitigation actions by government or partners.
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 President activated the Food Security Council; emergency nutrition support was scaled up in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto, and Bauchi States.
Malnutrition is a serious national concern, but let’s not localise it as a “Northern Nigeria” crisis. Since 2020, COVID has disrupted the global food system, worsened the Russia-Ukraine war, and is now aggravated by conflict in the Middle East.
According to the World Bank’s April 2025 Food Security Update, over 1.4 billion people worldwide are under food stress, a problem that is not unique to Nigeria.
2. The Naira is Not Worthless — It Has Found Its Level and Is Strengthening
The editorial’s use of the term “worthless naira” is false and misleading.
Since hitting a low of ₦1,800/$1 in March 2024, the naira has rebounded strongly due to: Increased oil receipts and remittances, Restoration of investor confidence, Unification of the FX window, Reduction of FX backlog by over $4 billion (CBN data, May 2025)
As of August 1, 2025, the naira traded around ₦1,525/$1, a sizable appreciation since its lowest ebb. Nigeria’s FX reserves are stabilising, and foreign portfolio inflows are picking up after major reforms in the monetary and fiscal space.
The naira has not collapsed—it has been corrected and is now recovering.
3. Yes, this administration is listening – And Acting on viable Recommendations, not the ones driven by anger and ambition.
We welcome suggestions such as suspending VAT on food, reducing taxes on drugs and medical equipment, and easing the tax burden on MSMEs. The Federal Ministry of Finance and the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee are working on many of these.
Starting January 2026, the new tax reforms will:
Streamline over 60 overlapping taxes into fewer, manageable channels. Eliminate nuisance taxes that burden small businesses. Create exemptions for essential goods, including some food and medical items. Encourage state-federal tax harmonisation to stop multiple taxation.
Meanwhile, the President works closely with State Governors through the National Economic Council (NEC) to implement immediate local tax reliefs, VAT waivers, and food market stabilisation efforts in each state.
4. Social Protection Measures Are Expanding, Not Fizzling Out
The claim that the school feeding programme has “fizzled out” is inaccurate and false.
The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme serves over 9.8 million children in 53,000 schools across 36 states and the FCT.
Over 200,000 cooks and local farmers are engaged in the programme, which is being digitised for transparency and efficiency. The Federal Government has not abandoned the programme.
On the broader safety net, three million vulnerable households have received ₦75,000 each under the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer, with plans to scale up to 15 million households. As of August 7, over 396,000 students now benefit from NELFUND tuition loans and stipends.
The Presidential MSME Grant Scheme has disbursed funds to over 250,000 businesses in 2025, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises despite the outcry on CBN interest rates.
CNG bus rollout and transport palliatives are reducing urban commuting costs
5. Global Food Prices Are Also Driving Local Pain — But Nigeria Is Responding
The facts:
The FAO Food Price Index (June 2025) shows global food prices remain 22% above 2019 levels.
Countries like Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka also struggle with food price inflation. But Nigeria, under President Tinubu, is actively mitigating this global shock, by rolling out the following measures: State of Emergency on Food Security; Invested ₦200 billion in dry-season and all-year farming; Targeted 500,000 farmers for input support in 2025; Launched the National Commodity Board to regulate food price volatility; Introduced transport subsidies to cut logistics costs for food.
6. The administration is Coordinating With States to Alleviate Hardship.
The President is not acting in isolation. Joint State-FG food distribution plans are being implemented through ongoing engagements with State Governors, LGAs, development partners, and civil society. States have received direct cash support and grants for local market stabilisation.
Coordination is ongoing to scale up nutrition interventions, including micronutrient support for women and children.
We also acknowledge that hardship is uneven across regions. However, Nigeria is one country, one people, and the fight against hunger is a collective effort, not a northern, southern, Christian, or Muslim issue.
A Time for Unity, Not Despair
Let’s speak the truth. Yes, Nigerians are belt-tightening, but Nigeria is healing. The economic surgery undertaken by President Tinubu is not without pain, but it is yielding green shoots.
To those who ask, “Where is the hope?” We say hope is in the stabilising naira, in three million families lifted by direct transfers, and about 400,000 students now schooling without fear of paying fees. Hope is in the 500,000 farmers sowing into a new food system. Hope is in a government that is finally treating poverty not as a slogan but as a solvable problem.
Only recently, this administration launched an effort to drive grassroots economic growth and poverty reduction across Nigeria, as President Bola Tinubu approved a ward-level development strategy called the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP).
This initiative, which was endorsed by the National Economic Council (NEC) during its 150th meeting, is part of the President’s broader Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims for a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Key aspects of the RHWDP include: Targeting all 8,809 wards in Nigeria: The programme is designed to reach every administrative ward, ensuring that no community is left behind in national development efforts.
Focus on key development areas: It aims to serve as a coordinated intervention framework focused on poverty alleviation, food security, rural infrastructure, power supply, and job creation.
Identifying and supporting local economic actors: The program will identify at least 1,000 economically active individuals in each ward and support them in enhancing local manufacturing and business operations. This will generate double-digit growth in most wards as Nigeria progresses towards its $1 trillion economy target.
Several other interventions abound.
This administration does not ask for silence in the face of hardship. It asks only for fairness and a shared commitment to rebuilding this country, not just exaggerating its pain. This is what President Tinubu expects from all Nigerians and well-wishers of our country.
Sunday Dare
Special Adviser to the President
Media & Public Communications
August 7, 2025
