“I don’t see that hunger”: Bayo Onanuga says hardship talk doesn’t match what he sees on the ground

“I don’t see the kind of hunger people talk about.”

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, made that statement Tuesday on Arise News.

He said his personal experience and interactions don’t reflect the scale of hardship Nigerians complain about.

—“I see people working, I see people earning”–

Onanuga defended Tinubu’s economic policies.

He argued that government programmes and infrastructure projects are already easing pressure for some Nigerians.

“I see people who are working. I see people earning income. I see government policies that are already making life easier for some Nigerians,” he said.

—Roads, loans, and 1-hour trips—

The presidential spokesperson gave examples from his own movement.

Travelling Ibadan to Lagos via Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode, he said Google Maps showed him a new concrete road residents credited to government construction.

Living in Ajah, he also pointed to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: “Before now, getting to central Lagos could take over two hours. But because of the work being done on the coastal road, I now spend about one hour on that journey.”

He listed FG’s student loan scheme and single-digit interest loans for civil servants as direct interventions. “There are students getting loans to pay school fees. Civil servants can also access loans at lower interest rates. These are some of the things government has done to support Nigerians.”

—Gains vs grievances—

Onanuga’s core point: public conversations focus on economic pain but “overlook some of the gains recorded by the current administration.”

The comment lands amid rising food prices and cost-of-living protests nationwide. For many Nigerians, the disconnect between “I don’t see it” and their market receipts will fuel debate.

For now, Onanuga says the hunger is in the headlines, not on his route