Abuja, Nigeria — Frontline activist Aisha Yesufu has warned that hunger and poverty are being deliberately used as tools to weaken Nigerians and suppress their ability to think critically and hold leaders accountable.
In a post shared on X, Yesufu said the scale of hunger across the country has pushed many citizens into survival mode, leaving them with little energy or space to engage in civic or political action.
According to her, the situation has created a dangerous imbalance in society, where those who are not hungry must now think and act not only for themselves, but also for millions who have been stripped of the strength to do so.
“Hunger that is deliberately inflicted has made many lose their capacity to think,” Yesufu stated, describing poverty as “a cancer that has eaten up the very soul of our society.”
She accused Nigeria’s political leadership of deliberately entrenching poverty while offering temporary relief measures during election periods, arguing that such interventions are designed to secure votes rather than solve structural economic problems.
Yesufu maintained that these short-term handouts do nothing to address the root causes of hardship, instead sustaining a cycle of dependency and political manipulation.
Calling for collective action, she urged economically stable Nigerians to unite and act as the “soul and conscience of the nation,” stressing that silence in the face of widespread suffering would further weaken the country.
“Nigeria has everything it needs to be great,” she said, emphasizing the urgency of confronting hunger and restoring what she described as the nation’s weakened spirit. “We must unlock the spirit that has been starved—the Nigerian can-do spirit.”
Her comments come amid growing public outrage over soaring food prices, rising poverty levels, and worsening economic conditions across Nigeria.
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