A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has warned that Nigerians may strongly show their anger at the ballot box in 2027 if hardship and insecurity continue under the current government.
Galadima spoke on Thursday during an appearance on Politics Today. He criticised the policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and rejected claims that living conditions have improved.
He warned the authorities not to ignore the level of frustration in the country. He pointed to cases in Kano where young men were arrested after sharing their opinions on radio programmes.
“Look at young men in Kano who go to the radio to make an opinion. They have been arrested and sent to jail. Sometimes tried in the night by judges who are forced to jail them,” he said.
He added that such actions may seem small at first but could grow into something bigger if not addressed.
“Now things start small, small. You don’t know how they can blossom and become something else. They shouldn’t play. They shouldn’t presume that Nigerians are gullible and that they cannot react,” he said.
Galadima compared the current situation to the 2015 general election, when Nigerians voted out former President Goodluck Jonathan. He said that at the time, insecurity in the North-East pushed voters to demand change.
“They should remember that when things got to less than 10 per cent of the situation we find ourselves in today in 2015, Nigerians rose to the occasion and removed that government,” he said.
He argued that if Nigerians could remove Jonathan’s government over insecurity in one region, the same could happen to the APC if the present challenges continue.
“If you can remove Jonathan’s government for a simple insecurity in the Northeast, what would you be doing to the APC government? I think we have to cut them into pieces,” Galadima added.
He also accused the Federal Government of damaging agriculture through heavy grain imports and high production costs. According to him, farmers who he said make up about 75 per cent of Nigeria’s population are being pushed aside.
“This government has killed agriculture deliberately, disenfranchising farmers who are 75 per cent of the Nigerian population. You have to buy a bag of fertiliser for 60,000 naira to 70,000 naira,” he said.
Galadima dismissed government claims that economic hardship is easing. He said farming activities in rural areas are going down instead of improving.
“How can you disenfranchise 75 per cent of your population for the interest of one contractor or one supporter? The massive importation of grains,” he said.
Sharing his personal observation, he said that during a recent visit to Maiduguri, he saw little dry-season farming taking place.
“Now this year I travelled to Maiduguri… there is nobody doing any dry farming. Let the government send researchers to find out now. If there is no famine, all the rice mills over 1,000 of them established during Buhari’s time will be killed,” he said.
Galadima warned that if food production continues to fall and farming is not supported, Nigeria could face serious food shortages, and many rice mills set up in recent years may shut down.
