Sir: Dr. Tope Fasua, the special adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Economic Affairs, was recently on channels television where he made some striking observations. He cast doubt on the data which puts Nigeria’s poor at about 100 million before adding some interesting insights on the Naira to Dollar exchange rate, particularly as it implies value.

The greatest dilemma facing the Tinubu presidency right now is not to be found in the disquisitions or dissertations of his bevy of economists and technocrats. It lies in a simple distillation: that Nigerians are hungry and need to eat. They need food. The aphorism that a hungry man is an angry man is very true and even among the hungry hordes in parts of the country scarred by hunger long before Tinubu became president, new ways are being conceived to beat hunger into anger.

There is an unspoken but unavoidable remit that comes with government appointments in Nigeria: defend the government at times and at all costs. Get dirty, if possible, the government will provide cover. So, hitherto honourable and honest professionals have been appointed to government posts and then converted into attack dogs almost immediately.

When the government is doing well, which is hardly ever the case here, they have less to defend, which suits them just fine as facts speak for themselves. However, they are in for a nightmare when the government they work for is embarrassingly inept as is the case many times in Nigeria. Because they still have to do their jobs, they are always out there chasing shadows. Many of them eventually leave the government with their reputations shredded. They never manage to recover.

For many Nigerians, the reality, which government appointees constantly try to twist, hardly ever changes. It remains harsh and humiliating. Scorching hunger and scalding insecurity form their daily living. So, regardless of what is disputed on national television by whom and for what motive, hunger paints a starker and more direct reality.

For many families too, all that bills ever do is to mount. That’s all they ever do. As they mount, the resources with which to clear them crawl away.

Does Fasua really believe his views, or was he just putting up a show for his anchor and audience. Does he really doubt a lot of the data bandied about concerning Nigeria even by the National Bureau of Statistics or did he feel compelled to use that to bat away criticism directed at the current administration?

To solve a problem, the solver must firstly identify the problem, acknowledge it, and then confront it. Whatever a concern is, the solution cannot lie in denial. Nigerians are waiting for their fortunes to change. However, three years into the regime of the current administration, the president is yet to show that he can work the miracles Nigeria so badly needs.

Ike Willie-Nwobu can be reached via [email protected]