Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of making life increasingly expensive for Nigerians, promising to make the country more affordable if given the opportunity to lead.
Atiku raised the concern in a post on his X handle on Friday while reacting to reports of young Nigerians allegedly selling their kidneys and other body organs in desperate attempts to survive the country’s economic hardship.
He said Nigerian youths should be pursuing their dreams, building careers and developing innovative ideas instead of resorting to selling their body organs to meet their basic needs.
“I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive. Perhaps the most horrifying are the growing reports of young people selling parts of their bodies: kidneys in particular, in desperate attempts to raise money,” Atiku said.
“Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs.”
The former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate said the rising cost of food, transportation, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity had further worsened the living conditions of Nigerians.
According to Atiku, reports that some young Nigerians were being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as N1.7 million demonstrated the level of desperation created by the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
He argued that laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking would not be enough to address the poverty and desperation that leave vulnerable young people exposed to criminal networks.
Atiku stressed that economic reforms must translate into improved living conditions for citizens by making basic necessities more affordable.
“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation,” he said.
“Our young people should be selling their ideas, talents and innovation to the world and not their kidneys for ₦1.7 million just to survive at home.”
Atiku described the alleged sale of body organs by young Nigerians as a manifestation of the human cost of the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
He accused the Tinubu administration of worsening the economic burden on citizens and said his approach would be different.
“Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again,” he added.
