By George Mgbeleke

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed profound shock and disappointment over the recent remarks by the Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, claiming that he does not see the level of hunger Nigerians complain about.
HURIWA describes the statement as one of the most disturbing examples of official detachment from the daily realities confronting ordinary Nigerians. The assertion is not supported by empirical evidence, scientific data or credible national and international assessments. Rather, it appears to be based on personal impressions that cannot substitute for verifiable facts.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator,Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, HURIWA said, “For a senior presidential spokesman to dismiss widespread complaints of hunger because he observed people engaging in commercial activities or because he travelled on newly constructed roads is both logically flawed and insensitive to the suffering of millions of citizens struggling to survive the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.
Nigerians cannot eat roads.
They cannot feed their families with official optimism.
They cannot survive on government public relations narratives while food prices continue to soar beyond the reach of ordinary households.
Mr. Onanuga’s comments stand in direct contradiction to the findings of respected international agencies. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) recently classified Nigeria among 13 global hunger hotspots where acute food insecurity is projected to worsen significantly between June and November 2026.
Even more alarming is the WFP’s warning that approximately 34.8 million Nigerians could face crisis-level or worse food insecurity between July and September 2026. The same report highlights the plight of over 3.6 million internally displaced persons across the North-east, North-west and North-central regions.
These are not opposition figures speaking.
These are not social media commentators.
These are globally respected humanitarian institutions whose assessments are based on rigorous field research, data collection and internationally recognised methodologies.
HURIWA therefore finds it deeply troubling that a senior government official would seek to downplay a crisis that international organisations, development partners, humanitarian agencies and millions of affected Nigerians acknowledge as real and worsening.
The association challenges Mr. Onanuga to leave the comfort of official residences, convoys and carefully managed environments and undertake a genuine fact-finding tour across Nigeria.
Let him travel through communities in Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Benue and Borno States.
Let him engage market women whose capital has been wiped out by inflation.
Let him speak with pensioners choosing between food and medication.
Let him meet displaced families living in camps.
Let him interact with unemployed youths, struggling civil servants, transport workers, artisans and farmers battling insecurity and rising production costs.
Let him visit hospitals where malnutrition cases are increasing and communities where families routinely skip meals because they cannot afford basic food items.
Only then can he begin to appreciate the depth of the economic distress facing millions of Nigerians.
HURIWA is not suggesting that government has done nothing. We acknowledge ongoing infrastructure projects and social intervention initiatives. However, isolated development projects cannot be used to invalidate overwhelming evidence pointing to widespread hardship and food insecurity.
The true measure of economic success is not the number of roads commissioned but whether citizens can afford three meals a day, whether parents can provide for their children, whether workers earn enough to live with dignity and whether vulnerable populations are protected from hunger and deprivation.
A government that wishes to solve a problem must first acknowledge its existence.
Denying or minimising the suffering of citizens does not make that suffering disappear.
The association therefore urges the Presidency to embrace facts over public relations, evidence over assumptions and empathy over dismissiveness. Nigeria’s hunger crisis requires urgent, honest and coordinated action, not rhetorical attempts to explain away the lived experiences of millions of struggling citizens.
History has shown that governments are strongest not when they deny uncomfortable realities, but when they confront them with courage, sincerity and practical solutions.
Signed
Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko National Coordinator Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)

By George Mgbeleke

he Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to commit himself and his administration to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent, and violence-free general election in 2027, describing such a legacy as the surest pathway to securing a place among the world’s most respected democratic leaders.

HURIWA’s position follows allegations reportedly made by the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who claimed that during a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner attended by opposition leaders and President Tinubu, the opposition requested assurances that the 2027 elections would be conducted transparently and fairly.

According to the SDP candidate’s account, the President allegedly responded that he could not guarantee a free and fair election, arguing that when he was in the opposition, he also faced political intimidation and electoral disadvantages from those who controlled federal power, and that today’s opposition politicians should expect similar challenges.

While HURIWA notes that the allegation remains the account of the SDP presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, the association believes that President Tinubu now has a historic opportunity to demonstrate statesmanship by rising above the imperfections of the past and strengthening Nigeria’s democratic foundations.

The association stated that Nigerians expect the President to publicly and unequivocally assure citizens that the 2027 general elections will be conducted in strict accordance with democratic principles, constitutional provisions, and international best practices.

HURIWA specifically urged the Federal Government, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, and all relevant institutions to take decisive steps to:

* Guarantee free, fair, credible, transparent, and peaceful elections in 2027;
* Criminalise and vigorously prosecute vote-buying and vote-selling;
* Eliminate political thuggery and election-related violence;
* Prevent intimidation of opposition parties and their supporters;
* Ensure equal opportunities for all political parties and candidates;
* Strengthen the independence and integrity of electoral institutions; and
* Protect the sanctity of the ballot and the sovereign will of the Nigerian people.

According to HURIWA, if President Tinubu successfully oversees a genuinely free and fair electoral process in 2027, he would earn a distinguished place in Nigeria’s democratic history and gain international recognition as a statesman who prioritized national interest above partisan considerations.

The association stated that such a legacy would place him in the company of globally admired leaders who strengthened democratic institutions and promoted national cohesion, including Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Abraham Lincoln of the United States. HURIWA further noted that within Africa, former President Goodluck Jonathan continues to receive widespread commendation for respecting democratic principles and facilitating a peaceful transfer of power after the 2015 presidential election.

Meanwhile, HURIWA announced that it is set to hold the 18th Edition of its National Human Rights Lecture, which will focus on the urgent need to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral system ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The theme of the lecture is:

“Achieving Free and Fair Elections in 2027.”

The lecture will be delivered by renowned public affairs analyst and scholar, **Professor Okey Ikechukwu**, who will examine pathways for enhancing electoral integrity, democratic accountability, citizen participation, and institutional reforms necessary for credible elections.

The event is scheduled to hold on:

Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2026

HURIWA called on political leaders, civil society organisations, electoral stakeholders, academics, students, diplomats, faith-based groups, and members of the public to participate in the lecture and contribute to national conversations aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy.

The association reiterated that democracy can only thrive where elections reflect the genuine will of the people and where political competition is conducted peacefully, transparently, and in accordance with the rule of law.

By Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko

The rumours swirled around the weekend that the British political leader Mr. Keir Starmer would quit today being Monday June 22nd 2026 and then on Sunday, the 21st of June, the rumours gained a global level of notoriety when the maverick president of the United States of America, Mr. Donald John Trump posted in his Truth Social media that the Britism Prime Minister would resign in the next twenty four hours and the American president assessed his time as Prime minister of Great Britain as too weak and very poor on the major issues of checking immigration and the economy.

Then when Monday June 22nd 2026 came, the British Prime minister removed every doubts hanging around the rumours that he was preparing to go by announcing his resignation from the office of the PM of Great Britain. Few weeks back, when the Labour Party lost the local council poll massively, the calls for the PM to quit started to gain prominence. The PM stood his ground and refused to go. Then what follows was remarkable. Three or four of his Cabinet level appointees left him after demanding to his face that he should resign from office of the PM of Great Britain. The announcement that he has decided to leave, has automatically become the cover page news all around the globe.

The below is how the British Broadcasting corporation summed up the development in Great Britain this Monday thus:

•Keir Starmer resigns as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party;

•In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, the PM says his party has been asking whether he’s “best placed to lead us into the next general election”, adding: “I have heard the answer”

•He says that every decision he has made in office has been about “putting the country I love first” – key points from the statement

•Visibly emotional, the PM thanks his “fantastic wife, Vic”, describing her as his “rock”, and says he wants to be the “best dad I can to my beautiful children”

•What happens now? Starmer says he’ll remain in post until Labour chooses a new leader, which he’s asked the party’s governing body to ensure happens “before Parliament returns in September” and importantly,

•Andy Burnham – who could replace the PM – will be in Westminster today to be sworn in as MP for Makerfield, after winning a by-election last week.

This summarisation of the resignation of the British Prime minister encompasses the eternal virtue of the British or Western style democracy which is openness, transparency and accountability but above all, what this demonstrate is that the British political system is heavily clothed in integrity and the moment the holder of the public office such as the PM is experiencing personal integrity or credibility deficit, the next best thing that has to happen is for that person to quit the office.

However, as a Nigerian, I asked myself that supposing the British Prime minister is the Nigerian political leader what will he do when his popularity, integrity and acceptability begin to wane.

The truth is obvious. If Keir Starmer is a Nigerian leader, he will do a number of things beginning from that time few weeks ago when some of his cabinet level appointees started questioning his leadership by resigning from the cabinet.

If Keir Starmer is a Nigerian, he would have directed the anti-corruption enforcement agencies to scrutinise the financial records of his ministers who disgraced him by quitting the cabinet and demanding that he quits. The anti-corruption agencies will work in full force to find just anything incriminating to deal a moral blow to these ministers who disgraced the political leader.

The anti-corruption agencies will also go to work and even if some of the ministers could not defend how an amount as small as N50,000 was spent in his office, the person would he automatically arrested and disgraced in the media before multiple charges would be filed in the courts of law that are actually too weak not to do the bidding of the nation’s political head of state.

But before sending his attack dogs to go after those ministers who walked out on him, the Nigerian ‘Keir Starmer’ would have dangled thousands of raw dollars or Pounds in cash as bribes to make the ministers change their minds just so he can hang on in power.

Then the Nigerian ‘Keir Starmer’ would use the ministers who are loyal to him to hire amorphous groups to organise press conferences condemning the calls for the leader to quit. These groups would then blame those ministers quitting for not working so hard for the ruling party to win the local elections and they would also say that the failure of the ruling party to win the Local council elections should be blamed on those running the party in those councils whereby the party lost the last local election.

Then the Nigerian ‘Keir Starmer’ will send armed thugs to disruption the by-election that his possible successor is tipped to win so the strong contender for his office under his political party can’t have the opportunity to get to parliament and pose a challenge to his political leadership of that country. The Nigerian ‘Keir Starmer’ will also hire protesters to demand that he does not resign even as they would say that he is the greatest leader of their nation of all times and then condemn those demanding the PM’s resignation as public enemies.

The Nigerian ‘Keir Starmer’ will never resign from office even if his ministers are all asking him to go but of course, ministers in Nigeria do not have minds of their own and are stooges of the political leader. Besides, the National Assembly is made up of ‘O’ yes men and women even when they do not belong to the same party but what matters to them is that bribes have been distributed from acolytes of the embattled political leader. So they will oppose any ca for the leader to quit.

Luckily, Keir Starmer is British and not a Nigerian politician.

*EMMANUEL NNADOZIE ONWUBIKO, is the founder of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and was NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA.