‘Nigerians Are Too Hungry To Think’ – Says Aisha Yesufu

The co-convener of the BringBackOurGirls movement, Aisha Yesufu, has accused the Nigerian government of deliberately weaponising hunger and poverty as tools of control, warning that worsening hardship has weakened citizens and eroded their ability to think critically or demand accountability from leaders.

Yesufu made the allegation in a post on her verified 𝕏 (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday, February 2, where she described hunger as the most potent means currently being used to suppress Nigerians.

According to the social critic, the scale of hunger and economic hardship in the country has left many Nigerians focused solely on survival, with little mental or physical space to engage politically or challenge those in power.

She stated that hunger was no longer an accidental outcome of governance failure but a fully deployed strategy.

“My Fellow Citizens, Hunger has become a weapon that has been fully deployed in Nigeria. It is now the most effective tool used to control citizens. Nigeria is now full of people who are too hungry to think,” Yesufu wrote.

She added that the situation places a moral responsibility on Nigerians who are not battling hunger to act on behalf of those who no longer have the strength to do so.

“It therefore means that those who are not hungry have to think not only for themselves but on behalf of those who are too hungry to think,” she said.

Naija News reports that Yesufu further accused the political leadership, under President Bola Tinubu, of deliberately entrenching poverty while offering temporary relief measures during election periods, which she argued were designed to win votes rather than solve structural problems.

“Hunger that has been deliberately inflicted which has made many to lose their capacity to think. There is also the poverty has been weaponized. It has become a cancer that has eaten up the very soul of our society,” she said.

She alleged that such relief measures are short-lived and calculated.

“The current set of rulers have perfected the act of impoverishing the people and just before the election give instant few reliefs that last no longer than when the next election results are announced,” Yesufu added.

The activist urged Nigerians who are economically stable to unite and take responsibility for the nation’s future, describing them as the potential “soul and conscience” of Nigeria.

“My fellow citizens, if we want to build this country, there must be a committed few who put everything together and do it, not just on their behalf, but on behalf of others,” she said.

She challenged Nigerians who are not affected by hunger to take a deliberate stand.

“For those who are fortunate enough to not be in the category of those who are hungry, what then must be done, is to come together and be the soul and the conscience of the nation, and fight for the nation, and stand for the nation, and be there for the nation,” Yesufu stated.

In a passionate closing, Yesufu insisted that Nigeria has the potential to be great, but only if citizens confront the hunger and poverty that have “starved” the nation’s spirit.

“Are you willing to be one of the few committed? We must be deliberate in the way that we stand for Nigeria. Nigeria has everything to be great. We have to unlock it to get past the hunger and get to the core to unlock the spirit that has been starved, that is dying,” she wrote.

“We have to water it and wake it up! The spirit of Nigeria. The CAN DO spirit!”