HUMAN rights lawyer Femi Falana has said President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s reforms have decimated Nigeria’s middle class, further worsening living conditions for millions of citizens.

The senior advocate expressed his concern on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday, August 4, night.

He described Tinubu’s economic reforms as “harsh neoliberal policies.”

“Most Nigerians cannot afford three square meals a day. The middle class has been wiped out by the neoliberal policies of the government.

“The government must go back to the drawing board and review each of these policies, especially those pushed by the IMF and World Bank, in the interest of Nigerians. It is in the interest of the government to review its policies as soon as possible,” Falana stated.

He recalled hearing the President ask the All Progressive Congress (APC) governors to “wet the ground” more, noting that, as far as the masses are concerned, things are getting tougher by the day because of the harsh economic crisis in the country.

“Because of the religious implementation of neoliberal policies by the government, poverty is on the ascendancy. That will require a review of these policies,” Falana maintained.

According to the senior advocate, the government’s privatisation drive contradicts efforts to tackle income inequality, urging it to reorder its priorities and provide targeted support for vulnerable Nigerians, especially those in rural areas.

“You cannot be addressing income inequality in a country while handing over the nation’s resources to a few people in the name of privatisation,” he said.

Falana had recently raised concern that Tinubu’s reforms are making life better only for the rich and top government officials while worsening the plight of the masses, The ICIR reported.

Tinubu introduced sweeping reforms on assuming office on May 29, 2023, including currency liberalisation and fuel subsidy removal.

The two policies have triggered a high cost-of-living crisis, with energy costs, food prices and other household commodities on the rise, pushing the poverty levels to alarming heights.

At the twilight of the commencement of his administration, the World Bank projected that Nigeria’s poverty level, which was about 89.8 million at the time, could further rise to 100.9 million if the government failed to compensate vulnerable citizens for the fuel subsidy removal.

The removal of fuel subsidies, in particular, caused petrol prices to soar, triggering ripple effects across the economy, from rising transport fares to soaring food prices and general inflation, as the ICIR has reported several times.

Continuing in his thoughts, Falana noted that to eradicate poverty, the government must begin by implementing welfare laws to alleviate widespread suffering.

He pointed to the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) which was codified under the Social Investment Programme Agency Act in 2023.

The NSIP is a federal initiative designed to reduce poverty through schemes such as N-Power (for youth empowerment), the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), a school feeding initiative, and conditional cash transfers to vulnerable households.

“President Tinubu should be able to persuade the governors to codify social investment programmes and enact them into law,” Falana added.

In a related conversation, renowned author Chimamanda Adichie had also expressed deep concern over the rising economic hardship in the country, warning that it has pushed many middle-class citizens into destitution.

Adichie shared her worries in an interview on Channels Television’s Amazing Africans programme on Saturday, August 2.

She stressed that the suffering of ordinary Nigerians remains the most troubling aspect of the current national crisis.

“Life has become so hard in Nigeria, and I can see it. For example, people who were formerly kind of securely middle class, not that life was rosy for them, but they got by—are now people who beg and are in need. That worries me greatly,” she said.

Adichie believes that a government’s performance should be measured by how well it improves the lives of everyday people.

“The level of suffering, how expensive food has become… I think the biggest political judgment one can make is about the lives of ordinary people,” she added.