Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of making life more expensive for Nigerians.
Atiku, in a post on his X handle on Friday, expressed concern over reports of young Nigerians allegedly selling their kidneys and other body organs in desperate attempts to survive the country’s worsening economic hardship.
He said young Nigerians should be pursuing their dreams, building careers and developing innovative ideas rather than considering the sale of their body organs as a means of survival.
“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 worsened the living conditions of many Nigerians.
According to him, reports that some young Nigerians were being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as N1.7 million reflected the level of desperation caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
Atiku said Nigeria’s laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking were insufficient to address the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people targets of criminal networks.
He stressed that economic reforms should improve the living conditions of 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 situation as the human cost of ‘Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis,’ accusing the Tinubu administration of worsening the economic burden on Nigerians.
Nigerians selling their kidneys because Tinubu made country expensive – Atiku