In a sharp New Year’s address, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar urged Nigerians to remain united and resilient in the face of severe economic hardship, while delivering a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which he labeled “callous,” “soulless,” and “fundamentally hostile to the people.”
Atiku described the past year as “one of the most punishing in our recent history,” marked by what he called economic suffocation, reckless borrowing, and governance without empathy.
He accused the government of living in extravagance while demanding painful sacrifices from citizens, stating, “Leadership without shared pain is not leadership; it’s exploitation.”
The former presidential candidate condemned the administration’s approach to anti-corruption as a “façade”—selective and politically motivated—and warned that a government capable of forging a tax law cannot be trusted to conduct free and fair elections in 2027.
He also highlighted the worsening insecurity, collapsing small businesses, and rising unemployment, asserting that Nigeria survived 2025 due only to the resilience of its people, not government competence.
Atiku called for action, urging citizens not to be divided by religion or ethnicity and to begin mobilizing decisively for the 2027 elections.
He said, “2026 is the year to till the soil. 2027 is the year of harvest,” he declared. “Let us rise, organise, and reclaim our country.”
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
