NewStats: 3,262,363 , 8,176,931 topics. Date: Monday, 02 June 2025 at 12:18 AM soe

The Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has said many Nigerians blame the President for the country’s problems because they have “short memory” and often forget the situation before Tinubu took office.

Onanuga made this statement during an interview on Arise TV on Friday. He said people are too quick to blame the current istration without ing the state of the country before the President came in.

“Let me start by saying that many of us in this country, many Nigerians, we sometimes exhibit the problem of lack of memory. We have very short memory.

“We forget where we started from and we just start blaming President Tinubu for all the problems that Nigeria is going through,” Onanuga said.

He recalled that Nigeria was already facing a serious fuel crisis when President Tinubu took office in May 2023.

He said fuel scarcity was common during the months leading up to the general election, with long queues and supply shortages across the country.

According to him, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which was the only fuel importer at the time, had reduced imports because the federal government owed it over ₦4 trillion in unpaid subsidy claims. As a result, NNPC was also unable to pay its foreign suppliers.

He said it was under these difficult conditions that Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy on his first day in office.

The move led to an immediate rise in pump prices and efforts by the government to restore fuel supply.

“I , for instance, in May 2023 when Tinubu took over the government, there was fuel shortage in this country.

“People forgot that all through the election of that year, there was fuel shortage. So when the President announced on day one, the day was sworn in and said he was removing fuel subsidy.

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“The immediate reaction was called by NNPC, which has been the major supplier of fuel, was to increase the pump price. Because as at that time, NNPC was no more willing to import fuel.

“NNPC was saying the federal government was owing it over 4 trillion Naira and it was also owing its suppliers abroad. So what the federal government did, what President Tinubu did, was to bring some life into NNPC to resume importing fuel so that fuel can be available,” he said.

Onanuga said people forget these facts easily. He stressed that Nigeria could no longer afford to maintain fuel subsidy because the country lacked the resources.

In his words, “And we were just spending the money that ought to belong to the future generation. So the resources are not there so government just ought to do the right thing. Yeah, problems followed what the President did.”

He said the Tinubu istration has been open about the challenges that came after removing the subsidy and has rolled out several plans to ease the hardship on citizens.

He also noted that one of the key achievements of the istration is fixing the foreign exchange system.

Onanuga urged Nigerians to give the President credit for tackling problems that past governments, including those under the PDP, ignored, especially the issue of arbitrage in the forex market.

“So I want to start from there and say, look, Nigeria should give this President some credit for stopping the arbitrage that characterised the foreign exchange regime under previous istrations, including PDP.

“But people are just not willing to give him any credit. Some critics.

“But we know that what he has done are very important, are very necessary, and they are for the benefit of our people.

“And we can see the results of the efforts he has done so far. You can see the results, the gains that have accrued to this country, the reforms that have taken place, and the gains are showing and to the benefit of our people,” the media aide concluded.

https://punchng.com/nigerians-have-short-memory-says-onanuga-defending-tinubus-reforms/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKnuwtjbGNrAqe7CmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe0FkY1LX8Plv6VXcolTG_ejKe796GoahrdP3_lCAuJFNKfJyLe93o9QBmYHs_aem_DeDgRb6SEHQ6rRXgO6NXog

Exactly Oga mi u spoke the truth



They have short memories especially after sniffing cocaine with Tinubu

It's true. short memory is why Nigerians expect good governance and purposeful leadership from someone who spent decades siphoning Lagos's wealth into his own pocket

Meet Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the most hugly government appointee in this government. He's always known for spilling nonsense.

Nigerians love Tinubu.

Tinubu should prove this by allowing a free and fair elections in 2027 where the votes of all Nigerians will count.

Yeah you're very correct
Tinubu wouldn't have come close to power if not for the same issue of short memory..

This boda talk anyhow.

If not for collective amnesia, an individual whose first twenty years of life remain shrouded in obscurity, a notorious certificate forger and identity thief would not hold the office of president.

This collective forgetfulness explains why Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy on the very day he was sworn in as president, without implementing any measures to cushion its impact on Nigerians. This abrupt decision plunged the nation into widespread hardship and instability. Ironically, he had previously condemned subsidy removal, actively ing protests and civil unrest against the Goodluck Jonathan istration. He labeled the subsidy removal under Jonathan as the “Jonathan tax” and accused the former president of violating his social contract with the Nigerian people.

Similarly, this selective memory s for Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, removing a democratically elected governor and of the House of Assembly, and the imposition of a sole actions not recognized by the Nigerian constitution. Yet, he criticized the Goodluck Jonathan istration for declaring states of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa during the height of the Boko Haram insurgency, despite the fact that elected officials in those states were not removed.

In summary, APC is saying Nigerians have short memories for calling out APC for their disastrous rule ever since ther assymed power?

Yeye dey smell.

I don't expect anything sensible from this ape.

EyeCumInPiece:
Nigerians love Tinubu.

Tinubu should prove this by allowing a free and fair elections in 2027 were the votes of all Nigerians will count.

Tinubu will not get 10 votes.

EyeCumInPiece:
Nigerians love Tinubu.

Tinubu should prove this by allowing a free and fair elections in 2027 were the votes of all Nigerians will count.

He won't get up to 200k votes in his so called Lagos. He dare not allow free and fair election

Tinubu's Lai Mohammed...

If not they won't vote the man who says he will continue from where Bubu stopped . Onanuga is right on this, and
all this paper stats doesn't add up just ask what a common Nigerian is ing through to justify if Tinubu reforms are working
Come to think of this that Nigerians were living better when the minimum wage was 15k than when it's 70k .
But the funniest thing is that those who are ing PBAT online and offline are most of those suffering from PBAT anti ppl policies that is meant to enrich the elites.
Nigerians Tinubu ers truly have short memory nice talk Ononuga

The audacity of this government, short memory;
1. Short memory when Tinubu sold Buhari to Nigerians
2. Short memory when Tinubu selfishly released his draconian policies
3. Short memory? How much was a bag of rice in 2015 and in 2023? How much was fuel at the time? What was the forex exchange rate at the time? How many businesses and companies have closed down or left Nigeria during the same period?
This guy is schizophrenic!

Nigerians have retrograde amnesia? See insult! Same Tinubu and his lapdogs who praised all the disastrous policies of the Buhari govt because of emilokan but today said he inherited a mess?

Same Tinubu, Buhari and his gangs in the APC that endlessly blamed Goodluck Jonathan even when their own cluelessness, incompetency, ineptitude is glaring before the whole world. Now he wants to dodge the same bullet? What manner of hypocrisy is that?

is dat the reason why u dey insult All

This one has a mental problem. He's always the one causing media problems for his principal.

So says Onanuga who struggles with mental imbalance.

AqualinaXYZ:
Exactly Oga mi u spoke the truth



They have short memories especially after sniffing cocaine with Tinubu

If DSS handcuff you now, your family and associates will be crying up and down that the govt is clamping down on freedom of speech. Freedom of speech that you can't do to your father.

Lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_WOUg5_z5Y

OkayDaddy:
This one has a mental problem. He's always the one causing media problems for his principal.

Maxymilliano:


https://punchng.com/nigerians-have-short-memory-says-onanuga-defending-tinubus-reforms/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKnuwtjbGNrAqe7CmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe0FkY1LX8Plv6VXcolTG_ejKe796GoahrdP3_lCAuJFNKfJyLe93o9QBmYHs_aem_DeDgRb6SEHQ6rRXgO6NXog

Of course we have short memory that's why we cannot that this istration and government has brought us pain and hardship. Now a few of us that has the short memory are ing the same government come 2027. Very short memory.

Me I don't have a short memory

It is disheartening to realize that we seem to have a 'short memory' only when it serves certain narratives🤕. In this digital age, many events are not easily forgotten. When we reflect on the past under less effective presidents, we cannot help but contrast it with the current istration😵‍💫, which many perceive as lacking competence. This leads us to recognize how quickly we have forgotten an era of prosperity that we once enjoyed and perhaps took for granted.

We were promised 'renewed hope,👀' yet it appears that we must endure significant hardships before we can witness any semblance of that hope. In fact, it seems reasonable to conclude that there is a strategic plan among our politicians to diminish the purchasing power of the populace, only to offer meager incentives to secure their return to power🥲. Such Machiavellian behavior is utterly unacceptable!🧐

Which is true! They will deny this, and not with facts, but with insults. Otherwise, how do we have Peter Hoebi as a Messiah today, despite bringing Anambra to ruins as the governor of the state. 100% of those who cursed him those horrible years are the same people singing his praises Today. We are our own problem

EyeCumInPiece:
Nigerians love Tinubu.

Tinubu should prove this by allowing a free and fair elections in 2027 where the votes of all Nigerians will count.

Votes count ke? Hahahaha. If he truly wants to know if Nigerians love him he should not rig the elections. Anyway 2027 result is written already, if u know u know.

SmartPolician:
Meet Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the most hugly government appointed in this government. He's always known for spilling nonsense.

What is the meaning HUGLY.

AqualinaXYZ:
Exactly Oga mi u spoke the truth



They have short memories especially after sniffing cocaine with Tinubu

This man go kill pesin oooo

I agree with onanuga on the specific statement of Nigerians having short memories... because by 2027, the masses will sell thier souls to the devil (bat) for a N5k and a cup of rice.