Professor Usman Yusuf, a member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda, describing it as hopeless.
In an interview with Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, monitored by Media Talk Africa, Yusuf stated that instead of instilling hope, Tinubu’s government has made Nigerians more hopeless over the past year.
“People have lost hope. It pains me to see our people lining up to collect cups of palliatives. Renewed Hope has turned into hopelessness. People have lost hope,” he said. Yusuf accused the government of deception and failing to alleviate poverty, claiming millions of people have been driven into multidimensional poverty and many children are out of school due to unaffordable fees.
He also criticized the President’s economic management team, describing them as “tax collectors” rather than economists, asserting that taxation does not grow the economy—only production does.
President Tinubu, who campaigned on the ‘Renewed Hope’ mantra, was sworn in on May 29, 2023, following a closely contested election. His administration has introduced reforms such as petrol subsidy removal and unification of foreign exchange windows.
