Shehu Faults Akpabio’s Comments, Warns Nigerians Abroad Against ‘Deceptive Narrative’

|By Chinwendu Nwani

Public affairs analyst Mahdi Shehu has warned Nigerians living abroad not to fall for what he described as a misleading narrative by Senate President Godswill Akpabio about the state of the nation.

In a post on his official X handle on Wednesday, Shehu accused the Senate President of attempting to “paint an illusion of progress and stability” to Nigerians in the diaspora, arguing that the reality at home sharply contradicts Akpabio’s claims.

He alleged that millions of citizens are battling hunger, joblessness and economic distress.
“139 million Nigerians are facing visible hunger, 60 million jobless and unemployed youth, and over 30 million children are suffering from severe malnutrition,” Shehu wrote. “Nigeria’s debt stock is now at N170 trillion and still counting. Come back home at your own risk.”

Shehu further anchored his caution on biblical warnings, quoting Psalm 10:7 — “His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue” — and Ephesians 5:6 — “Let no one deceive you with empty words.”

According to him, the political class has turned deception into a permanent culture while citizens continue to suffer poverty, unemployment and governance failure.

“Our leaders have made lying a trade and deception a permanent culture,” he said, urging Nigerians abroad to dismiss political rhetoric that does not reflect the nation’s current reality.