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In a bold and urgent intervention aimed at addressing Nigeria’s dual crises of deepening hunger and democratic backsliding, the US-based Big Thumb Network (BTN) has announced a strategic collaboration with two Nigerian civil society groups — the Indigenous Food and Allied Processors Association Network (IFAPAN) and the Save Democracy Mega Alliance (SDMA) — to chart a new course toward food sufficiency, political reform, and national renewal.

The tripartite initiative was formally unveiled at a high-powered policy roundtable held on May 29, 2025 — a date symbolically chosen to mark two years since the inauguration of the Tinubu administration — at Excellence Hotel, Ogba-Ikeja, Lagos. The event, which drew speakers and dignitaries from across the civil society spectrum, was themed “We Must Comot Suffer ’27; Our Big Thumbs Go Do Am!”

Speaking virtually from the United States, Mr. Jeremy Osezua, Convener of Big Thumb Network, captured the gravity of the moment: “The symbolic theme of today’s event, ‘We Must Comot Suffer’27,’ captures the essence of our mission and imagination of our nation as Nigeria wades through the multiple tribulations and trauma of increasing hunger, insecurity and derailment of our country’s democracy towards one-party tyranny through Machiavellian repression of opposition parties by the President Bola Tinubu Administration.”

Mr. Osezua’s remarks resonated through a gathering that included not only his Nigerian-based counterparts — Comrade Tony Akeni, Convener of SDMA, and Okhaimon Aiyegbeni AA Omonhinmin, Convener of IFAPAN — but also leading figures in governance and advocacy such as Dr. Bolaji Akinyemi, Barr. Affiong Affiong, Dr. Kehinde Sogunle, Rev. Eliashib Ime James, Chief Oloye Adeniji, and representatives of Prof. Pat Utomi’s Big Tent coalition.

A Communiqué of Warning and Resolve

At the conclusion of the landmark event, the conveners released a comprehensive and searing communiqué, prepared by Barr. Joe Ikheloa, which addressed Nigeria’s socio-political and economic dysfunction in unsparing terms.

“After an exhaustive debate and rigorous examination of Tinubu’s government socioeconomic and political policy thrust in the first two years,” the communiqué began, “the Big Thumb roundtable expressed profound appreciation to Mr. Jeremy Osezua, the convener of Big Thumb Network and Chief Host of the roundtable… for organizing the timely policy discourse.”

But the tone quickly shifted from commendation to condemnation. The roundtable demanded “an immediate and comprehensive axis-symmetry policy framework as a social contract between Nigerians and the Tinubu government,” decrying the current administration’s approach as “afterthought actions [that have become] a pattern and norm of the much trumpeted reforms of Tinubu’s government.”

“Heartless, Elitist and Fiendish Reforms”

The language of the communiqué was unambiguous. It described Tinubu’s reforms as “nebulous, headless, heartless, elitist and fiendish,” and accused the administration of “pauperization of Nigerians and plunging of Nigerians’ life expectancy to the lowest ebb ever recorded by concerned rating institutions across Africa and the globe.”

The roundtable participants lambasted the administration’s failure to prioritize economic well-being: “Tinubu’s obsession and preoccupation with 2027 re-election politics has overshadowed realistically addressing socioeconomic issues that turned Nigerians into scavengers in their country as a result of his voodoo economic policy.”

Broad-Based Resistance in the Works

In light of what they called “insensitivity to the sufferings of Nigerians,” the communiqué called for a broader coalition of patriots and civil society groups to counter the administration’s policies: “The Roundtable urges organizers to join forces with patriotic actors to form a broad-based coalition to rescue Nigeria from the current insensitive and experimental policies of the Tinubu Administration, which have reduced Nigerians from citizens to laboratory rodents.”

The statement went on to criticize the administration’s political maneuvers aimed at dismantling opposition forces: “Regardless of Tinubu’s strategy to lure opposition members into APC, complimented with the accelerated cyberpunk war in propaganda stunts unleashed by his emilokan ululationists, the Big Thumb Roundtable and partners assured that those against Tinubu are more than those with him.”

Despite fears of state capture and compromised institutions, the roundtable expressed hope for democratic renewal: “Roundtable expresses certainty that Nigerians will decide the outcome of the 2027 general elections and not the spurious algebraic conspiracy between the federal electoral body and the judiciary contrary to what prevailed and was imposed on Nigerians in 2023.”

Food Crisis Reaches Catastrophic Levels

Central to the roundtable’s agenda was Nigeria’s accelerating food insecurity. The communiqué declared: “The partners note Nigeria’s largest spike in acute food insecurity worldwide in 2024, plunging 31.8 million Nigerians into near famine conundrum.”

Attributing the crisis to a lethal mix of “armed conflicts, terrorism, accentuated corruption, insensitive wastage by state and non-state actors, capped by gross economic mismanagement,” the document emphasized that this dire trend shows no signs of reversing. “The Roundtable asserts this observation taking into cognizance Nigeria’s severe food insecurity situation which affected 6.9 million more in the single year 2024 with a grim prospect of worse statistics by year end 2025.”

The statement also condemned “avoidable human carnage and displacement due to conflicts, inflation and infrastructurally preventable environmental disasters.”

Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization

Perhaps the most chilling portion of the communiqué addressed Nigeria’s violent insecurity, particularly in the North. The roundtable described the ongoing killings by “land-grabbing killer Fulani herdsmen [and] bloodthirsty Islamic terrorists” as “a crime against humanity and civilization.”

It went further: “Their complicit kith and kin in commanding heights of the Nigerian military establishment and political administrations… provide cover for these well documented massacres.” The group called such acts “a direct assault to the sacred commands of Allah of the Muslim faith and the Christian God, both of which severely condemn the laying waste of human life for the purpose of coveting and dispossessing victims of their lives, land, livelihood and heritage.”

Nigeria, the New Epicenter of Global Poverty

The communiqué also spotlighted Nigeria’s grim economic standing: “Highlights Nigeria’s increasing status as the country with the largest population of extreme poor globally,” it noted. It then connected this trend to domestic governance failures, concluding: “Nigeria’s food crisis is a symptom of domestic governance failures.”

In a final warning, the roundtable urged the government to act decisively: “Unless swift, practical, purposeful and sustainable interventions are undertaken by government at all levels,” the communiqué warned, “a humanitarian and economic catastrophe looms.”

A National Tour Begins

The May 29 event marked the launch of an ambitious national agenda. According to the organizers, the campaign will now expand to five additional policy summits across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

“This is not just a talk show,” said Comrade Tony Akeni. “This is a movement to take back our country — its food, its freedom, and its future.”

From hunger to human rights, from ballot to bread, the coalition is building momentum. Whether it succeeds in transforming popular discontent into electoral power remains to be seen — but one thing is clear: they intend to be ready for 2027. And their rallying cry is unmistakable:

“We Must Comot Suffer. Our Big Thumbs Go Do Am!”