Professor of political economy, Pat Utomi, has warned that rising poverty, hunger, insecurity and declining public confidence in government institutions are pushing Nigerians to the brink.

This is as he urged citizens to resist the erosion of democratic values ahead of the 2027 elections.

Utomi spoke on Wednesday in Lagos while addressing journalists on the state of the nation and efforts by civil society groups to promote credible elections in 2027.

He said the level of hardship in the country had become alarming, with millions of Nigerians facing food insecurity and struggling to meet their basic needs.

“I will begin and focus majorly on the state of the Nigerian people and Nigeria. The state of our nation is troubling. The pain, the hunger and the anger in the land are so palpable you could slice it with a blunt knife.

“The poverty numbers from the World Bank are numbing, and we heard from the International Monetary Fund that our fellow citizens living in food insecurity are as many as 35 million people,” he said.

Utomi also noted that the country’s economic difficulties were being worsened by deteriorating infrastructure.

He cited the Lagos-Ibadan-Onitsha economic corridor, particularly the Benin-Asaba section of the highway, as an example of the country’s infrastructure challenges.

According to him, a journey that previously took about one hour and 10 minutes now takes more than three hours, while some highways in Edo State had deteriorated to mud tracks.

He also expressed concern over the persistence of insecurity, saying the crisis had continued to affect communities and undermine economic activities.

Utomi said public confidence in major institutions, including the judiciary, police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent National Electoral Commission, had declined significantly.

“Our institutions are crumbling. Public confidence in the judiciary, the police and the EFCC are at an all-time low, and most people think there is nothing independent about INEC,” he said.

The professor also lamented the increasing number of Nigerians seeking financial assistance, saying the hardship had affected people who were previously considered economically stable.

He said, “Until recently, I was beginning to think I was being targeted for being dragged into penury from the avalanche of desperate calls for financial help. I have now found that many others are experiencing the same from people once assumed to be hardworking middle-class people.

“We have become a nation of beggars because of poor policy choices by politicians who have prioritised their living in opulence over ensuring the basic needs of people can be met.”

Utomi further accused political actors of exploiting ethnic and religious divisions instead of addressing the economic hardship facing citizens.

He warned that the growing inequality between wealthy politicians and impoverished citizens could have serious consequences for national stability.

He also called on citizens to defend democratic institutions and demand accountability from public officials.

On the 2027 elections, Utomi urged INEC to comply with the Electoral Act, particularly on continuous voter registration.

He said civil society groups would continue to pressure relevant institutions to ensure that Nigerians were not disenfranchised.

The pro-democracy campaigner, Wale Okunniyi, who also spoke at the event, warned that Nigeria was drifting towards one-man rule because of the concentration of powers in the Presidency and the weakening of opposition parties.

Okunniyi said the Movement for Credible Elections was working to build the capacity of opposition parties and facilitate their coming together to present a common front ahead of the 2027 elections.

“What we have in Nigeria today is one-party movement that is gravitating towards one-man rule. If you look at the Presidency of Nigeria, it has so many huge powers to do anything. And the person there today is using it ruthlessly,” he said.

He said the concentration of power could undermine democracy and create conditions similar to military rule.

“It is not different; it will be no different from military rule. Because of the way our constitution that we have said should be restructured is being put together,” Okunniyi said.

He argued that Nigeria’s Constitution, which he described as a military-era document, needed to be restructured to strengthen democratic governance and decentralise power.

Okunniyi said the Movement for Credible Elections would commence consultations with opposition parties and presidential candidates in September to facilitate cooperation ahead of the 2027 elections.

He stressed that the initiative was not aimed at promoting any particular political party but at strengthening democratic institutions.

“It’s not pro-opposition, it’s pro-democracy, it’s pro-the people of Nigeria,” he said.

He warned that continued impoverishment and exclusion of Nigerians could eventually trigger widespread unrest.

“The army of the mass of the impoverished, pauperised Nigerians will rise one day, and it will become anarchy. We are trying to save the country from anarchy,” Okunniyi said.