‘Nigeria’s worst ever president’: Eedris Abdulkareem slams Tinubu and his supporters

Veteran rapper and activist Eedris Abdulkareem has added his voice to the growing criticism trailing President Bola Tinubu's handling of the Jos attacks, describing the president as "the worst" and calling out what he sees as a hollow show of empathy.

Speaking at a recent event in Edo State, the 'Jaga Jaga' hitmaker did not hold back. "Tinubu is the worst president. Anyone supporting APC, may Nigeria happen to you," he said, before zeroing in on the visit to Plateau State that has become a flashpoint for public outrage.

"Commander-in-Chief, wey get all the security go Jos no fit enter town to go console those wey die from terrorist wey him and him government arrange us. Tinubu na biggest fraud. And anybody wey support am, may Nigeria happen to them."

The crowd responded with screams of amen.

Eedris, widely regarded as a pioneer of Nigerian hip-hop and one of its most politically outspoken artists, has a long history of using his platform to challenge leadership, most famously with 'Jaga Jaga', a 2004 track that took direct aim at government failure under Obasanjo. The fact that he is still making the same arguments two decades later was not lost on the crowd.

His comments come in the middle of a recent wider controversy. On March 29, gunmen attacked a community in Jos, killing about 28 people. In a separate incident, more than 50 people were killed when assailants invaded Kimakpa village in Bassa Local Government.

Tinubu visited Plateau State shortly after but addressed victims at the airport rather than travelling to the affected communities, telling them he had just ten minutes before the airport's lack of electricity would make departure impossible.

The Presidency later explained that the visit was arranged overnight following a security briefing, and that a high-level bilateral meeting with Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno had run longer than expected, delaying the trip. Despite the explanation, the criticism keeps pouring in.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was among those who publicly faulted the visit, stating that the President offered neither comfort to families in hospitals nor any clear policy direction on preventing further attacks.

Eedris, for his part, was not interested in context. For him, the image of a sitting president addressing grieving victims at an airport tarmac and then flying out said everything that needed to be said.

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