Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, has claimed that Nigeria is now safer from phone snatching than some foreign countries, including the United Kingdom, despite growing complaints by Nigerians over insecurity and economic hardship.
Fasua made the remarks during a members-only Coffee Hangout organised by Kay Hikers Club in Abuja.
During the discussion, a female participant criticised the rising cost of ride-hailing services and increasing cases of phone theft, saying many Nigerians could no longer afford basic needs.
She questioned the safety of commuters using ride-hailing platforms, asking whether authorities were aware of “the current situation concerning the safety and the pricing errors in that system”.
The woman also linked worsening economic conditions to rising crime across the country.
“The gatesmen of your estates, your security guards, they are underpaid. Therefore this is equal to you being robbed or raped as a woman or as a human being. You can no longer walk on these streets without being robbed because they want your phone so they can sell it. Because the common man is coming from a place of survival,” she said.
She urged Fasua to relay the level of hardship Nigerians were facing to President Tinubu, insisting that statistics could not fully reflect realities on the ground.
“Nigerians are no numbers. We are real people going through real hell. So how is the government planning to mitigate the issues with the grassroots? We are suffering,” she added.
Responding, Fasua argued that phone theft was not unique to Nigeria, citing experiences in London and Cameroon.
“In the streets of London, go to UK, you see phone snatching. One woman was here from Cameroon. Her name is Victorine. She’s a vlogger. She was here in Nigeria. And she tells you that in Cameroon you can’t hold your phone like this,” he said.
The presidential aide maintained that phone snatching was no longer a major issue in Nigeria and warned against portraying the country negatively.
“Nigerians have moved ahead from all these phone snatching. It is not a major crisis in Nigeria. I do my walks in the morning. I work everywhere. It’s not an issue. Let’s not look for every excuse to put the country down,” Fasua stated.
Another participant at the event disagreed with his position, accusing him of downplaying the country’s economic and security challenges.
“I feel like you are now beginning to spiritualise the issues in Nigeria when you say mindset, because it’s not actually supposed to be a mindset, it’s a reality,” the participant said.
However, Fasua insisted that Nigerians still had a responsibility to improve their personal conditions regardless of government performance.
“There are things that each and every one of us can still work on to be able to survive better than we were surviving. There’s no amount of money that we have that we cannot give a little out of,” he added.
