Veteran Nollywood actor Jide Kosoko challenged citizens who complained about hunger under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, asking what they were eating before the president took office. The remarks have spread fast.
Kosoko, 72, made the comments during an appearance on Talk To B, a podcast hosted by his colleague, actress Biola Adebayo. The video was published on Saturday and has since drawn wide reaction across social media platforms, accumulating tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments within the first 48 hours of its release.
“Things are not as bad as some people made us to understand,” Kosoko said. “Go and check the majority of those people before Tinubu came. What were they eating? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying things are rosy. Too many problems on the ground, which Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now fixing.”
The actor also said a good meal does not have to be costly and that one good meal a day is enough. That particular line drew the sharpest backlash online, with many commenters sharing personal accounts of skipping meals entirely due to the rising cost of staple foods, including rice, oil, and flour.
“If you eat once a day and good food, you are good to go,” Kosoko told the podcast. The actor admitted, however, that many citizens were in pain, adding, “I’m not saying things are rosy.”
An outspoken supporter of Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress, Kosoko argued that Nigeria’s current economic difficulties were partly caused by the failure of previous administrations to plan adequately for the country’s growing population. He did not name any specific administration.
According to him, Tinubu is now attempting to address problems that successive governments failed to resolve.
He also called on beneficiaries of the administration’s student policies to speak out and said Tinubu’s opponents “know the truth: the man is on the right track, but ambition has clouded their judgment.”
On rising food prices, Kosoko said Nigerians were “enemies of ourselves,” asking who was hiking prices and answering his own question: “Is it not ourselves?” He did not reference any government economic data or price index figures to support the claim.
Kosoko said destructive protest was not welcome, though he added that criticism was necessary so the government would know where pain was being felt. The distinction between acceptable and unacceptable protest was not elaborated upon further during the interview.
The actor also urged beneficiaries of the administration’s policies, particularly those relating to students, to speak publicly about their experiences.
He specifically called on students who had benefited from Tinubu’s programs to speak out in support of the president.
Kosoko’s comments triggered a wave of pushback from fans online, many of whom shared their personal experiences under the current government. One response, cited widely, said the commenter ate chicken and turkey before Tinubu’s administration but now spent that same money on fuel.
Kosoko said he had no plan to leave Nigeria. “Even if I am able to japa, don’t I have families and relatives still at home?” he said. He followed the remark by describing Nigeria as a great country with the potential to provide for its citizens if managed well.
Kosoko has supported Tinubu since before the 2023 presidential election. In June 2022, he joined other Yoruba film stars, including Adebayo Salami, Yinka Quadri, Femi Adebayo, and Faithia Williams, in endorsing Tinubu as the APC presidential candidate.
He later said his support was informed by his relationship with Tinubu and his wife, Oluremi, as well as the former Lagos governor’s contributions to the film industry. No statement from the Tinubu administration on Kosoko’s remarks had been issued as of the time of this report.
Saturday’s podcast appearance marks the most pointed public defence of the Tinubu administration by Jide Kosoko since the hunger debate entered mainstream discourse, and his remarks show no sign of fading from public conversation.
