“They Impoverish You, Then Go On to Mock You”. Anger As Senate President Akpabio Mocks Nigerians Amid Nationwide Hardship (video)
During a plenary session at the red chamber on Wednesday, July 26, Senate President Godswill Akpabio cracked the “Let the poor breathe joke”.
In a video shared, Akpabio was seeking the vote of senators to support and adopt a motion when he made the comment.
In the clip, the former Akwa Ibom governor was heard saying:
“The prayer is that let the poor breathe, and then Senator Mustapha has seconded that the poor should breathe.
”Those who are in support of the additional prayer that the poor should breathe say Aye and those who are against say nay…the ayes have it.
“The poor must be allowed to breathe”.
Upon saying this, Akpabio and some other members of the Senate were seen and heard giggling.
“Let the Poor Breathe”, a song produced by Aluta Studio, is supposed to be a cry to the leadership on behalf of people experiencing poverty in Nigeria.
The term was made famous by President Bola Tinubu when he made the statement during a visit to his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Watch the video below:
In response, the senators said, “aye”, to which Akpabio said, “The ayes have it! The poor must be allowed to breathe.”
Reacting on ARISE TV’s Breakfast Programme, The Morning Show, Rufai Oseni, the host, said, “I don’t know what is so funny about a bunch of guys that got 17 billion while others didn’t get anything. And I don’t know what’s funny about a bunch of guys that are constantly fleecing this country with everything they have or this country has to give to them and I don’t know what’s funny about a bunch of guys that just sit up there and big fat salaries that they don’t know how much and they can’t even state how much.
“They collect over N100billion every year to run a bunch of less than 500 guys and they sit and mock the poor people of this country. It’s just reflective of the insensitivity of these bunch of guys. Their fat over bloated pockets with their fat ‘Babaringa’. They laugh at the insensitivity of the pain of Nigeria.”
Prof. Pat Utomi, notable scholar and critic, also expressed his displeasure over the controversial remark.
“I am traumatized by this mocking of the poor by our Senate. In a decent society we should have had resignations by now. I am traumatized by this mocking of the poor by our Senate. In a decent society we should have had resignations by now. To mock the poor is to mock God. I know where Godswill Akpabio was before Obong Victor Attah gave a hand. Better an honest poor than a rich thief politician.
“I wonder what it will take to make people realize that values shape human progress. Sustainable progress is not possible where culture is in collapse and institutions are dysfunctional. Sadly this seems extant in Nigeria. Citizens need to be awakened to where we are.
“To abuse public trust and mock the victims as is becoming a habit of the criminal network of our politicians is to forget how transient power is. All will do well to remember the Judgment of Conscience, the judgment of history, and the Judgement of God. He reigns,” he tweeted.
@XBlackSparrow: “They impoverish you, then go on to make a mockery of your sufferings. You in turn laugh it off, recognizing the Nigerian ability to find the cruise in everything. Amid the regional pockets of unrest, you won’t find a more acute confirmation that we as a people are peaceful.”
@Ibrahymlekan: “This is the highest degree of insensitivity to the plight of downtrodden Nigerians striving to make meaning and living from this economic starvation without a human face.”
