Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that the worsening economic hardship in Nigeria is creating conditions capable of pushing desperate young people into dangerous measures, including the reported sale of their kidneys.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, raised the concern in a post on X on Thursday, saying reports of youths offering body organs for money represented a disturbing consequence of the country’s current economic realities.
He said the desperation among some young Nigerians had reached a point where they were reportedly considering the sale of their kidneys as a means of meeting basic financial needs.
“I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive,” Atiku wrote.
He described reports of young people selling parts of their bodies, particularly kidneys, as “perhaps the most horrifying” indication of the level of desperation confronting the younger generation.
According to him, young Nigerians should be pursuing opportunities that enable them to contribute to national development rather than being forced into decisions that could permanently endanger their health.
“Young Nigerians should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs,” he said.
Atiku argued that the reported development should raise serious concern among Nigerians, stressing that a situation in which young people contemplate organ sales in order to survive was unacceptable.
He further alleged that some Nigerians were being offered as little as N1.7 million for a kidney, although he did not identify any report, institution or agency as the source of the figure.
The former vice president also attributed the alleged trend to the rising cost of living, citing increasing expenses on food, transportation, accommodation, education, healthcare and electricity as pressures confronting households.
He blamed the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration for what he described as the deepening hardship, saying the situation had placed additional pressure on ordinary Nigerians.
