By Ayobami Okerinde
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over reports that some young Nigerians are selling their kidneys to raise money amid the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.
Atiku raised the concern in a post on X on Friday, saying young Nigerians were being pushed to desperate measures simply to survive.
“I have heard disturbing stories about the extent to which young Nigerians are being driven simply to survive. Perhaps the most horrifying are the growing reports of young people selling parts of their bodies: kidneys in particular, in desperate attempts to raise money,” he said.
According to him, “Young people should be selling dreams, ideas and innovation, not their body organs.”
He said the situation was a reflection of the severity of the economic hardship facing Nigerians, arguing that “when the cost-of-living crisis becomes unbearable, desperation begins to make the unthinkable appear like an option.”
The 2027 ADC presidential candidate blamed the rising cost of essential goods and services on the economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
“In Tinubu’s Nigeria, almost everything required to live with dignity is becoming more expensive by the day: food, transport, rent, school fees, medicine and electricity,” he said.
“Yet young Nigerians are reportedly being driven to sell their kidneys for as little as N1.7 million. That should break the heart of a nation.”
He added that young Nigerians should be focused on building their futures rather than considering the sale of their body organs as a means of survival.
“Young Nigerians should be building careers, starting businesses, raising families and pursuing their dreams, not calculating how much parts of their bodies can fetch simply to stay alive,” Atiku said.
“When young Nigerians begin to see their kidneys as emergency savings, we are no longer talking about ordinary economic hardship. We are talking about desperation at its most frightening.”
Atiku acknowledged that Nigeria has laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking but argued that legislation alone could not address the underlying causes of the problem.
“Nigeria already has laws prohibiting commercial organ sales and organ trafficking. But laws alone cannot cure the poverty and desperation that make vulnerable young people easy prey for criminal networks,” he said.
He also criticised the Federal Government’s economic reforms, saying they should prioritise the welfare of Nigerians.
“No government should celebrate ‘reforms’ while young Nigerians are being reduced to selling parts of themselves to eat, pay rent, settle school fees or survive,” he said.
“Economic reform must have a human face. It must mean affordable food, cheaper transportation, accessible healthcare, decent jobs and renewed hope for the next generation.
“Our young people should be selling their ideas, talents and innovation to the world and not their kidneys for ₦1.7 million just to survive at home.”
“This is the human cost of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis,” Atiku added.
Atiku’s remarks come amid a spate of reports and unverified claims about organ trafficking in parts of the country in recent weeks.
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