Tinubu’s aide distributes tanker water to Bauchi residents

A photo of Abdulhamid Yahaya Abba, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Community Engagement (North East), distributing water from a tanker to residents of Bauchi Local Government Area has sparked outrage across social media.

The image, taken on Friday, shows long queues of residents—buckets in hand—gathered around a water tanker, under a banner that reads: “Water Distribution Among Communities in Bauchi LGA by SSA to the President on Community Engagement, North East Region.”

The initiative, which was seemingly intended as a form of grassroots intervention, quickly backfired online. Many Nigerians slammed the move as a tone-deaf and short-sighted approach to a serious and recurring water crisis.

Critics argue that as a presidential aide, Abba should be championing long-term, impactful solutions such as drilling boreholes or establishing water supply infrastructure, rather than resorting to a one-off tanker distribution. The act was widely interpreted as a photo-op with little real benefit to the community.

“This is not empowerment. This is not community engagement. This is embarrassment,” one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, echoing the sentiment of many who found the image both absurd and deeply frustrating.

Read some netizens’ reactions below;

Daisyle; “Instead of him to drill borehole for the community.”

Mindlog; “The guy is a clown, e even print banner hang for the tanker!
A whole SSA to a President but can’t afford to gift that community, water through a borehole project! ”

Franchasng; “Tinubu till 2091 shocked grin
Nigerians must get sense by fire by force cheesy.”

Racoon; “Politicians have really weaponised poverty.”

Press9jatv; “this is bad. Why can’t he drilled boreholes in the community.”

Nedu666; “And he printed banner for that. He should have hired canopy and red carpet.”

The backlash underline growing public dissatisfaction with government officials who, rather than tackling systemic challenges with sustainable solutions, opt for quick fixes that often generate more criticism than goodwill.

As water scarcity continues to affect communities in Bauchi and beyond, citizens are demanding more meaningful responses and accountability from those in power.