To say Nigerians are hungry is an understatement. Nigerians are indeed starving. No bag of grains goes below 50,000 Naira. Some are above 70,000 Naira while just eight years back no bag of grain was up to 10,000 including the mighty foreign rice. Spaghetti is now above 15,000 Naira while a kilogram of cooking gas is heading to 1,500 Naira. The Dollar of course is above 1,600 and aiming for 2,000 to the Naira. The problem is not food shortages as food products are very much available in the market but at exorbitant rates that are not affordable. Raiding warehouses and Bureau De Change operators as well as price control will not solve the problems.
The above scenario shows that everything is going up except the income of Nigerians from the civil servants to the businessmen and women including the normal hustlers on the street. Logically speaking, the current hyperinflation is consistently eroding our income at these trying times. The minimum wage that some states are still not paying cannot even buy a bag of any grain in this country and some civil servants still earn below the 30,000 minimum wage. Yet these people have families to feed, and pay school fees, medical bills, and other responsibilities all with this meager income. How can you fight corruption when people are left hungry and desperate? The situation leaves many with no option but to indulge in corrupt practices to make ends meet.
Are we always going to say yesterday was better? We thought we had seen the worst with Buhari whom we believed had the masses at heart. However, when it was time for him to move to the FCT as President he forgot the heart that cried for the masses and entered Aso Rock without it thereby leaving the masses and their problems behind. Paradoxically, he ended up creating more hardship and problems for the country and when leaving he boldly said nobody should call him to account forgetting how he called others to account. To put it simply Nigerians found a bigger problem in Buhari than the problems they hoped to solve in electing him to power.
“Follow who know road” was one of the key Tinubu campaign slogans. However, it is getting glaringly clear that it is only Lagos roads that “the master strategist” knows. Perhaps he exhausted all his strategies in strategizing to become president. I don’t want to begin to talk about his team which is said to be the best. Nigerians were led to believe he has a team of experts with super financial and economic gurus. However, instead of acting accordingly, they started the blame game that Buhari has done a lot of damage. They forgot that the President himself on the 28th of May 2023 during the Presidential inauguration dinner/gala night at the state house, Abuja said “corruption, poverty, inconsistencies in policy and many other problems confronting us, don’t pity me I asked for the job, I campaigned for it. No excuses, I will live up to the bill, I promise you.” Was Tinubu not an integral part of the Buhari administration, was it not the same Tinubu that campaigned for Buhari twice? Did he ever speak against any policy of the Buhari administration or did he not say he would continue from where Buhari stopped which to me is a thumbs up for a job well done to Buhari and whatever PMB did? Tinubu knew exactly what he was inheriting and if nine good months into a tenure of four years things are getting seriously out of hand like never before in our history how do you expect us to believe we made the right choice? Surprisingly, the best the Tinubu team can think of is to burst into warehouses, try to control the price of food that they don’t own, and raid Bureau de Change operators. These actions are too pedestrian. They will get us nowhere.
The President and our Governors need to drastically cut spending and make sure the citizenry gets food. Life should be made affordable to Nigerians. This will nip the unfolding high cost of living tension in the bud. The leadership needs to know that no security agency can tame a hungry population. The security agents are also disaffected just like other Nigerians.
Our compliant National Assembly needs to wake up. It is unimaginable that the Northern Caucus could come out after the 2024 budget had been assented to by Mr. President, and therefore has become law to say that they will revisit it because they realized the south has a larger portion of the budget than the north. Were they asleep when deliberations were going on? This is shameful. It is time for you all to wake up and know you have a responsibility and an obligation to the people of this country.
The worst part of all these problems is not that things are way too expensive beyond imagination but the fact that prices are still soaring up and nobody knows when it will stop. Hyperinflation is devastating Nigerians. What led to the beginning of the Arab spring in 2010 is not as bad as this but the question is how far will Nigerians be pushed before they react or fight back? Already, pockets protests have begun in some cities. I pray the Lord saves us from a nationwide protest that could turn into a revolt.
The President needs to save the country before things get out of control because Nigeria is hungry and Nigerians are starving. If you cannot control the situation heed the advice of the PDP Governors and take a bow which am sure you won’t because you said “Emilokan!”
