BY AGUNLOYE ADEWUNMI BASHIRU
Over ninety-five per cent of Nigerians live in extreme poverty, and the country’s citizens have been struggling for eight years and counting in a nation that is currently the seventh-highest oil producer in the world and fourth in Africa. Nigeria is the continent’s fourth-largest oil producer, only behind Libya, Angola, and Algeria.
Prices of food, transportation, unemployment, inflation, and tuition at federal universities have all soared since President Bola Tinubu’s new administration took office.
As of August 2023, the price of a bag of rice in Nigeria, which is one of the country’s basic foods, ranges from N32,000 to N45,000, depending on the brand of rice being purchased. Depending on the region or location in the country, a spoonful of cooked rice can cost N200 or more. Additionally, basic items that the average person would typically be able to afford, including beans, garri, yams, and other commodities, are now out of reach due to price rises and extreme poverty in Nigeria.
People are suffering from severe hunger, and the majority now find it challenging to eat even one meal every day. You will see signs of hunger on peoples’ faces wherever you go. Because of unemployment, poverty, and inflation, there are a lot more beggars on the streets of Nigeria—in the east, north, south, and west—pleading for money so they can eat and provide for their families.
The increase in petroleum pump prices has caused a 100% spike in transportation costs across Nigeria. A litre of fuel costs between N568 and N610 in Lagos and other states in the South-west. Prices range from N615 to N620 in the South-east of the country, while they range from N625 to N640 in the Northern regions.
According to KPMG, Nigeria’s unemployment rate would reach 41% this year, up from 37.7% in 2022, while the National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s inflation rate has increased to 25.8% in August 2023 from 24.08% in July, which is the highest rate since September 2005.
The Federal Government raised the cost of attending a public federal university from around N21,500 to about N140,000 through the Ministry of Education while students offering medical courses and other related courses pay more.
While most citizens in the country cannot afford to feed their families due to poverty, the government is happy to appoint a multitude of advisers and assistants who will be receiving enormous allowances and salaries, wasting our common resources for political patronage. The appointment of over 60 advisers, special advisers, assistants, and personal assistants in the Presidency by President Bola Tinubu is also alarming.
In addition, Nigerian citizens are being abducted by terrorists and bandits in the Northwest geopolitical region and other parts of the country, which is a sign that the government agencies tasked with the responsibility of defending the populace are failing miserably. The Army, Navy, and Air Force of Nigeria are confused and lack practical ways to put an end to the threat posed by militants and the kidnapping of innocent citizens in Nigeria.
There have been numerous recorded occurrences of kidnapping in Nigeria, including the kidnapping of students in Katsina, potential members of the National Youth Service Corps in Zamfara State, and students abducted from the Federal University of Gusau.
It is evident that Nigeria’s poverty, hunger, and unemployment crisis are caused by the mismanaged administration and this has resulted in terrorism and banditry we are witnessing today.
More than 95% of Nigeria’s over 200 million population are common people, and the ruling class in the country is egotistical and indifferent to their well-being.
Members of the Federal House of Representatives and the Senate in Nigeria, who are meant to serve as a check and balance on the executive arm of the government, are merely rubber stamps. What they want is membership in key committees of various Federal Ministries and Parastatals that they are supposed to be overseeing through oversight roles, along with other benefits associated with their membership.
If Nigeria were in a rational environment, its high unemployment rate, high cost of living, 100% increases in transportation fares, over 500% increases in fees at federal universities, and high rate of inflation would have caused civil disobedience and anarchy in the country, but here, the difference is the case. We are all living our lives as if nothing is happening.
Institutional corruption at all levels of government, lack of political will, the self-centeredness of our elected officials, corrupt judiciary, and the absence of the rule of law are the main causes of our problems.
Enough is enough! People in Nigeria are suffering because of the extreme poverty brought on the people by poor governance at all levels of government, including the federal, state, and local government levels.
When the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, it said that it brought what it described as ‘renewed hope’, but what are we experiencing today is the opposite when hope seems to be lost and shattered.
We are in a country where the political class would call for national sacrifice and tell the people to be patient and endure, but on the contrary, they are living in opulence. Who is fooling who? This suffering must end.
Agunloye Adewunmi Bashiru, a Public Affairs Analyst can be reached at [email protected]
