When I wrote an article on the possible trickle-down effects of fuel subsidy removal last year, I did not envisage its effect to have such far-reaching impacts as we are currently witnessing in Nigeria.
The fuel subsidy was removed in mid-last year when President Tinubu was sworn in. A very bold move that showed signs of the president’s commitment to hit the ground running on this first day in office.
One year down the line, things have not gone as planned and taken a rather very precarious turn. Long queues at fuelling stations have not disappeared. The value of Nigeria has worsened and food inflation has pushed Nigrians to their limits.
Twelve years ago, President Goodluck Jonathan attempted to remove fuel subsidies but was met with fierce resistance. The resistance included President Tinubu and Former President Buhari. Nigerians took to the streets to protest in what was tagged #OccupyNigeria protest.
At the time, fuel was 65 naira and was proposed to be sold at 147 naira per liter without subsidy. President Tinubu met fuel at 210 naira per liter and now it is being sold at 1000 naira per liter in some fuel stations.
The APC Curse
The years of APC are what many Nigerians describe as the worst decade in Nigeria’s history. The inflation, especially of food stuff is astronomical. As a man in my thirties, I had never imagine we’ll reach a time when the price of a loaf of bread will be higher than the highest Naira denomination.
The food inflation experienced in Nigeria over the past 3 years was supposed to have lasted at least 20 years before things get to this point. Now, many Nigerians can not afford to eat three times a day. A pack of Spaghetti sells for 1000+ naira. Something that was sold for 300 naira just three years ago.
Children are at the receiving end of this food inflation in Nigeria as many breastfeeding mothers can not eat healthy to nurse their babies. The pediatric wards of public hospitals are filled with many acute cases of malnutrition.
I have never experienced a situation where people were afraid to visit a public hospital due to poverty until now. Many Nigerians only earn to feed and whatever they earn is not even enough to afford them a decent meal. Hospital bills are now considered a luxury and easily canceled out on the list of priorities by some families.
And all these are happening while the ruling class continues to live large. There is a serious disconnect between the behavior of our leaders from what’s happening. The universal philosophy of leaders showing concern for the hardship ensured by their people is lost on Nigerian leaders. Yes, they do share rice. But what will 20 trailers of rice do for a state like Kano that has more than 10 million mouths to feed?
While Nigerians are compelled to continue to live without subsidies, our leaders continue living a heavily subsidized life. And in 3 years time, they will return to us for votes. Where is their shame?
Nigerians React
On 1st August, Nigerians, especially the youth took to the streets to protest the biting hunger experienced by millions of households in every part of the country.
Voices and participation of people from Northern Nigeria were the loudest during the recently concluded protest. Millions of Northerners came out to tell the president their concern of being hungry and tired of being subjected to the indignity of poverty.
Before long, the protests took a violent turn, and some damages were recorded to public facilities as well as looting of shops and warehouses.
The police in return opened fire at protesters and lives were lost in the process. This culminated a painful chapter in the history of Nigeria. Four years ago, another chapter was opened by protesters against the serial harassment of the defunct Police unit called SARS. The #ENDSARS experience did not teach our law enforcement agents lessons on how to handle civil grievances without taking the lives of Nigerians in Nigeria.
Now, the protests are over but the hunger is not over. Instead, market men and women are telling buyers that as a result of the protest which led to the halting of activities, people now have to buy commodities at a higher price than they did just a few days before the protests.
The price of a bag of local rice is now heading towards 90,000 Naira while that of foreign rice has hit the 100k mark. This inflation is making a mockery of the newly approved minimum wage of 70,000 to federal government civil servants. State Government Civil servants do not even know where they stand as they are at the mercy of their governors who see themselves as demigods.
Yes, I have to call our Nigerian governors demigods because it beats my imagination how they are able to convince the president to postpone the implementation of the historic Supreme Court ruling that granted our Local Governments financial autonomy. The local governments and by extension every civil servant in the state are at the mercy of these power-drunk individuals.
Lamentations of a Billionaire
In another vein, it is not only the masses that are lamenting the hardship in the land. Our very own Dangote has recently been in the news lamenting the tussle he’s been facing at the hands of a cabal determined to ensure his $ 20 billion refinery does not live to its full potential. The world’s richest African is quoted to have said if he knew that’s what he would be up against, he would not have even thought of going into the oil and gas industry.
It is now apparent that the dysfunctional refineries in Nigeria are dysfunctional for a reason. They are serving the interest of those who put their greed ahead of the betterment and development of their Nation.
The security problem in the North persists as tens of people are continually abducted or killed in various towns and villages. The rainy season is upon us but many Northerners can not visit their farms for fear of bandits.
And even those that can visit their farms are complaining about the cost of a bag of fertilizers which sells for well above 30,000 naira per bag. Yes, politicians do share fertilizers, but to whom? To party loyalists who have no farms. The few real farmers who get the government-subsidized bags do not get enough and have to buy from those party stalwarts at an uncomfortable price.
Drought and Famine Looms Amidst Inflation
The Nigerian problems do not end there. Our climate has also been protesting against our environmental activities. We’re in the month of August, which traditionally records the highest amount of rainfall in the year, but many places in the north have gone half of the month with no or few millimeters of rainfall.
If the weather conditions do not improve over the next few days, the end result is better imagined than experienced. Already, as it stands, many farms have begun drying up due to this drought and many more will be lost if the rain pattern continues to be low.
The prospect of famine for people who are battling high food inflation, hunger, and bad governance is a recipe for disaster.
In all of this, we can only hope that the government has learned some lessons. The protests of August did not spring up in a vacuum. The protesters had given the government a full month’s notice but instead of addressing the major issues of food inflation and high cost of living, the government kept engaging in deflective tactics.
Conclusion
Now, the waters have been tested by the protesters and they will now retreat to lick their wounds while they plan for their next course of action. Will the government sit idle and wait for the next round of protest or will they do the hard work on the mandate they begged, nay paid, voters to give to them?
A non-affirmative answer to the above question points to a bigger impending problem that we do not want to experience. It is enough to live through half a century’s worth of inflation unleashed upon us within the span of ten years 2014-2024. We as Nigerians, are tired and genuinely can not handle any more of this.
