Eight months down the line, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has been faced with diverse turbulent challenges on every front as a direct result of the removal of the fuel subsidy regime and the floating of the Naira. These challenges range from galloping inflation causing astronomic rise in the prices of foodstuffs, goods and services as a result of those policy measures. Even the prices of agricultural goods being grown on our soil, with loans given by our own Central Bank of Nigeria, to help and encourage our own farmers to produce massively so that there won’t be food scarcity in our land, are not exception to these rising costs.
As at the moment of writing this piece, majority of the farmers who got loans under President Muhammadu Buhari’s Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme are yet to repay these loans, yet the prices have skyrocketed. What is the reason for this self imposed fatality? This week, the Vice President informed Nigerians how about 35 routes through which Nigerians were illegally smuggling out food items to neighbouring countries unabated were discovered. Yet, Nigerians do not have enough food to eat. Thank God for the patriotic government officials who discovered these. We see also how trailers attempting to smuggle food items out of Nigeria were apprehended. The question is “what is the objective of those behind this?”. The rate at which the prices of our own locally produced food items are skyrocketing requires much to be desired. Nigerians have suffered in the hands of Nigerians for too long.
The same way subsidy on petroleum products before removal benefitted other African countries more than Nigerians who were the real people the subsidy was meant to benefit is the same way other African countries have continued to enjoy more than enough food coming from Nigeria to their countries. Is this a curse on Nigeria or something? Have we also forgotten the subsidies on fertilisers in the pre Jonathan era? Why are we this wicked to ourselves? The subsidised fertilizers used to find their way to Niger Republic and other African countries at the expense of Nigeria’s revenue. The Nigerian Customs Services and other trans border agencies should be up and doing or be ready to lose their jobs at this critical moment of our political experience. Governments at all levels should cooperate with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in this critical assignment of repositioning Nigeria to it’s rightful place in the comity of nations.
All the palliatives running into billions to the state governments should be effectively utilised to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians especially at the grassroots level. Let every Nigerian bring their Governors and political office holders to account. We call on all citizens of this country to begin a process of interrogating the system with a view to demanding what rightfully belongs to them from their Governors, Senators and HoR Members. When these set of politicians are made to be accountable by their own people, there will be less pressure on the Federal Government who is doing everything possible to put Nigeria back on a pedestal of prosperity.
Let the political leaders in Nigeria note that there is the dire need to stop their open display of wealth and affluence in the society in the face of hungry Nigerians. While the citizenry is being appealed to, to be patient, the political functionaries should also be seen to be going through the same stuff ordinary citizens are going through. The Media Team of the FG should rise up to its responsibility by coming out with well defined and coordinated programme of information dissemination structured in such a way that Nigerians would be made to understand in clear terms what the Government is doing per minute, and what the effects are and progress achieved per time. Nigerians have the right to know. Nigerians have been kept in the dark for too long. This is adding to the challenges this administration is facing.
If Nigerians are told in clear terms what the ongoing interventions are, what has been achieved so far, what roles are expected of the citizenry, and what remains to be achieved and even the challenges being experienced along the implementation line, Nigerians will understand and support government. The FG needs to do more in the area of effective information dissemination. This is very critical at this stage. Talk to the citizens. Engage them frequently. Let Mr. President’s Media and information Team wake up to their responsibility. The Hon. Minister of Information should be seen to be up and doing in the discharge of his assignment. That Ministry is too cold for comfort. Or is there anything the FG is concealing from the public? That Ministry needs to come alive. Nigerians need to know very clearly all the various interventionist programmes the FG is undertaking on behalf of the people, why we are where we are, and what Nigerians should expect within the next one year in very clear and unmistakable words.
The people are overwhelmed and thoroughly traumatised. Political office holders should help Mr. President. As things stand today, it seems as if it is only Mr. President that’s fighting this battle alone. This is so unfair because to whom much is given, much is required.
The traditional rulers also have a huge role to play by constantly making their subjects to have clear understanding of what the governments at all levels are doing, and how those actions would impact them as individuals and our dear country as a whole in the not-too-distant-a-future from now. The stability of the country at the moment depends largely on the understanding and cooperation of these traditional rulers.
May Nigeria, our dear country, survive this.
