Nigeria is a blessed Nation in terms of human and natural resources. Yet, it has been ravaged by systemic corruption and bad leadership, leading to a near collapse of the economy, which has given birth to hunger, frustration, depression and suicidal tendencies in some Nigerians who have lost hope in the renewed hope of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Life has become tough under President Tinubu’s Government, inaugurated on May 29, 2023, as his leadership style has become questionable. His policies are unfriendly and not people-oriented, bringing untold hardship to Nigerians who find life more challenging. The “renewed hope” is a propaganda slogan of the APC-led Government after eight years of deceit of “Change” of the last administration of President Muhammed Buhari-led Government, as there is no renewed hope, and the country is experiencing its worst crisis ever.
The Government that campaigned with the slogan “renewed hope” during the Presidential election has allegedly lost touch with hope and brought hopelessness upon Nigerians whose expectations are now being cut short. They are struggling with hyperinflation as food, goods, services, and other essentials are rising exponentially daily.
Unfortunately, the President’s speech on May 29, 2023, which ought to have been full of hope to a battered nation in dire need of assistance, instead brought hopelessness with the pronouncement of the removal of fuel subsidies. This exacerbated the already deteriorated situation left by President Muhammad Buhari’s immediate administration, and today, Nigerians are all suffering as that move by the President has brought confusion and hopelessness to the Nigerian people.
The lack of planning, assessment, and study of the fuel subsidy regime before the announcement of the remover has shown that the APC was never prepared to lead the people and lacked the leadership potential to transform Nigeria into a great nation. However, it is more confusing now that it is in power, and the living conditions of the Nigerian people continue to deteriorate.
Removing fuel subsidies and floating the Naira without well-thought-out plans or programs has led to an unprecedented fall in the country’s economy. Hence, hardship, hunger, depression, and frustration are ravaging Nigeria, with the citizens hopeless and hapless without a solution in sight.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government claimed that subsidy removal would free resources to develop critical sectors of the economy and provide social amenities that would improve Nigerians’ living conditions and standards. The opposite is true today, as hunger, frustration, and depression have become the order of the day.
It claimed to be concerned about the welfare of suffering Nigerians, working hard to save money to develop critical projects that, in turn, would improve people’s lives. However, rather than focus on the people, the President began to focus on themselves by expanding government frivolous spending and financing the politicians’ luxurious lifestyles. The supplementary budget for 2023 and the expansion of the size of the Government saw 46 Ministers appointed, further worsening the situation for Nigerians. The Nation is struggling with huge debts and an economic crisis due to poor policy formulation and implementation, a lack of transparency, and momentum corruption.
A government that cares and is sincere about developing the country must prioritize its plans instead of allocating about 160 million Naira each to 469 lawmakers in the National Assembly for car purchases and budgeting more than 1.5 billion Naira for the office of the First Lady, which is unknown to the Nigeria constitution and prioritizing the renovation of the Vice President’s resident with whopping sum of 15 billion Naira, including presidential yacht and 3 billion Naira for purchase of three more bulletproof Mercedes Benz S-Class 580 and supply of other vehicles to state house in which all these money are going to be spent mainly chasing foreign goods thereby further weakening the value of the Naira cannot be said to committed to the development of Nigeria.
The recent plea by the President that Nigeria should patronize made-in-Nigeria goods was lip service as charity begins at home. The President and his team should lead by example. A Country committed to cutting costs and providing resources for social and critical projects cannot afford to waste scarce resources on foreign trips—from the UN General Assembly in New York to the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India – to Berlin, Germany and the COP28 Dubai jamboree that saw 1,114 delegates from Nigeria led by the President and outrageous numbers to the 2days state visit to Qatar Business trips including his family members to seek support for foreign investors.
The Tinubu Government has no regard or respect for public spending. More than 4 billion Naira has been reportedly spent on foreign trips in less than a year of its inauguration. The Government spends more time on foreign trips to convince foreign investors to come into Nigeria to invest rather than working from home to build a conducive environment that is secure and business-friendly, devoid of corruption, followed by a sound justice system to boost investors’ confidence and attract foreign investors. The Nigerian currency has witnessed unprecedented falls against significant currencies of the world and has devalued since this administration came on board, further weakening the purchasing power of the citizens.
Today, Nigerians are no longer protesting to improve their lives, well-being, or social amenities but are protesting against hunger. Protests across the Country—the story remains the same, and all they want is to be able to feed themselves, and these challenges have intensified the security threats in Nigeria. No region or part of the country that is not faced with insecurity threats as successive administrations have not been able to find an answer to this issue, including the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, as no society or country can develop without peace and security. The imbalance of social justice and years of deliberate neglect of our youths are some of the causes of the security challenges confronting the Nation.
The recent kidnapping and killings of more than 500 Nigerians, including the school children, kidnapped in Kaduna, and the killings of our men in uniform in the Niger-delta region. The recent and wanton killings across the country and abduction of school children from their schools leave many to wonder if the educational system will survive it, as many families prefer to keep their wards out of school for fear of kidnapping and killings.
One would have taught this Government, which has low public acceptability, credibility and perception issues, that it would take serious steps to deal with the several problems that ravage the Nation by living above board and deviating from the poor and corrupt leadership style embedded in nepotism of the past administrations rather than continuing with a grandstanding financial recklessness and unprecedented style of corruption spending. Besides, the low acceptance and credibility issues of this Government, its character and postures make it clear that it is a waste of time to continue to believe that the APC campaign slogan “renewed hope” will deliver the actual economic development that the country desires.
To further worsen the situation and put Nigerians on a long walk, struggling to the path of economic progress and prosperity, the opposition voices have been damper and silent. At the same time, the Labour movement has been compromised and weakened, and civil society organizations (CSOs) have been destroyed. Now, the people have been left with hopelessness.
As this administration prepares to mark its first anniversary and its true desires to make progress and bring actual development and economic prosperity, they should deliberately reduce the cost of governance, block all resource wastages, build strong institutions, improve power supply and security, empower farmers and improve agricultural products, encourage local production and support SME, invest in the youths, create jobs, provide social justice, respect the rule of laws, be financially disciplined, consult widely before the introduction of new policies and be coherent in policy formulation, deliberate investment in more social amenities like health and educations, courageous and transparent in the fight against corruption, respect dissenting voices, and empower civil society organizations.
We hope that this administration, with “renewed hope” propaganda, will retrace its steps and begin to correct the fundamental errors that heralded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. This will re-establish genuine hope and build new momentum that will inspire the confidence of the Nigerian people as it prepares to mark its first anniversary.
By Ahusemere Ogbeide – A social activist: ahusemereogbeide@yahoo.com
Ahusemere Ogbeide: Nigeria blessed nation with hungry, frustrated, depressed citizens
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