The calamitous economic situation in today’s Nigeria cannot be accepted elsewhere in the world. In fact, it ought not to be tolerated by any group of people under any circumstances. Since Tinubu became Nigeria’s president, every day has come with a new form of economic hardship that surpasses the one that tortured Nigerians the previous day, with prices of basic foodstuffs on a consistent rise. Yet the government, which appears to be completely insouciant, carries on as though everything is well. In fact, the government even justifies the pervasive hardship in the country, claiming that the ongoing hardship is necessary for the time being because it will enable Nigerians to “reap bountifully in the future.” It is the same line of argument that politicians have pushed forward even before some of us were born, yet the situation in Nigeria has remained downhill. But the curious thing is that whilst politicians tell citizens to endure hardship as a visa into the Nigerian utopia, political officeholders do not have to wait for the future to live luxurious lifestyles.
For the first time in the history of Nigeria, garri, a locally produced staple food from cassava that used to be affordable even to the country’s poorest citizens, has suddenly become one of the most expensive food items in the country. Also, a bottle of 50 CL soft drink, which used to sell at N100 per bottle prior to Tinubu’s presidency, has jumped to approximately N400. It could be more expensive than that, depending on where one is buying it! But as if afflicting the people with starvation was not enough, their callous oppressors have now added petrol scarcity to completely compound their woes. It must be noted that the cost of transportation and other necessities of life became unbearable the very day Tinubu was sworn in, yet he continues to show a cavalier attitude towards these important problems.
Today, living in Nigeria is synonymous with living in hell, with government policies worsening the situation rather than finding solutions to these crucial problems.
In all of this, what is most shocking is the manner with which Nigerians have quietly embraced what is easily the most horrific, even hellish, totally unbearable cost of living that Tinubu’s government has unleashed on them. It is an unimaginable situation. It is surreal. In fact, they have become so comfortable with this nightmarish situation that they even laugh at their own hardship. For instance, when news companies share their stories on their Facebook pages detailing how petrol now sells for N1,000 per litre or how the price of cooking gas has risen from N200 to N1,200 or more, such reports attract laughing reactions from Nigerians—laughing reactions from people who are direct victims of the tragedy that the news item talks about! This has been my observation for some time. It was the same thing when the Tinubu government arbitrarily removed subsidies on petrol, which is the fountainhead of the economic quagmire in Tinubu’s Nigeria.
They equally reacted with laughter when Tinubu arbitrarily hiked the electricity tariff, as well as several news reports about other ills that have emerged from their hideouts since Tinubu became president. The same people react with laughter when news companies publish reports about politicians who may have stolen billions of naira—the people’s money! A politician you elected to represent you reportedly embezzles public funds to sabotage your interest, and all you do is laugh. No degree of economic cruelty enrages them, and that is not because they are financially comfortable enough to face the situation. I tell us, there is a fundamental problem when people begin to laugh at their own tragedies!
The first instinct of any living human or even animal is the determination to stay alive, and so they make every effort necessary to defend themselves against anything that may pose a threat to their continuous existence. It is shocking that present-day Nigeria has become a serious threat to that survival, but rather than the people rising to defend themselves against a seemingly designed plot to torture them through starvation and other forms of hardship, they chose to accept it as their fate, and some of them would often claim that “only God can solve the problems we face in Nigeria.” But my question has always been this: if you believed humans have no solution to the myriad problems besetting Nigeria, why did you queue up under the sun to elect any of them? You “elect” the worst amongst you, and when it backfires, you shift the responsibility of fixing the country to God; you want Him to solve a problem you created and nurtured.
The truth is that when people accept situations like what is happening in Tinubu’s Nigeria; it is a sign that their government has subjugated and ultimately conquered them. The implication of this is that they become susceptible to all kinds of government policies, regardless of the harm such policies may pose to their well-being.
It is why I continue to insist that Nigeria will never get better, and the evidence is there in great abundance for those who are willing to see. With the mindset in power today, Nigeria will continue to deteriorate beyond where it presently is. This is so because any country where citizens have surrendered their power and voice to their government, so much so that the government operates as though it is accountable to no one, has set itself up for a major implosion. A docile, ineffective group of citizens is possibly the greatest misfortune that can befall any country.
Being denied the ability to feed conveniently is one of the worst crimes any government can commit against its own people. But the situation appears to be worse in Tinubu’s Nigeria, yet the people have chosen to battle the forces of starvation in utter silence. This is primarily why the cost of living will get worse, because being silent is synonymous with endorsing the situation. And with the unwillingness of the government to seriously confront inflation in the country, a bag of rice or garri may hit N500,000 any time soon, and, of course, there will be no consequences. The mental conquest of Nigerians by Tinubu’s government is true and total.