There is tension in the land occasioned by the intolerable levels of hardship. No better way to describe the hues and cries of Nigerians other than to say it as it is. People are groaning seriously over the excruciating economic condition. Prices of food items have hit the sky. The values of naira against the dollar have depreciated ridiculously. The cost of a bag of cement is now 6k. This is quite alarming! Both the local shuttles and interstate transport fares are no longer affordable. And the cost of International flights last week jumped by over 50 percent. Nigerians are not enjoying the stagflation. It is excruciating, gruesome and unpalatable.
The living condition has deteriorated tremendously. This is not only pitiable but quite worrisome. The government appears to be helpless as their primary responsibility of providing security and seeing to the welfare and wellbeing of the people are far from being realized. Therefore, the people criticizing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cannot be said to be entirely out of order. They are the ones that wear the shoes and they must know where it pinches. Moreso, the President begged for the job and Nigerians gave it to him in order to make a difference. But eight months down the line, it appears that things are getting worse by the day as there is no solution in the horizon. This, in all honesty actually calls for concern, but not for outright condemnation bearing in mind where we are coming from. I ruminated soberly over these issues and asked myself some pertinent questions.
Firstly, can the economic fortunes of Nigeria that was already in comatose be transformed within a period of less than one year by the new Sheriff in town? Is it humanly possible for a nation that was being touted as a failed state under the previous administrations get out of the doldrums within a short period of time? Are we actually thinking of the need to sacrifice for a reasonable period of time for the seeds planted to germinate and transform into fruits before harvesting? Are there no encumbrances militating against the efforts of this present administration? Are those impediments being addressed or allowed to flourish?
The above questions may sound elementary, but they are realistic and germane to the prevailing hardship in Nigeria. The long and short of my story is that Nigerians need to be patient and endure a little bit more. We have been doing so for some time under this administration, but there is a need to do more. Rome, they say was not built in a day. It took six energy sapping days for the Almighty God to create the earth, hence he rested on the seventh day. When we look at the great economies of the world like the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and even the United Arab Emirates, they didn’t achieve the feat by magic.
We may hate to love the truth, but the truth must be told. The rots in the system is a cumulative tragedy. It has been there like a time bomb for some time immemorial. We are all witnesses to it when Nigeria failed to save for the rainy day during the boom days. When the opportunities came, there was no leadership to manage it for us. It was all squandered by the myopic leaders of the past. Now that the bubbles are about to burst, it is like the skies are falling on everybody.
The work at hand calls for careful planning, meticulous implementation and the support of all and sundry. It is not a work for the magicians or miracle workers. Only God the father is a miracle working God. I know the story of Jesus Christ working out miracles in the Holy Bible. Prophet Muhammed (S.W.H) as a prophet of God too also possessed uncommon powers. These and others were the prophets of God that no man can equal. But fixing the economy of Nigeria as it is today can only be powered by knowledge and sustained by faith, patience and long-suffering. It cannot be worked out either mechanically or even miraculously.
The government of the day is a typical Nigeria administration that is already in the bondage of saboteurs both within and outside the government. They are the civil (evil) servants conniving with the contractors to corruptly enrich themselves. They are in the judiciary selling justice to the highest bidders. They are those charged with the responsibility of fighting corruption but re-looting the loots already recovered. They are in the executive council stealing the monies meant for the vulnerable people. They are in the oil sector and in the banking industry committing unimaginable havocs to rock the boat. They are the hoarders of our dollars causing artificial scarcity. They are the police, the military and other law enforcement officers compromising the security of the nation. We have them as the elites sponsoring kidnaping and banditry across Nigeria. They are the illegal miners and crude oil bunkerers shortchanging our revenue . This is not to mention the economic and political cabals working clandestinely to ensure the failure of this government. They are the unpatriotic and the undesirable elements sabotaging the efforts of this government not to be able to turn things around. To destroy all these cankerworms require time and conscious efforts by all.
We must not be blind to the efforts of the government in power aimed at salvaging the situation. They have been taking drastic measures and making hard decisions since the inception of this administration.
Therefore, let us see Nigeria as a work in progress. We shall soon get to the El-doraldo! I hereby beg for more patience for PBAT.
B. Aderemi Ogundele
(Jagunmolu)
