Renewed Hope Amid Despair

From his New Year Day broadcast, it was clear that President Bola Tinubu is aware of his administration’s gagging policies currently choking Nigerians, but how he plans to address the hardship is everyone’s expectation, Wale Igbintade writes

For many Nigerians, it was a sign of relief when President Bola Tinubu, in his New Year Day broadcast, admitted that since he assumed office on May 29, 2023, the policies of his government have brought hardship to Nigerians and also affected businesses adversely

The president identified some of the policies to include the removal of subsidy on petrol and the unification of the foreign exchange rate. He noted that from the boardrooms at Broad Street in Lagos to the main streets of Kano and Nembe Creeks in Bayelsa, he could hear the groans of Nigerians who worked hard every day to provide for themselves and their families.

Tinubu, however, said the government was laying the groundwork of “our economic recovery plans,” adding that “we are now poised to accelerate the pace of our service delivery across sectors.” Enjoining Nigerians to see the glass as half-full, the president said the government was poised to accelerate the pace of service delivery across sectors.

“Over the past seven months of our administration, I have taken some difficult and yet necessary decisions to save our country from fiscal catastrophe. One of those decisions was the removal of fuel subsidies which had become an unsustainable financial burden on our country for more than four decades.

“Another was the removal of the chokehold of a few people on our foreign exchange system that benefited only the rich and the most powerful among us. Without a doubt, these two decisions brought some discomfort to individuals, families and businesses,” he said.

On insecurity, Tinubu said they had worked silently to free captives from abductors, but was silent over the Christmas Eve killing of over 170 people in Plateau State by terrorists.

Since President Tinubu assumed power seven months ago, Nigerians have been facing extreme hardship leading to deaths and massive migration of Nigerians to other countries. 

Apart from the removal of subsidy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also announced the unification of all segments of the forex exchange (FX) market as part of efforts to engender transparency in the markets and boost investors’ confidence. The policy has put additional pressure on the local currency and manufacturers, with ripple effects on prices.

Many businesses cited multiple taxation by different government agencies as one of the factors hindering their operations.

The increase in the pump price of petroleum products and the drastic loss in the value of the naira, among other factors, have grossly affected the purchasing power of most Nigerians who are finding it increasingly difficult to survive. This, alongside insecurity in the country has put additional pressure on Nigerians.

At the Annual Scorecard presentation tagged: ‘A Day With the Medical Director,’ organised recently by the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Yaba, Lagos, the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye, revealed that the hospital recorded a 100 per cent increase in the number of psychiatric patients in 2023. He added that the total number of new cases increased by seven per cent, while there was a three per cent increase in the number of follow-up patients.

Owoeye attributed the increase to the rising cases of mental health conditions in the country due to the current economic challenges accompanied by other socio-economic factors.

“It can be deduced that in 2023, the total number of all patients’ attendance increased by three per cent. There was a seven per cent increase in new cases attended, compared to no increase in 2022. We also have a 100 per cent increase in admission cases in which the drug abuse cases are 10 per cent increase and discharge cases are reduced by 10 per cent,” he said.

Penultimate week, there was a mild drama on Lagos Island as traders at the popular Idumota market who were dissatisfied with the situation in the country, expressed their disappointment while President Tinubu was on his way from the mosque. In a video that has gone viral, the traders were shouting in Yoruba, “Ebi npa wa oo” meaning “we are hungry.” The traders who filed on both sides of the road as the convoy of the president passed through the ever-busy market, refused to hail him. Residents were also heard saying the President knew their plans and came with heavy security.

Since President Tinubu reconstituted and reconfigured the nation’s military architecture which many viewed as a sign of seriousness to tackle criminal elements running amok in the country, his efforts have not really translated to success in the war against insecurity.

It was not surprising that the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, last week raised the alarm that Nigerians were losing trust in the government to secure them, and called on Tinubu to urgently address the insecurity confronting the country.

In his statement on killings across three local government areas in Plateau State, Kukah said the insecurity across the country was tantamount to Nigeria being at war, adding that the killers had turned the security agencies into objects of mockery and turned Nigerians into mere weeping, helpless victims and spectators.

Noting that wailing, mourning, funerals and coffins from attacks are now part of the daily lives of Nigerians, the renowned cleric, therefore, called on the president to review the security arrangement of the country and implement permanent solutions to end the bloodshed.

In his view, the president has no excuse because, for many years, he had prayed, dreamt, wished and plotted to lead Nigeria.

Reacting to the president’s message, the Labour Party (LP), said it was appalled by the hollowness of the president’s speech to Nigerians. It added that if anything, the speech conveyed to Nigerians the high level of hypocrisy, deceit and lack of empathy which has become the guiding principle of APC administration.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party lamented the president’s helplessness in the face of his glaring failure to address the critical issues of insecurity, decayed infrastructure, the collapse of the manufacturing and productive sectors, inflation and the naira to the dollar exchange rate which is spiralling out of control is written all over the speech.

On its part, former Vice President and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, asked Tinubu to show a clear direction for his government and stop groping in the dark. He said the federal government has to be smarter with its policy prescriptions in order to reduce the suffering of Nigerians.

Atiku, who lamented that many families and businesses already know the intensity of the trying times that Nigerians are currently going through, said the rising cost of food items, goods and services, the malfunction in our national economy and the degenerating state of our national and community security are all existential challenges that the people have to face squarely.