President Bola Tinubu should always respect and cherish the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere. Not that the group has saints as members, or that it is the best thing that has happened to Nigeria. No. Rather, it recently told the President some gospel truth about his government and governance style. After all, only a true friend would say, “I told you”, instead of, “I would have told you.”
In a recent statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Justice Faloye, Afenifere told Tinubu that his economic policies had pauperized Nigerians; that the economy had experienced severe turbulence in his one-year administration, worsening the previous administration’s economic legacy. It called for a better understanding of the economy to stop what it calls the alarming rate of inflation, devaluation, increasing unemployment, homelessness and poverty.
“The adoption of flawed neo-liberal theories of subsidy removal and unbridled tax increases must be stopped since they always contract the economy and ours is no exception as companies are folding up and leaving due to fuel and electricity costs skyrocketing, fuelling galloping inflation and fall of real incomes,” the group said. It condemned the compounding of the problems inherited from the Muhammadu Buhari administration by the present government, and the reckless spending amid huge appetite for loans and additional taxes to fund the profligacy. While decrying the penchant of this administration to tax the poor and transfer to the privileged, especially cronies, Afenifere stated that Nigerians were being inundated with all sorts of tax schemes, including once toying with the idea of mandating grossly underfunded universities to remit to the Government purse a percent of their earnings.
It is regrettable that over one year since Tinubu assumed office as President, we have continued to hear hollow promises of “renewed hope”. This has turned out to be renewed hopelessness. “Subsidy is gone” was his first major statement on his inauguration day on May 29, 2023. From about N185 a litre, the price of fuel skyrocketed to over N600 a litre. Today, the product is scarce and goes for N1,000 and above in many parts of the country.
The prices of other commodities are not better. Essential food items have gone beyond the reach of many Nigerians. From rice to yam; beans to garri; and from noodles to grains, prices have quadrupled. Angered by this turn of events, many citizens trooped to the streets to protest against hunger and bad governance between August 1 and August 10, 2024. Some private and public properties were vandalized by some of the angry protesters. The nationwide protests drew the ire of the powers that be. They looked away while security agents killed a number of the protesters and arrested many others.
Ironically, we were told that inflation came down in the month of July 2024, the first time in 19 months. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, headline inflation rate eased to 33.40 per cent from the June 2024 rate of 34.19 per cent. In June 2023, it was 22.8 per cent. Food inflation rate dropped to 39.53 per cent in July 2024 as against 40.87 per cent in June 2024. In June and July 2023, it was 25.25 per cent and 26.98 per cent respectively.
A visit to the markets still shows that there is no reduction in the prices of commodities. Which is probably why the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the other day, gave one-month notice to traders and other market stakeholders allegedly involved in exploitative pricing to crash the prices of their goods. One wonders how this will work.
Sadly, this government has succeeded in weaponizing poverty. It has plucked all the feathers protecting the majority of Nigerians from penury and now throws crumbs called palliatives to them. In the struggle to obtain these palliatives, some citizens experience some form of catharsis and momentarily forget their sorrows.
As for the poor value of the Naira, there is no sign of recovery yet. The floating of the exchange rate worsened the situation. From about N400 to a dollar before this government came to power, the rate has climbed to over N1,600 to a dollar. This affects the prices of many goods and services. Many parents whose children are in schools abroad now have to struggle to pay their school fees. This is not what they bargained for.
What riles many citizens is the resort of this government to profligate spending amid acute hardship in the country. It was recently reported to have acquired a new presidential jet, Airbus A330, valued at over $100m, and a new presidential car, an armoured Cadillac Escalade, said to have cost close to N1 billion. Among others, it also spent N21 billion on the Vice-President’s official residence in Abuja, N1.5 billion for the purchase of vehicles for the Office of the First Lady, N2.9 billion for sport utility vehicles for the Presidential Villa, and N4 billion for the renovation of the residential quarters of the President. Little wonder some people aptly described the Nigerian leader as the overfed father of starving children.
Besides, there was this N90 billion subsidy for 2024 Hajj. This money was not well accounted for as the ex-Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Jalal Arabi, and the Secretary of the Commission, Abdullahi Kontagora, have been made to answer questions over allegations of gross misappropriation of the fund. Recently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) granted administrative bail to Arabi, who has since been relieved of his appointment. More arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.
The amount of money this government has spent on frivolous ventures would have met the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). It would have saved our universities from the needless strikes that have crippled our tertiary education. ASUU has threatened to embark of another strike. Since 2009, the union has been at loggerheads with the government over certain demands. It is not the fault of this present government, but it has not found any lasting solution to it. The worst for most of our universities now is that they struggle to pay high electricity bills. The University of Lagos, for instance, has been in darkness over its inability to pay crazy electricity tariff. For the month of July, the university was reportedly billed over N400 million on electricity alone. Meanwhile, the entire money the school gets per annum is roughly N600 million. Tell me how such an institution can survive this.
Education and health are among the most critical sectors of any economy. But our government doesn’t seem to bother about them. This is partly why many of our health professionals prefer to migrate abroad in search of greener pastures. The salary and allowances of medical personnel are nothing to write home about. Our hospitals lack the basic equipment that are taken for granted in organized societies. Our government is more interested in building Very Important Persons (VIP) hospitals which they don’t even patronize. After wasting billions of naira in such VIP hospitals, they travel abroad for any minor ailment. Before the immediate past administration left office, the former First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, initiated the building and commissioning of a VIP Clinic in Aso Villa worth N21 billion. A recent report indicates that the National Hospital in Abuja is planning a special section for presidents, governors, top government officials and some other VIPs. Meanwhile, members of the Nigerian Association of Residents Doctors (NARD) are currently on strike over the abduction of some of their members in some parts of the country.
In Nigeria today, nowhere is safe anymore. You could be kidnapped in your home, on the road or even in a place of worship. Thank God the 20 medical students, who were abducted in Otukpo area of Benue State on their way to Enugu State to attend the annual convention of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS), are free now. Many others are not that lucky. A global data hub, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), estimated that over 4,556 fatalities and 7,086 abductions occurred between May 29, 2023, when Tinubu assumed office, and May 22, 2024.
This negative profile should worry our President. As he cools his brain in his esoteric Escalade and cosy presidential jet, he should remember the wise counsel of Afenifere. Nigerians will not miss him for snoring in luxury cars and jets. But they will forever remember him if he bequeaths a legacy of prudence, accountability, true federalism, sound economy, tight security, and free-and-fair elections.