Numerous Nigerians are inclined to sympathize with the current government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, primarily because the preceding administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has significantly impacted Nigeria’s political, social, and economic landscape. Nigerians are simply strong and resilient people. Those who were skeptical about the new regime held their skepticism based on the deeds of the past by the leaders and their body language during the political campaign and after their victory at the election, which the opposition contested. The problem of Tinubu was not the removal of the subsidy of petroleum products. Every well-meaning Nigerian knew that the so-called subsidy was an organized crime by the Nigerian elites against the state. The state resources were being given to the criminals to further their businesses at the expense of the Nigerian citizens and taxpayers. The problem of the new president is whether he understands what problems his friend and predecessor had foisted on the nation and if he is politically prepared and ready to tackle the problems.
I am usually skeptical about stories on social media, but I read a story recently that was very difficult to ignore. A middle-aged man had gone to the market to buy rice. He had N2000 but went to the market to discover what he thought (rice) would cost him less or not more than N2000 was N2200. He begged the seller to take N2000 but the seller did not agree. He started crying openly in the market because he didn’t know what to tell his children and wife at home that he could not buy food for them. He was wailing until a good Samaritan came to his rescue by paying the N200 for him to buy food for his family. Reports from the newspapers the following day were mind-boggling. While there were protests in Niger and Kano states on scarcity and cost of food, the Federal Government denounced the people as lying. Vanguard Newspaper had the headline that the Federal Government said there was no food shortage in Nigeria, and that protesters were being used by opposition party against the administration. A few days later, the president returned from his holiday abroad and ordered food to be released from the strategic reserves for the populace. These are acts showing antecedents of a failed governance.
The president should have known from day 1 of his administration in May 2023 that Nigerians are hungry. For about six of the eight years of the Buhari rule, all the farmers abandoned the farm not because they got alternative jobs but because their lives on the farm were not protected. The Fulani Herdsmen, if truly they were Fulani, have invaded their farms using their crops to satisfy their animals and the government was fully in their support. Empowered herdsmen kill and maim farmers who care to wait for them on their farms. In addition, there was a wave of kidnappings everywhere. The kidnappers unleashed havoc on the land and no one was safe either at home or on the streets. Food would be scarce when the farmers were not able to farm. I called my friend, who was a big-time grain producer and he told me he had to abandon the farm to save his life. Food scarcity is not directly because of the petrol subsidy removal or scarcity of the dollar, but rather because local production of food by a blessed nation has been stopped by government-backed criminals. The security of lives and property in Nigeria remains a big issue.
How much impact would the petrol problem have on gari (cassava), yam, tomatoes, vegetables, etc., if the farmers were not driven out of their farms? When I was growing up, I remember that rice was a Christmas food and we were happy and grew without hunger. In 1982/83, I was an eyewitness to farmers having bumper harvests and smiling at the banks. Most farmers made money from their grains. It made the government develop silos to preserve the grains for tomorrow. Food shortages and petrol prices are not the same. Yes, you can argue that transportation would drive up the cost of produce, but there would be plenty of food. The people who may be affected by the prices driven by transportation would have been the privileged people in cities, and not the poorest people in the rural areas who are also hungry. By the grace of God, Nigeria is blessed with agricultural potential. We do not need much fertilizers to feed our people. But the farmers are hiding from kidnappers and militant herdsmen.
Secondly, all our refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna were grounded by our past callous leaders, and the nation resorted to importation. Foreign companies buy our crude oil with little money and sell refined oil to us at prices higher than crude prices. It’s insane. We then started working with the criminal cartels who milked the nation’s resources through subsidies. Posterity will not be kind to all those past leaders who led us to these horrible messes. Some of them have died without carrying anything with them and the rest who are alive are possibly not enjoying the chaos they leashed on this nation. I expected the current president to understand the problem and bring the refineries to full production before announcing the removal of the subsidy. He should also have systematically investigated the criminals behind the subsidy and put most of them behind bars by now. We should bring back these refineries, set up new ones, and encourage investors to set up refineries on free land. In addition, the government should encourage investors to build petrol-chemical industries around the country to turn waste into wealth for the nation and provide jobs for teeming unemployed youths.
Thirdly, our economic systems have gone rogue. We have borrowed money, particularly in the last eight years, and it has been squandered or stolen by the blue-collar criminals colluding with our incredibly corrupt bureaucracy. For many years, it appeared our leaders surrendered to this monstrous nation’s killer because the political leaders are part of the criminalities. There were no consequences for economic sabotage. The fact that people who were caught embezzling or participating in corruption still walk the streets free creates a breeding ground for lawlessness – which is killing our nation and the economy. Our systems should be strengthened to keep people who are undermining our economy in jail and strip them of their loot. Paul in the Bible counseled leaders to maintain discipline in the interest of the system. “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.” 1 Timothy 5:20. This high-class stealing was condoned because of the legal “stealing” by our political class. I used to think we could succeed if we could oust the old people from governance, but the recent revelations in the current administration shocked me. The youth we thought we could depend on for tomorrow’s good governance, are stealing billions within six months of power. It is a serious tragedy.
The political class has pushed the political governance costs beyond good reason, which cannot be sustained. The legislators only legislate for their pockets, wardrobe allowances, transport allowances, housing allowances, etc. They share the budgets amongst themselves while all our infrastructure, roads, hospitals, and education decay. Residences, commercial, and industrial spaces lack the power or energy to drive their lives and so the nation is technically comatose. Even with what they legally share, they are so greedy that they still steal from the meager balance. Mr. President sir, Nigeria is blessed with great financial and economic talents but our political environment is a disaster. If politicians can please step aside from our nation’s economic management, and empower the great talents in our nation to manage the economy without political interference, our troubles will give way.
Mr. President, you also need to clean your political house to bring confidence back to governance. There are very few people who have confidence in the current political class. They have stressed the nation beyond reasonable limits by amassing money, stealing from the commonwealth, and impoverishing the teeming sections of the Nigerian community. The demons of greediness are everywhere in our country when people steal and die with their loot. We must address this issue and put all the demon-possessed individuals where they belong: in prison. Your ministers and officers involved in the recent scandals should not only be replaced but be prosecuted to send a signal to criminals in-house and outside that the Nigerian government is prepared to correct its ills and heal this nation. The president of Nigeria should no longer rest until he has secured the lives and property of the people. That is the core responsibility of a responsible government. The security architecture should be redrawn, let go of those who cannot be effective, and hire people who will serve the interests of the people. In addition, we need to drive down the costs of governance. The nations from whom we copied the political system don’t spend so much on overhead at the expense of the nation’s infrastructural developments and maintenance. We can run this country with minimal cost if we have God-fearing people at its helm. If you fail to act, Nigeria will be worse under your watch. The signs are there already.
Coming next is – Nigeria, a Failed Nation? (Part 3).
Michael Jolayemi is an author. His books include Saving America, The War We Can’t Ignore; Sheltered Through the Storm: The Travails, and Ultimate Triumph of the Church; and his new book, The Mysteries of God: The Origin We Don’t Know, and The Eternity We Should Believe
https://www.michaeljolayemi.com, https://twitter.com/michaeljolayemi; https://www.facebook.com/omoniyij; https://truthsocial.com/; and https://www.instagram.com/michael.jolayemi/
