Against odds: Nigerians lament hard times amidst govt claim of improved economy 

The hardship imposed by the economic reform policies of the current administration in the country is yet to abate, in spite of the assurances from the President Bola Tinubu’s administration that the pains are only temporary.

More than two years into President Tinubu’s four years term, hope and optimism of better days ahead as gains of the excruciating sacrifices Nigerians have made, are yet to materialize. Though, there has been a marginal reduction in the prices of some food items like yams, beans and rice, on the whole, prices of foodstuffs remain in the uptick.

Even the rich also cry as the case of a man who identified himself as Jide, a business man. He drives a Toyota Venza and admits to other two choice cars, and lives in  Peace Estate, a posh area of  Ipaja. In his chat with Business Hallmark,  he confessed to denying his last born, a girl of foreign tertiary education, unlike her two older brothers that are still schooling abroad.

“This thing I’m saying caused some ruckus in my family, you know women and children, in spite of knowing the economic downturn in the country, which has impacted negatively on businesses and family, my wife still insisted I send my daughter abroad. To cut the story short, she eventually enrolled in one of the private universities here in the country.

He noted that every year he changes his wardrobe but has not done so this year on account of dwindling resources.

“No money to throw around on frivolities, I have cut my social engagements as in going to clubs to once in a week unlike before when my friends and I used to hangout every other night.

Buffeted On All Sides

Jide noted that before 2023 handover to the current administration his food budget was in the region of 150k for a month, “I can tell you that now my wife collects 300k from me with a frown, claiming to augment it with her own money.”

“When I heard that President Tinubu had won the election I was highly elated given his background as one of the people that fought for democracy. Though I didn’t go to school, but in the beer parlours in those days, they used to mention his name alongside Gani Fawehinmi and others as people fighting for ordinary Nigerians. And he later became governor of Lagos, and has been selecting good people to rule Lagos like Ambode and Fashola. “Everybody was tired of Buhari and the killings by bandits, which Buhari did nothing about. I was surprised when on first day  in office as President Tinubu removed fuel subsidy and since then we have been having problems from high prices of food items to rising cost of living, school fees, healthcare and transportation.”

His own experience mirrored that of Charles, a police man of an inspector rank. He told this medium that he has five children two in high institutions of learning and the remaining three in secondary school.

“They blame police for taking bribe,  in this economy that has come to the brink if we don’t do it, all of us junior and middle ranking officers will not be able to survive with our families. How much is our salary? Two of my children in tertiary institutions are the responsibilities of my younger brother in Canada, even at that I find it difficult to feed and take care of the three  children in secondary school.

“Things are hard for the common man in this country, but our leaders are enjoying, they don’t care a hoot about us. I have advised my wife to always rush to mama Sikira the agbo seller (local herb) anytime any of my children falls sick. It’s effective and cheaper, besides I can always pay later,” he said, reacting to difficulties of the time.

Prof. Ropo Atobami, a sociologist, told Business Hallmark that “Things are hard for the elites too, you can imagine what the ordinary Nigerians are going through. The unending hardship imposed on them by choice of economic policies of the current administration has led to a miasma of depression, some suicidal, mental instability, hunger and a feeling of being outsiders in their own country. “This current insecurity we are going through is as a result of decades of bad policies, neglect of common man and corruption. Families are finding it difficult to live, yet, our politicians live large. The resentment from this leads the vulnerable to anti social behavior and criminality of hardened hue, as seen in bandits and kidnappers. Macroeconomic indices, no matter how bright, do not put food on the table of the people, they are just theories as far as common man is concerned.”

This view is shared by Angela Nwankwo, a clinical psychologist, who rued the rising cases of mental illness due to poverty and hardship.

“A responsible government before initiating any policy will look at the pros and cons, will commission experts, who are not politicians to write a paper on the policy, proffering social safety nets for the vulnerable that the policy will negatively impact. In the current situation in the country, we have not seen that, and the government itself seems confused, just hurtling down on trial and error. Nigerians are suffering, and there is no timelines as to when there so-called policies will begin to bear positive fruits for the people. Many people are already experiencing hell , this is not acceptable “, she said .