OpinionOPINION: NIGERIANS, INCREASINGLY SUFFERING, BECOMING POORER!

OPINION: NIGERIANS, INCREASINGLY SUFFERING, BECOMING POORER!

It is obvious that Nigerians are groaning in economic agony. Daily they keep marching, ‘suffering and smiling’ with so much anguish in their hearts. The gap between the rich and poor in Nigeria has widened so much that we now all sit under a keg of gunpowder. People are jobless, hungry and angry. The system appears worsening daily without any serious intervention from government. The government of the day are not investing in poverty alleviation programmes that have direct impact on the people. That major Nigerian highways, power, health, education and security sectors are disappointingly in poor conditions calls for sober reflection amongst the political elites since 1999. The poor conditions of these sectors contribute immensely to the poverty in Nigeria. There is no group in Nigeria, whether political, religious, ethnic that the poor economic management of the country has not affected or debased. We are all in it together!

The government, both at the states and centre must focus at the speedy economic recovery of Nigeria. Nigeria’s economy is comatose; the states must as a matter of urgency begin to contribute strongly to building and sustaining it. The states must no longer continue to look up to the federal for handouts. The ‘feeding bottle’ federalism must stop if Nigeria must survive. The states need to attract investments and organize the markets without any further delay. They must put the foundational structure on ground that will grow and sustain the economy. The states ought to be the primary drivers of the economy, infrastructural development, job creation. It is time for the federal government to seriously consider restructuring of the country to save it from imminent collapse. It is clear things are not working, so we need a new approach. Nigeria would be better restructured than allowed to remain the way it is. Every state in Nigeria has an economic advantage that can be of benefit to the entire country if judiciously managed. Abia state, for instance, has Aba that is a market cum industry, that if well supervised will fetch huge sums of finances for the state thereby able to pay workers salary, build social amenities without expecting monthly federal allocation.

There is no Nigerian family that has not become a Local Government Council, providing almost all social amenities for themselves because of the neglect of government. For instance, our roads, a critical sector in boosting the economy, are in complete shambles. A recent tour on our roads, Lagos – Badagry, Akure – Abuja, Benin – Ekpoma – Auchi – Abuja, Abuja – Obajana, Umuahia – Aba – PorHarcourt, Onitsha – Enugu, Aba – IkotEkpene, Abuja – Kaduna are all in a very terrible condition. In Nigeria, the roads play very vital role in the movement and distribution of goods and persons. It may be correct to say that over 90 percent of our goods and persons travel by road daily. The terrible nature of our roads have led to the increase in fares, prices of commodities, damage of vehicles, traffic jams that lead to loss of man-hours, delay of goods to their destinations within the stipulated time, sicknesses, injuries and deaths. If the governments at LGAs, States and Federal accept the importance of the roads to our economy, invest in it, then the sufferings of the people and increase in poverty will reduce.

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Again, electricity is crucial in building the economy of a country. The near absence of power has widened poverty, unemployment and increased suffering in the country. The big companies are surviving under a very harsh climate hence the prices of commodities and services has gone up beyond the reach of the downtrodden. It is the inability of power that has driven many operators of small-scale businesses to motorcycle and tricycle taxi operators. A country that has his talented and experts in various fields ending up as motorcycle and tricycle taxi operators is a country with a doomed future.

It is in no doubt that today, an increasing number of children and youth are daily withdrawing from schools due to parents’ difficulty at paying their fees. Paying for school fees in Nigeria has become so tasking for parents that only the rich can comfortably afford education for their children, what sort of future are we preparing for the country? For almost a year now, students of our public universities are at home because of the disagreement between Academic Staff Union and the FG. And there seem to be no end in sight.

Unemployment – the unemployment rate is surging higher and, it is getting scary. When there are army of able-bodied men and women with no job to do due to the poor organization of the country then trouble is not far. An idle hand is the devils workshop is a common saying. The states must begin to look at creating opportunities for these young ones to fit into. Nigeria’s population is on the increase and we must create a conducive environment for these people to fit in. A good example is that, the federal and states should invest in Science, Technology, Entertainment, Sports to engage these young minds. The popular computer village, Alaba and Ladipo markets in Lagos, Nnewi and Aba shoe and clothing industry deserves government’s support. Nigerian goods ought to be dominating African markets if we are a serious country. We have very talented youths that are begging for support to display their innovation in various fields but government at all levels are denying its youth enough support to display their talents.

The insecurity in the country presently is alarming. President Buhari promised during his campaigns in 2015 to tackle insecurity headlong. However, the reverse is the case as many are kidnapped, killed, maimed, and extorted by criminal gangs. Farmers barred from their farmlands. Traveling has become too dangerous to attempt in Nigeria. Nigerians are living in fear because hoodlums and criminal gangs are reigning supreme without any serious check from security agencies. No country makes meaningful progress or attracts foreign investors when life is not secure.

It is sad that the sports ministry do not organize sporting events to engage the youths and hunt for talents for international competitions. Back in the 1980s, the National Stadium, Surulere, was beehive of sports activities that engaged young Nigerians who daily trooped to the stadium to display their talents. There were corporate organizations that invested in sports and, that gave employment to several youths.

*** Written by Uzodinma Nwaogbe / +234708.438.1845.

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