New Telegraph

Government’s double whammy for its citizens

If it no be craze
Why for Africa?
As time dey go
Things just dey bad
They bad more and more
Poor man dey cry
Rich man dey mess
– Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Teacher Don’t
Teach Me Nonsense (1986)

In the space of 24 hours last week the Federal Government delivered a double whammy on the people they had only one year ago promised to make their lives much better and rather stayed in synch with Fela’s above claim. Of course the promises were made in the run-up to the 2019 General Elections, when politicians are ready to say anything in an effort to get voted into power.

However, since it is the same government that has been in power since 2015, their case has actually spanned five years that they have been under the spotlight. Incidentally, back then (2015), as the party outside the corridors of power, it was much easier for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cast the then party in power as totally incompetent and lay all the woes of the country at the feet of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). From the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to the rising cost of food in the country, insecurity to the weak state of the naira against the United States’ dollar; it was the PDP that was to be held responsible.

The then opposition party, APC, told the electorate that they had the “magic wand” to wipe away all these ills and ensure that they would be much better off with them in charge of our destiny. So confident were they in their ability to do better, the party’s National Chairman then, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said the public should hold them accountable. Some of the promises made that clearly resonated with the populace, but subsequently jettisoned included: ban on government officials from going abroad for medical treatment, creation of three million jobs per year, building one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging 10 per cent annually, generation, transmission and distribution of at least 20,000 MW of electricity within four years and increasing to 50,000 MW with a view to achieving 24/7 uninterrupted power supply within 10 years, creating additional middle-class of at least two million new homeowners in their first year in government and one million annually thereafter and making naira stable at the international market. Of course, we all know the reality on the ground is a far cry from the promises made some five years ago.

For instance, the dollar that was hovering around N199 as at May 29, 2015, is now going for around N440 while a bag of rice which was roughly N8, 500 back then is now about N25, 000 while virtually every other thing has gone up as millions of Nigerians are now struggling to make ends meet under harsh conditions further compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. However, one must quickly point out here that virtually all governments have let the people down because going further back in time there was a period when this same dollar was worth less than our naira, which meant that if you had for instance N200 one was wealthier than his American counterpart that had $200! In 1976 when my siblings and I travelled to England for summer holidays, my father paid roughly N850 to buy tickets for the three of us that made the trip while the N200 we changed at the now-defunct National Bank gave us about 128 pounds.

Six years later, my father, who was not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but just one of those in the middle-income bracket, was able to buy the then top of the range Peugeot 505 Evolution for the pricey sum of roughly N11, 700! This amount, that in present-day Nigeria cannot even purchase a car battery, gave my old man a vehicle that had power steering, electric windows, air-conditioning, radio/ cassette player and a five-speed transmission – all things that were still rarities in most cars back then.

Sadly barely 38 years later, his son cannot now afford a brand new car because of the way the country has been run by successive governments. For him, and millions of other lucky ones like him, purchasing a ‘tokunbo’ car now is even a remarkable achievement calling for celebration from friends and well-wishers. Unfortunately, even this ‘achievement’ is fast becoming a herculean task for millions as the economy continues to nose dive. In fact, under the present clime, many Nigerians will be unable to afford such cars relying solely on legitimate salaries for the simple reason that the salaries barely (if at all) last them the whole month. This is why to a large extent, underhand dealings by millions, in order to generate extra income, have become the order of the day as the only way they can even live a fairly decent way of life.

It is under this cloud that on Tuesday, government decided to allow the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to increase the tariffs they charge their customers by a hefty margin and them followed up 24 hours later with a fuel price hike. Naturally, the party in power justified the recent action by their government while taking a poke at the opposition party saying “the PDP to wake up to a new Nigeria where the government works for the citizens, not for a few interests”. Mr. Yekini Nabena, the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

In keeping with the theme, the PDP, in an earlier statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, rejected the new fuel price and hike in electricity tariff. This has often been the situation in Nigeria with the politicians throwing darts at each other while in reality; they have often been the main cause of many of our woes.

The negative perception many have against them was not helped by a recent video that went viral in which a former Senator was shown showing off his ostentatious life style leaving many to wonder what work he had done to have been able to afford such luxury. While one cannot deny that external forces, which are situations they (politicians) have no control over can deal a bad hand, however, it is the way they respond that can either escalate or mitigate the situation.

Unfortunately, it is crystal clear that most times it has been their poor handling of situations that have put us in this dire straight. Clearly, had they managed the nation better then, definitely things should not have become this bad. Like I said earlier, it is not just the fault of the present party in power but has been a generational thing as the fall of the naira over time has shown.

When the naira was introduced on January 1, 1973, to replace the pound, one needed just 0.658 kobo to purchase one dollar, 47 years and 13 heads of government later we now need N386 to purchase the same one dollar (this is the official rate it is much more in the parallel market)! Despondently 34 years after Fela asked the question (at the start of this piece); we are still seeking for the answer nor have been able to change the narrative!

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