In less than 25 days to the end of 2022, there have been ripples of economic miseries for most Nigerians.
Nigerian citizens now grapple with multiple challenges and it is very unfortunate that there is no end in sight.
Untamed insecurity, persistent fuel scarcity, rising inflation, abject poverty, and energy crisis are some of the critical problems bedeviling the nation.
More than 65 percent of Nigeria’s population lives in poverty, as they are deprived of good health care, qualitative education, gainful employment, reasonable living standard and security, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
With a 21.09 percent October inflation rate, 16.50 percent interest rate, 2.25 percent third quarter Gross Domestic Product growth rate, an average Nigerian struggles for survival.
Still, the Federal Government is almost non-existent in providing basic social amenities to douse its citizens’ hardship.
In the last four weeks, the reoccurring fuel scarcity has further heightened the worries Nigerians face.
In most cities, fuel queues have resurfaced as motorists and commuters groan over product unavailability and increased cost of transportation.
Though significant filling stations across the country still dispense fuel at the price of 179-180/Per litre, residents continue to lament the frustration experienced in getting fuel to run their businesses.
Suffering Nigerians are being driven to commit suicide because of the current hardship. Something needs to be done in a hurry to bring hope to despondent Nigerians because the economy is almost completely at a standstill, not even crawling.
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew at an average rate of less than 1percent since 2015.
Per capita income, a measure of citizens’ well-being, has progressively fallen since 2015 because of the declining output and a fast-growing population.
It is a fact that Nigerians are worse-off today than they were in 2015.
The current rate of growth of about 3.5% masks the real challenges facing the economy. The economy remains very fragile as the key sectors are either growing slowly or contracting.
The oil and gas sector, which is the economy’s lifeline, has suffered decline in 19 out of 30 quarters since 2014.
For many economic sectors and for the ordinary citizens it still feels as if we are in a period of recession.
The most worrisome aspect is that the majority of Nigerians are not working.
More than 23 million people are out of jobs. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of fully employed people dropped by 54 percent, from 68 million to 31 million people.
The number of unemployed people is more than the population of Lagos State or the inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Kwara and Nasarawa states combined.
What is even more worrisome is that the majority of the unemployed are young men and women, lack not only the means to survive but any hope for the future.
The number of unemployed youths increased by 9 million from 4 million in 2015 to 13 million in 2020.
It is very dangerous to note that high youth unemployment and limited employment opportunities pose serious economic and security challenges.
Ensuring there are enough jobs for Nigeria’s youth is therefore already an urgent concern.
“Suffering Nigerians are being driven to commit suicide because of the current hardship. Something needs to be done in a hurry to bring hope to despondent Nigerians because the economy is almost completely at a standstill, not even crawling”
Job losses, declining purchasing power of per capita income and lack of citizens’ access to basic amenities have pushed more than 90 million people below the poverty line and created more misery for the poor in towns and villages.
This year, around 12 percent of the world population is in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at $1.90 a day, living in Nigeria.
Basic commodities are now beyond the reach of an average Nigerian.
A loaf of bread costs 100 percent more today than it did in 2020.
A bag of rice has risen to N45, 000, an amount that is 150 percent of the minimum wage, and more than seven times the N6, 000 it was when President Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015 from a Goodluck Jonathan government that was tagged as clueless and corrupt.
Cooking gas has risen to over N10, 000 from less than N2, 000. The prices of cooking kerosene, aviation fuel and diesel have shot through the roof, with the government appearing to have no solutions.
Nigeria is being dressed in borrowed robes.
The Federal Government has consistently run-on budget deficits since it came to power in 2015. These budget deficits are often above the 3% threshold permissible under the Fiscal Responsibility Law.
For the first time in Nigeria’s history, the Federal Government paid more in debt service than it earned.
By spending more than 100% of its revenue for debt service, Nigeria is breaching one of the applicable debt-sustainability thresholds.
For the country to progress and bring hope to despondent Nigerians, the Federal Government must address its inefficiency. It must look for a temporary means to end the current fuel scarcity ahead of the yuletide.
Although the Nigerian economic problem is multidimensional and very complex, however, to solve our problem, the Federal Government needs first to accept that the problem has not been adequately tackled in the past to come up with fresh ideas to improve the economic environment.
In the interim, the Federal Government needs to tackle the lingering fuel scarcity for the yuletide period and enhance security for those travelling due to incessant cases of kidnapping on the roads.
If we have achieved self-sufficiency in rice production, then the states and the Federal Government should intervene to reduce the high cost of rice and other grains so that Nigerians can purchase them at a lower rate during the festive seasons.
It is our point that the Federal Government must act fast to halt the ugly trend of poverty-level expansion in Nigeria and give the citizens a flourishing economy.
Amid all these challenges, the forthcoming 2023 general elections represent a beacon of hope for most Nigerians.
