By Miracle Ogunde

The expectations of Nigeria from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since he was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is to turn the economy of the nation around.

Many believed that he would replicate the same feat he achieved while he was the Governor of Lagos State. But alas, they probably forgot that Lagos is not half of Nigeria and it’s only a state out of the 36 states that make up the country, though no doubt it is an industrial hub in Nigeria.

The sudden removal of fuel subsidy during his inaugural speech with no adequate measures in place to cushion its effects has brought untold hardship on Nigerians. Fuel, being a major commodity many Nigerians cannot do without has been on the increase since subsidy has been removed, thereby leading to high cost of goods and other commodities in the country.

Recently, independent marketers are complaining that they could not access fuel due to the non-stability of naira as they could not access Forex (FX). Only the Nigeria Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has access to fuel importation in Nigeria. This, has made many of the marketers shut down their fuel stations, thereby causing fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.

The free fall of naira is a serious concern as it becomes frustrating. Despite the recent lift of ban on some 43 items in the FX market, naira has continued to tumble as it now exchanges at about #1,200 to a dollar. This has raised inflation in Nigeria to an all time high.

On a daily basis, prices of foodstuffs continue to rise and many Nigerians could not afford to feed comfortably twice not to talk of three times daily. A bag of rice, which is one of the most staple foods in Nigeria for instance is now around #50,000 or more while the minimum wage is pegged at N30,000. How can an average family survive in this present economy?

In all of these, the federal government is planning to purchase new SUVs worth billions of naira for lawmakers who are already well-fed while workers are groaning and protesting for an increase in minimum wage.

With the ailing economy, businesses continue to shut down due to high costs of production and organizations continue to retrench workers due to inability to pay their salaries. Even if the federal government decides to introduce a new minimum wage for workers, how many states in the country will be able to implement it? Mind you, some states who are presently struggling to pay the current minimum wage to their workers are currently lamenting low or insufficient allocation from the federal government while their internally generated revenues are nothing to write home about.

Most states dependent on the federal government to survive and could not initiate ways to boost their internally generated revenue. On its own part, the federal government keeps borrowing to service debts despite huge debts already accrued both locally and internationally.

Many young Nigerians are now striving to travel out of the country by all means, believing that hope is lost for a better Nigeria. Also, various policies introduced by the present administration are not favourable at all, despite the acclaimed “Renewed Hope Agenda” which has only brought renewed sufferings and hardhips on the masses. Despite this, the president keeps making new appointments without giving a consideration to reducing the cost of governance in Nigeria. Of course the rich are getting richer and the poor keep languishing in abject poverty.

So we still have hope in Nigeria? Well, we can only hope that our hope never dies and we hope the present administration does the needful in reviving the country’s economy rather than adding to the already existing problem.

President Tinubu, it is high time you renewed the hope of Nigerians through masses-friendly policies and reduce the cost of running the country. Nigeria is on a live wire, urgent and proactive actions needed before things get completely out of hand.