The present state of economy in Nigeria is biting on everyone. It has never been this bad. Nigeria is a developing country and as such, the suffering and hunger in the land didn't start now.
What baffles me is that ideally a country supposed to be putting efforts in place to get out of the woods but in Nigeria, things are getting worse by the day.
In the 70s, the Nigerian currency was stronger than the US dollar. Around that same period, I read that Dubai in the UAE was mostly desert. While the two nations mentioned kept progressing, Nigeria was in retrogression. It is unfortunate that today, the naira exchanged at 1500 naira to a dollar. While Dubai has become a developed city attracting many investments, Nigeria is in bad shape.
About two decades ago when I was staying with my parents, people weren't hungry. They might not be eating a balanced diet but they were eating. People's wants then were mostly building houses or buying automobiles. That was my experience from the part of Nigeria where I grew up.
A popular Nigerian musician, African China released a song titled Mr President during that period complaining that some parts of Nigeria lacked food and water. I realized at that point, after asking questions from people that traveled around Nigeria, that majority of Nigerians were actually facing feeding crises. The song became a hit song across Nigerians.
Three years later, I traveled to the northern part of the country to further my education. I saw kids holding plates to beg for food. I saw kids loitering around restaurants to feed on leftovers from people that come to eat. Adults are not left out. They are found everywhere begging for food or money to feed.
Years in years out, the economy continued in its downward spiral. The country's currency kept losing value.
A new government came on board in Nigeria last year. At the inauguration of the president, he announced the removal of fuel (PMS) subsidies. He followed this up with the floating of the country's currency in the exchange window. There was also a coup that removed a democratically elected president in the neighboring country of Niger. In an attempt to sanction the military junta, the Nigerian president closed the border between the two countries. Things became more difficult for traders between the communities along the closed borders. The effects of all these policies led to food crises. Food inflation skyrocketed.
The problem is severe to the extent that some parents are trading off their kids in order to use the proceeds to feed the remaining ones. A young man fainted in a public space recently. When he was revived and attempts were made to take him to the hospital, he told the people that his problem was hunger and not any ailment. He was given food right there by the good rescuers.
A few days ago, I went to the market to buy some foodstuffs. I met a heavily pregnant woman buying rice and beans from the same woman that I was buying from. She requested a cup of rice and beans. With a son beside her, I saw frustration in her face as she paid for the food that probably wouldn't satisfy two people.
On my way back home, I was going through the internet and I bumped into a news article about how a truck driver parked his vehicle loaded with noodles to pray in a mosque. Before he returned, the whole truck had been looted by the hungry citizens.
I arrived home with the economy troubling my heart. In situations like that, I find solace in music, especially the ones that talk about the problems and the possible way forward. While searching songs that are relevant to the current predicaments, I came across Mr President by African China.
Like I stated earlier, I didn't know in detail what he was talking about when the song was released in 2006. Unfortunately, 18 years later, hunger is now well distributed across the country. Anywhere you are in Nigeria today, the precarious state of the economy is biting everybody.
Nigerians are running in droves to the developed world including Dubai that was a desert when Nigeria's economy was great. Looking deeply into the problem, leadership is the issue.
The system is weak against corrupt leaders at all levels. The elected leaders, the senior civil servants and the judiciary, all are enmeshed in corrupt practices.
Like African China stated that the faces of petty thieves are found in crime fighters but never would you find the faces of the billionaire thieves. The song encapsulated virtually all the problems faced by Nigerians in that era.
It is rather unfortunate that 18 years later, every of the mentioned problems has only grown in strength and magnitude. Many people can't afford transportation presently because it is unaffordable. Power generation is still hovering around 4000 megawatts for more than 200 million population. People that continuously vote the leaders to power are in pain while the leaders live lavish lifestyles in presidential lodges and 5 star hotels.
I wish that this song can be played in a gathering of the president, the senators, the police and other senior government officials. They should "no let this nation fall inside well."
Out of all the issues he raised in the song, the government should attend to this one without wasting time.
"Many youth ready for work
But as work no dey
Na how dey wan survive"
Lyrics
This is a keg of gunpowder ready to explode if nothing is done about it.
It is not too late to put Nigeria on the path of progress because I am ashamed of what has become of our fate in the past few decades.
Every Nigerian has a role to play and I hope that we collectively play it for the progress of the nation.