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…how 33.7% inflation swallowed 35% wage increase
… insecurity remains largely unabated
… ‘tokunboh’ economic policies continue to show Nigerians film tricks
One year after, the President Bola Tinubu’s administration so far so good has continued to showcase all the collateral damages inflicted on Nigerians by the immediate past administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari.
In this x-ray, TheNewsGuru.com, TNG will take a careful look at some of the Tinubu’s administration landmarks and how it has affected Nigerians as hunger in the last one year wore ‘sokoto’ and even laced a bow tie to match.
On May 29, 2023 when Tinubu mounted the rostrum to take over from Buhari who spent eight years doing nothing at Aso Rock Nigerians expected so much with the Renewed Hope mantra of the fresh administration.
Tinubu like an ‘egbe wager’ boldly scrapped fuel subsidy which his predecessor, an armoured tank general was so scared to touch with a very long spoon.
FUEL SUBSIDY ABRACADABRA:
The layman’s understanding of fuel subsidy withdrawal is that within a certain period market forces will force down prices.
As at today, since the subsidy is gone forever as Mr President declared one year ago, the price of the essential source of energy has continued to soar higher and pump price has climbed beyond N700 and may hit N1000 before December.
So far, all the palliatives designed to cushion the effects of subsidy removal has remained a mirage as you can’t fight hunger with palliative. It’s like fighting a tiger with bare hands and is like the president had no economic adviser in his team.
Throwing away such an economic policy without a structural adjustment program to help cushion the bitter pills you want Nigerians to swallow was the first fatal error of this administration.
Nigerians are still bitting their fingers, those who can’t continue swallowing the bitter pills ‘don Japa’ and those who can’t ‘japa’ have to face the fangs of hunger.
The fuel subsidy withdrawal ‘na just the more you look the less you see’ nothing is happening.
35% WAGE INCREASE:
The 35% wage increase which this administration will proudly announce to Nigerians as a major achievement today has been swallowed by 33.7% inflation, meaning that technically the wage increase was just 2.3% increase.
Nigerian workers are not smiling as the salary they earn can’t take them home as the cost of foodstuffs continue to leak their pockets monthly.
INSECURITY:
This was one area so much was expected from this administration, a leader who could boldly scrap fuel subsidy should be bold enough to scrap insecurity in a matter of weeks.
The situation as at yesterday and today has not changed. It’s a national issue that has continued to rubbish this administration as insurgency is fast looking like a permanent feature in the Nigerian project.
ECONOMIC POLICIES:
The economic policies being imposed on Nigerians from forex operations and to what have you are all film tricks, on paper they’re perfect but when it comes to implementation they display film tricks as we watch on Nollywood.
Some of the policies are ‘tokunboh’ and the system just swallow them hook, line and sinker forgetting that their ‘tokunboh’ origin is where the institutions are strong. Where the judiciary is firm, the legislature don’t consider changing a national anthem or see it as an achievement.
Conclusively, Tinubu and his men are just beginning or better still they are in the kindergarten still learning on what medicine to apply to the various wounds inflicted on the economy.
Nigeria is still very far from recovery as the ’emilokan’ administration still has a lot of catch up to do. They should not be in a haste to forget that the hungry man is a very very angry man.