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“Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction.” —Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
The die is cast. Nigerian masses are hungry and angry. They are like the tempest poor: no food, money, or dignity. All arising primarily from the policy measures announced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the stormy take-off of his administration on May 29, 2023, when he declared that there is ‘no more subsidy’ along with the unification of foreign exchange rates.
Since the declaration, the hardship arising from the socio-economic consequences of the new regime of subsidy removal has taken the better part of the common people, turning the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration into a rope of sand.
On Monday, the ordinary people of Niger State who could no longer remain silent in the face of the hardship of the economy took their anger to the streets of Minna, protesting the high cost of living. Youths and women thronged the popular Kpakungu Roundabout along Minna-Bida Road to lament what they termed as suffering under the Tinubu administration.
Even in the best of circumstances, a social upheaval precipitated by the combined effects of hunger and anger can be very devastating. Not easy to quell. Expectedly, therefore, the police operatives deployed to restore order could but watch the scene amid the swirling waves of anger and discontent, as the youth chased away the officers who were coming after them. Not even the presence of the deputy governor of the state was enough to calm the frayed nerves. Everything went awry. The police had to resort to firing teargas in the direction of the rampaging youths to disperse them. But despite the teargas, the youths continued their protest. Yet, hardly had the dust in the streets of Minna settled when the people of Kano State followed suit and joined the bandwagon for the same reason: lack of access to basic food.
Poverty is a common currency. It knows no tribal, religious or racial barrier. But it’s no gainsaying that Nigeria has moved from being the poverty capital of the world to being the home of the most vulnerable people grappling with abject poverty in all dimensions. Yet, the situation is fast degenerating by the day due to hard policy measures introduced by the administration of President Tinubu contrary to its Renewed Hope mantra. Eight months after his inauguration, all available indices show that the bulk of the populace can no longer afford the minimum living standard that qualifies people to be human.
A good policy decision is one that sees people as the means and end to development. Lamentably, all the macro-economic policies introduced by the administration, including subsidy removal and foreign exchange rate unification, have brought more pains than the gains.
Among other things, the combined effects of these two policies, no matter how popular, have resulted in a high rate of food inflation and lack of access to basic needs. From the records, the current rate of inflation (28.92%) remains the highest in Nigeria’s chequered history.
According to financial experts, “the socio-economic and production characteristics of the farmers, inconsistent and unfocussed government policies, the poor infrastructural base, all interact in a synergism to asphyxiate the sector, resulting in low production, high prices of food items, inflation, underdevelopment and concomitant poverty.”
For instance, the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that an increase in the price of bread, cereal, rent, potatoes, yam, tubers, vegetables, and meat drove inflation up in February.
On the other hand, the Federal Government has identified food insecurity, as well as climate change as factors responsible for lower incomes and higher prices of foods in the country, adding that the challenges have seriously put food out of the reach of many Nigerians. The Permanent Secretary, Budget and Planning, Nebolisa Anako, at a workshop on the development of an implementation strategy for the Nigeria Food Systems Transformation Pathways recently held in Abuja, said: “It suffices to say that food insecurity and malnutrition, as well as the influence of climate change, have resulted in lower incomes and higher prices of foods. This has indeed put food out of the reach of many and undermining the right to food thereby stalling the efforts to meeting the Sustainable Development that emphasized ‘zero hunger’”.
In another twist, the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the opposition party of sabotaging the effort of the Tinubu administration to reposition the economy.
They alleged that the leading opposition parties in the country orchestrated the demonstrations that took place simultaneously in Kano and Niger states on Monday to portray the APC-led administration as under-performing.
A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, in Abuja, reads in part: “The protests in Minna and Kano on Monday were the manifestation of this devious and unpatriotic plot. That the protests happened simultaneously in both cities is not coincidental. It bears the bold stamp of an orchestrated and coordinated effort to instigate unrest and undermine the government. This mercenary opposition tactic is a clear and present threat to public peace and national security.
“While we recognize the right of citizens to engage in peaceful protest, we urge our good people to be vigilant and not lend themselves to the treacherous attempt by the opposition to promote social strife by its incendiary rhetoric and manipulative plots.
“We implore Nigerians to shun the guile and unpatriotic attempt by opposition elements to destabilize the country for their own base and parochial political gains.
“The President Bola Tinubu-led administration is solidly committed to doing everything in its power to mitigate the transient pains of critically important reforms that are crucial to economic recovery and sustainable prosperity for all Nigerians.”
This is one excuse too many. And Nigerians are tired of such blame game. Of course, it is not impossible for some subversive elements within the opposition to latch on the present food crisis for cheap political points.
But there must have been a fertile ground for sabotage to thrive. Nigerians are resilient, subservient and socially amenable. They can’t easily be swayed. For no reason, they will never follow a destructive path for personal interest of any particular individual or group of people. Under successive administrations, they have been deprived, oppressed, abused and browbeaten. Yet, they are never tired of making sacrifices.
But at this point, things appear to have reached a tipping point particularly since food is no longer accessible and affordable to the majority.
It has become an existential threat that can lead to spontaneous indignation from any part of the country if nothing is done quickly to arrest the situation.
The way to douse the rising tension in the land is for the Federal Government to do a quick review of policies that are capable of snuffing lives out of the ordinary people and giving them a human face.
For whatever reason the organisers of the protests in Minna and Kano took to the streets, it was a reflection of the hardship in the land occasioned by the economic policies of the present government.
By his action or inaction, President Tinubu had wittingly and unwittingly stirred the hornets’ nest on the day of his inauguration by declaring an end to fuel subsidy without alternative measures that can ameliorate the suffering of the people.
By opting for palliative measures that are adequate, haphazard, and ineffective, he has lost the trust and confidence that could make the people to be patient for the full maturation of his Renewed Hope agenda. Instead, its much-anticipated relief is taking forever to manifest. Something drastic and urgent needs to be done to arrest the free fall of the naira, the rising cost of living and the state of insecurity to pull back the country from the precipice.
