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By Cosmas Omegoh, Christy Anyanwu and Kunle Olafioye
Some days ago, 2022 blasted off the blocks like a consummate Olympian pressing for a prime prize. It has already shot ahead on its track, but leaves no one any clue as to what to expect, although many Nigerians are hopeful it will be better than the year that just faded away.
But things don’t just happen. They are planned. So, experts, strategists and even President Muhammadu Buhari are pointing the way forward, by providing useful nuggets for surviving in the New Year.
Meanwhile, there is apprehension in the air, fueled by people’s fear of the anticipated government’s proposed policies and how they might impact on lives in the days ahead. People are already feeling the heat of last year.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had made it clear that it would remove the controversial subsidy on Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) otherwiseknownaspetrol. If it does, fuel will sell for N340, up from its present N162 per litre. While the people remained ill at ease with this proposal, it emerged that the government will also hike electricity tariff any moment from now.
Already, the government has trumpeted its resolve to increase taxes to shore up its revenue in 2022 – a move that has received the flax of many Nigerians, who are complaining about government’s insensitivity. Their fear is that the government will be killing the already famished businesses only struggling to exist. Inflation, experts lament, is still high at double digit, although it fell from its earlier 15.99 per cent to 15.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2021. Prices of goods and services are continuing to soar-away, while the price of cooking gas skyrockets. Unemployment, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has hit a record high of 33.3 per cent in 2021, up from 27.1 per cent in 2020. And now, many people can hardly feed, let alone afford basic necessitates of life. The standard of living is plummeting every hour. NBS says “in 2020, 40 per cent or 83 million Nigerians live in poverty. Although “Nigeria’s poverty profile for 2021 has not yet been released, it is estimated that the number of poor people will increase to 90 million, or 45 per cent of the population in 2022.”
At the moment, the picture people see of 2022 looks grim.
Therefore, some concerned persons have urged a realistic adjustment to their lives. Their clear warning is that “every Nigerian has to cut their cloths according to their sizes.” This is a lamp to everyone that wants to follow their counsel. Consider this, for instance. “There are two distinct lessons that Nigerians have to learn from the hardships of the year 2021,” Rev Ladi Peter Thompson, a clergyman and social commentator, declared, adding that “The first lesson is that 2021 is a mere rehearsal for the year 2022, and the second is that the hardship is a global, not just local experience.”
Thompson leaves everyone a clear message that hard times lie ahead, and some antidote as well: “All we need to do is to stir up the discipline and Spartan life that describe our majority and innovate like never before.”
Surviving PMS, power tariff hike
Dr Tayo Bello, a monetary and development economist is in support of the removal of subsidies and increase in electricity tariffs and has his reasons.
He said: “It is very crucial and critical to the survival of the economy. It is dangerous to ask a person who is seriously sick to continue donating blood.”
Dr Bello, who teaches in the Department of Private and Commercial Law, Babcock University, Ogun State, also revealed a survival path.
“Nigerians must learn to cut their cloths according to their sizes.
“Let’s consider my own case. I am using a jeep which consumes fuel worth N80, 000 monthly. By the time the subsidy is removed, I may have to spend close to N180, 000 monthly to fuel it.
“Individually, we should talk to ourselves on the need to resort to using smaller vehicles that consume less fuel, a replica of Micra that is being used in Ibadan.
“So, it is important for Nigerians to park their luxury vehicles at home and go for smaller vehicles that are more economical.”
Dr Bello wants Nigerians to learn to plan based on their real income.
“Your real income is what gives you the purchasing power. Nigerians must reject anything that does not warrant the issue of necessity. They should desist from embarking on unnecessary journeys,” while cautioning everyone to “desist from being extravagant especially with owanbe parties.
“Nigerians are in the habit of wasting huge amount of money on social engagements which they would have deployed to other profitable ventures. So, we must desist from such wasteful practices.
“In order to mitigate the impact of the anticipated hike in electricity tariff for instance, Nigerians must cultivate the habit of conserving electricity; they must learn to switch off their light and other electric gadgets when they are not needed. By doing so, they will be able to save a lot of their hard-earned money.”
Surviving inflation
Inflation is riding high. And so, Mrs Fayo Williams, a managing consultant at Simply Exponential Consult Ltd wants “the government to do more to bring down inflation intentionally.”
She is unhappy with “the government’s plan to increase fuel and electricity tariff,” saying “failure to find solutions to these problems would be disastrous.”
Sadly, she is afraid of massive sack in the days ahead, and warned workers “to watch out and get prepared because there is going to be greater demand by employers for efficiency and there might be job combinations coming up where two jobs may be combined into one.” According to her, “most employers may not be able to accommodate a very large work force.”
Then she advised “business owners to adopt greater resilience and offer empathetic leadership at this time,” while calling on them to “stay focused and adopt as many strategies as possible in order to stay afloat.
“Business owners can look at remote working as an option to help employees save costs and stress of commuting. If they can work out a two-day remote working with their employees, it might help to save cost generally and give some relief to employees.”
Surviving taxation increases
Ben Kpaduwa, an accountant and a tax expert, recalled that naturally taxation is one of the ways government can raise revenue, claiming that “it can only finance its budget through increased tax.”
But that would soon be the people’s albatross.
He lamented that increase in taxation comes with some cost, warning Nigerians to brace up.
“If you look at tax governance in Nigeria, you will see that the country is under taxed. Some countries have high tax regimes, for instance, the UK. Their VAT is 30 per cent; ours is 7.5 per cent.”
While acknowledging that a new tax policy will drive inflation, he asked the government to provide palliatives and empower the people.
And for Nigerians to survive the impending tax laws, he cautioned everyone to innovate. “This is a call on the people to be real. “For example, we see the average Nigerian putting three cars on the road at the same time. Now, people need to take a decision to cut down on this waste.
“Some people have more than three houses in the city where they keep a harem of women – houses in three parts of the same city? What are they doing with them? People have guest houses here and there which they maintain. All these things are waste they need to do away with.
“When the new tax regime becomes effective, it will tell us to reduce our population. You see a poor man having three to four wives and 15 children – all because of cultural or religious beliefs.”
He advised people “to do away with unnecessary security,” and also dissuaded them from placing “their kids in the so-called expensive schools which they cannot naturally afford.”
Summarily he said: “The bottom line is for the people to cut waste at all costs; move on with what is necessary anytime, marry less number of wives, and have fewer kids,” warning that “if people fail to heed to this advice, the little income they earn will be drained by taxation and inflation.”
Surviving unemployment
In 2022, being self-reliant appears to be the way to go. Even President Buhari has said so.
Speaking on a recent live television programme, he said: “I wish when they go to school, when they work hard, when they earn a degree, they don’t continue thinking that government must give them a job.”
His idea of going to school which he wants every youth to imbibe is that “you get educated because an educated person is certainly better than an uneducated one even in identifying personal problems.”
While admitting that, that is the way to go, an entrepreneur, Mr Anthony Onyema told his story: “When I left school years ago, the mistake I made was that I went on looking for a paid job which I never found.
“But after years of fruitless search, I decided to venture into trading. Now, I wish I took that decision much earlier.”
In this New Year, he wants the youths to “steer away from crime and think out of the box.”
Projecting into the future
On how the political space will shape the future everyone wishes for, Rev Thompson suggested: “Let all eyes be on 2023 when we will have to choose the make-or-break president that will either have the exceptional qualities to make that first counsel possible or make another choice of the same old compromised mediocrity that the analogue minority of old timers prefer. We need bridge builders and consensus moulders who can help the average Nigerian to see the common harvest we will all reap if we join forces across the divides to insist on top-quality leadership and an exceptional president in 2023.”
His verdict is: “If we get it right, 2022 could be the turning point where we will make all sacrifices needed to launch Nigeria into its greatest destiny.”
