How was your Easter? Did you really celebrate this greatest occasion commanded by Jesus Christ to mark his death and resurrection? If the economic conditions were in fine fettle, Easter is an event that ought to be celebrated with pomp and deep reflection. If, indeed you did, count yourself as one of the privileged few like members of the National Assembly and states’ Assembly legislators who actually know where their next meal is going to come from. Apart from them and members of their families and friends, muted celebration amid extreme hardship greeted the occasion that remains the beacon of hope for the Christian faithful. This is a tradition that has been in existence for over 2000 years. For most Nigerians, the just concluded Easter was like no other before it. Never before has the level of starvation, poverty, pain been this excruciating. Common meals like rice, beans, yam and other staple foods have become luxuries beyond the affordability of millions of Nigerians. If you had bothered to look around your neighborhood, you would have seen many Nigerians groaning as their basic needs now exceed real incomes.
Many banks could only pay customers between N5,000 and N10,000 during the Easter. Hunger Index has worsened as the ability of many households to purchase basic needs has become very tough amid galloping inflation. National darkness worsened the Easter holidays as the national grid collapsed yet again. According to latest statistics, over 90 percent of Nigerians cannot afford a healthy diet these days. A kilo of chicken is N5,000, a ‘paint’ of garri sells for N3,000, a 50kg of rice goes for over N85,000 in many states, a carton of noodles is about N14,000, and a bag of ‘pure water’ now goes for N400. A basket of fresh tomato is over N100,000. And you ask, what’s the minimum wage of a worker? Between August 2023 and February 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigerians spent over N61trn on food and other household items/services. The figure must have increased today.
For many families, to eat two meals a day has become a sort of ‘war’. Life for many families has become a living hell. Recently, a report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said Nigerians are in throes of biting hunger as economic crisis pushes many into extreme poverty. That makes the fresh alarm over food crisis raised by Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in last year’s election something that should be taken very seriously by governments at all levels. But, in spite of all this, the essence of Easter is worth reliving: The suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ remains a moving story : it’s about public adulation, false accusations, the turning of the crowd in response to the abuse of the religious political authority, the betrayal by friends, a sham trial, condemnation and state execution.
The story is not by any means for the fainthearted. It’s violent, convicting, revealing of human hubris, polarisation, fear and complicity. In short, it a story of our time. As a Christian faithful, you must have watched that from last week till this Sunday. I watched the memorial service with my family and siblings who are of Jehovah’s Witnesses during the Memorial of Jesus’ death penultimate Saturday, March 24 at the Kingdom Hall. The meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection, is that life wins. It is life that is not pain-free but abundant, fierce, brave, full of joy and, in the end, revealed to be eternal. For any Christian faithful, the inexorable tragedy of the last days of Jesus, and the inexhaustible mystery of the empty tomb, demand from all who encounter them, it’s not simply a logical consideration of the possibility of such events.
For those who don’t know, Easter or the memorial of Jesus’ death is the oldest Christian holiday, and almost all other christian celebrations are actually put in place in direct relation to Easter. Though the Bible doesn’t even once mention Easter, instead it talks about the celebration of ‘Passover ‘, which is a celebration in remembrance of God’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt, the victory that Jesus’ death and resurrection brings to humankind, that ‘Christ died once for all time for sins, a righteous person for unrighteous ones, in order to lead us to God’( 1 Peter 3:18). This is incontestably true. It means that if we exercise faith in Jesus’ sacrifice, we will have the opportunity to enjoy eternal life. If I’m sounding like a priest or a pastor today, it’s because of the essence of the season, and the subdued celebration occasioned by the insecurity and hardship that have become so pronounced in the land, made even worse by bad leadership and lack of sacrifice by our politicians, especially the leadership of the present administration While they urge the citizens to ‘tighten their belts’, they are feeding fat on public resources. That negates what the two major faiths in the country – Christianity and Islam – teach, that the forces of death cannot triumph. Today, considering the hardship many Nigerians are going through, the general consensus is that the country is on a standstill and like sheep without a shepherd. Everyday is now seen as a miracle to be alive in Nigeria. Some Nigerians are now begging for food. I saw that in my neighborhood last week. A young man barged into a restaurant. Everybody was afraid, thinking he was a bandit. Palpable fear was written on everybody’s face. But the young man calmed everyone, saying he was only asking for food. “I have not eaten for a whole day”, he said. He wasn’t feigning hunger. It was written on his face that looked like it was carved out from a stone.
That’s the situation many Nigerians are going through these days. Acute food scarcity has deteriorated, driven by multidimensional poverty, security crisis, made even worse by weak macroeconomic conditions. If the NBS is to conduct a fresh survey on poverty in the country, it certainly will surpass the 133 million of multi-dimensionally poor Nigerians recorded in the 2022 survey that represents 63 percent of the total population. A World Bank report on food security in Nigeria published in June, 2023, stated that over 107 million Nigerians were at risk of an emergency food crisis owing to attendant rising inflation rate of 31.7 percent for the month of February. Also, insecurity and weak economic policies of the government have made situation much worse. Since President Tinubu, in a moment of sheer power exuberance declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”, and followed that with ill-advised unification of the exchange rate market without any viable alternative in place, Nigeria has been on a journey with no clear destination. The citizens have since lost confidence that government is for the welfare of the citizens. It’s indeed, government for a privileged few. The poor have been leveled to the ground.
Nonetheless, Nigerians are resilient people. And despite the subdued mood of the Easter holidays, the hunger, the pain and despair, the uncertain, nervy times caused by selfish leadership, hope is eternal. That’s one of the takeaways of Easter. As a nation in crisis, it’s time to begin to heal, to cooperate, not confront one another, a time to unite and openly forgive one another. That’s how we can emerge stronger from the horrible, callous policies of the present regime. It will surely come to pass. As one pastor said during the Easter homily, Satan put some leaders in authority in their country to torment their people, not to effect any positive change or renew hope. But God’s power is directional, meaning that the challenges we face today rather than overwhelm us, can be the much-needed opportunities to demonstrate our faith in God and prove His Word that Jesus’ death and resurrection was a sign of victory.
With this in mind, we can collectively achieve our God-given potentials by calling forth the values that define us, by caring for one another, tap strength from within us, with unity and faith, believing that better days are ahead. Nigerians are not dysfunctional or lacking in patriotism, the truth is that government that is ‘elected’ to serve them has abandoned them to their fate. Again, that’s where to draw the lessons of Easter, which requires our tenacity of purpose and unflappable faith that after the storm comes sunshine. It’s time like this that teaches that very often, a journey that begins in grief can ultimately end in victory. I agree with the Lebanon-born poet Kahhil Gibrain who wrote in 1920 that “the deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain”. It’s fine that President Tinubu in his Easter message, urged Nigerians to imbibe the virtues of love, sacrifice, unity, selflessness and compassion associated with the season, it makes sense that he practices what he has asked his compatriots to do. That’s what great leaders do – living by example. This is the time that demands the brightest and imaginative minds in the country, leaders who mean well for the country, to stand up, take charge of the ship of state. Currently, it’s beyond doubt that selfless leaders are in short supply in Nigeria.
If Easter teaches reflection, it in effect, means making amends and setting priorities right. The problem is that, the government in power is not ready to admit that it has made terrible mistakes in policy implementation. Some of its policies are dragging the economy into deeper hole. Some of the macroeconmic policies enunciated by the Central Bank of Nigeria are at variance with economic growth and advancement of the welfare of the people. As we get back to work today, bear this in mind: the resurrection of Jesus Christ has given us newness of life, conscious that we have been raised together with Christ, because redemption was consummated with his death. Many Nigerians have been crushed in the spirit because they no longer feel the government cares for them. But, as the Bible says, ‘count it all joy when you face diverse temptations’. These are challenges of immediate sort. Take this to heart folks: only imagine positive outcomes. That’s how to overcome every government’s bad policies. Channel your worries in prayer to God. That’s what I have been taught to do. Do same.