…Lament over woes of outgoing year
From Okey Sampson (Umuahia), Jude Chinedu (Enugu), Ogbonnaya Ndukwe (Aba), Felix Ikem (Nsukka), Okwe Obi (Abuja), Noah Ebije (Kaduna), Shafa’atu Suleiman (Sokoto), Fred Ezeh (Abuja), Tony John (Port Harcourt), Stanley Uzoaru (Owerri), Scholastica Hir (Makurdi)
As 2024 is speeding to an end and the New Year ready to set in, in less than 72 hours, Nigerians across the country have expressed their views on what they desire the federal and state governments to do in the New Year.
They listed for Sunday Sun reporters across the country the major challenges they faced in the outgoing year, which they lamented foisted on them untold haedship.
Top among the challenges they listed are the rising cost of food items, energy crisis, prohibitive cost of rent in some major cities, as well as deplorable conditions of roads in some cities, towns and communities in the various states.
Not left out is the issue of insecurity across the country – banditry and insurgency in the northern parts of the country, kidnapping for ransom as well as willful destruction of farmlands and murderous attacks by armed herdsmen in the southern states.
However, some people also expressed optimism that if the government at the federal and state levels can seriously address these challenges in the New Year, it would ease the burdens on Nigerians.
LAGOS
In Lagos State and some parts of Ogun State, the residents are like seismic twins, who are not immune to the general hardship in the country.
For instance, a farmer in Ogun State, Mr Azeez Akinshola, said that the rising cost of food is largely induced by the declining farming activities as a result of a number of factors.
According to Akinshola, the nefarious activities of kidnappers and herders who terrorize farmers in several parts of the country have dissuaded many from going to their farms.
“Most farmers have abandoned their farms because of kidnappers and herders who are making life difficult for hardworking farmers. Farmers are being kidnapped with their family members in their numbers by these criminals. This is a major disincentive to farming. The government needs to address this challenge so that people can return to their farms. The government should support farmers with agricultural inputs in order to bring down the cost of food in the country,” Akinshola said.
High cost of energy caused by the removal of fuel subsidy is another area Nigerians want the government to intervene, to make life easy for the citizenry.
The Managing Director, Nova Poly, Dr Samuel Eguoroje, said that the high cost of energy has crippled many businesses with several others on the verge of collapse.
He expressed fear that unless critical steps are taken by the government to tackle the problem the nation’s industrial sector might become comatose in the next few years.
“Businesses are dying due to the high cost of energy. A situation where a company with working capital of less than N10 million is being given over N2 million monthly electricity bills portends a serious risk for such business. The government must address this challenge fast otherwise many businesses will go under soon,” he stated.
The problem of housing deficit is another area Nigerians want the government to intervene as rents skyrocket beyond the reach of most Nigerians, especially those living in major towns across the country.
Residents of Lagos who spoke with Sunday Sun urged both the state and Federal governments to come up with a housing scheme similar to the Alhaji Lateef Jakande era, which benefited the downtrodden.
One of them, Mr Mojeed Yusuf, wants the government to pay close attention to the plight of tenants who are being exploited by house owners and their agents.
“The government must look into the issue of the high cost of rents in the country. We are now in a period where six months salaries can no longer settle one year’s rent. This is too outrageous. This is partly due to the failure of the government because where the government no longer builds affordable houses as it was done in the past, the people will be left at the mercy of shylock landlords. Government should, therefore, consider building low cost houses as it was done in the past. In addition, the government must come up with a policy to regulate the activities of estate agents who instigate landlords to charge exorbitant rents and fees,” he said.
ENUGU
In Enugu State, there is lamentation among the people, who want the government to give practical assistance that will help cushion poverty in the country, especially at the lower rungs of the society.
Alongside this, the people want an upgrading and maintenance of critical infrastructure like power, road network just as they want the government to create enabling environment that would enable small businesses and operators in the non-formal sector to thrive.
A cross section of Nigerians who spoke on the country’s socio-economic woes said there was need for the government to come up with palliative measures to stem the tide in the coming New Year.
Some respondents said that acute food shortages and hike in transportation have led to to closure of many small-scale businesses.
For Mr Raleigh Okeh, a garment producer, along St Michaels Road in Aba, a major threat working against small businesses in the country is non-availability of constant power supply to sustain production.
“We suffered so much in the outgoing year due to lack of public power supply. When subsidy on petroleum was removed, it affected every other area of business, especially transportation, which in turn led to astronomical rise in prices of goods – foodstuff, imported raw materials for those in production outfits, among others.
“The lack of will power by the government agents to formulate good programmes towards the distribution of palliatives to cushion the effects of hardship worsened the sufferings of the citizenry.”
Okeh, a graduate of Statistics from the University of Calabar, said that rebuilding and upgrading of key infrastructure like power supply and roads would help as he lamented the high cost of fuel used to power generators in the absence of constant power supply from the national grid.
A head teacher in a private school, Mrs Chinyere Ndukwe, said that the cost of household items especially food skyrocketed leading to excessive hunger in the land.
Urging the government to match action with words in its food security promises, Mrs Ndukwe, said hunger in the land was exploited by the devil, to cause the stampede that claimed the lives of those who had gone to get a share of rice and other items, when philanthropic individuals held events to give out Yuletide gifts in Ibadan (Oyo State), Okija in Anambra State, and Abuja, the nation’s capital.
“We don’t want the current rising cost of food items to continue in 2025. People go through hardship to buy rice at N600 a cup, a staple food being produced in the country. As it stands, many families cannot eat food.
“It was the reason that led many Nigerians who had gone for palliatives, lost their lives in Ibadan, Okija and Abuja and the same can happen in other locations if nothing is done to check the trend,” she said.
An Interior decorator, Umeh Nkere Kalu, urged the government to provide succour to the less privileged Nigerians, noting, “as we wait for the economic programmes and initiatives of the present administration to begin to yield fruit, efforts should be made in the New Year to provide palliatives to suffering Nigerians, pending when things begin to change for good.”
In the same vein, former member, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Ugwuerua, said: “The outgoing year was very excruciating and many Nigerians did not find it so funny. The period can hardly be erased from the minds of the people, especially the less privileged. It was indeed hard and harsh. The abrupt removal of subsidy with no credible plan in place to cushion the effect unavoidably placed the country where it is today. Nigerians are living a borrowed life and have continued to groan.
“The country’s economy is bleak and our naira is weak, its purchasing power ruined, and inflation galloping, all causing untold hardship to the masses.
“Nigeria workers seem to be worse hit as their claimed minimum wage of N70,000 is tantamount to nothing and could be seen as a creation of maximum problem to them. Prices of goods and services increased soon after the pronouncement of the minimum wage for the workers, thereby cancelling the salary increase.”
Commenting on what he expects from the government, Ugwuerua said: “I want 2025 not to be as harsh as the passing year. It should be a time when governments at all levels should wake up from their slumber to address some major key sectors of the nation’s economy, to curb hardship faced by people, laying emphasis on improvement in power generation, education, housing, transportation and food production.
“It’s not in doubt that Nigeria has been facing a massive power generation problem since the inception of Tinubu’s government, more so as consumers pay through their nose. The national grid has collapsed several times under the Tinubu administration, plunging communities, towns, cities and even the Federal Capital Territory into darkness for days and weeks.
“The frequent system collapse, without argument, has scared some potential investors away and brought the production capacity of some industries to the lowest ebb. The consequence of this is the astronomical increase in the cost of production and cost of goods. Besides, our education sector is being neglected, giving room to industrial disharmony in the federal universities. Government should place a high level of priority on the sector in its budgets.”
In the case of housing, Ugwuerua argued that the exorbitant price of cement and other building materials are hindering average Nigerians from owning a house.
He said: “It’s obvious that with the prevailing high cost of building materials, an average Nigerian will find it difficult to own a house. Government should, therefore, deem it necessary to find a way of reducing the cost of building materials to give the people the opportunity to have affordable houses. The way things are today, it is even pretty difficult for some people to rent an apartment due to the prohibitive rents.
“For transportation, Nigerians expect a reduction in the cost of fuel at least to a moderate price of N600 per litre. To boost food production, the Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency and necessity improve on the security of the farmers in the various states to prevent herders-farmers’ clashes that have adversely affected farming, and food production in the country.”
For Mrs Oluchukwu Ezea, a trader at the Ogige Main Market, Nsukka, the federal and state governments should hand out palliatives in January to mitigate the hunger and economic hardship bedeviling the people. Ezea urged the Federal Government to give its economic policies a human face.
For Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Obasi Igwe, the expectations for 2025 are few, but fundamental.
He said: “Electricity, petrol and other fuel prices should revert to the pre-Tinubu levels, if possible, even pre-Buhari, so as to reduce transportation costs, food, building materials and other prices.
“The destruction of the Naira should come to a close, for with a strong currency industrialization and jobs can re-start in Nigeria. The orchestrated internal ‘wars’ appear already being gradually phased out, and, they must come to a definite stop, so that actual criminality is isolated and security radically improved nationwide.
“Federal and state governments must end the illegal charges on Nigerian roads, and in schools, from primary, secondary, to tertiary institutions, and substantially reduce school fees and cost of education nationwide.
“Free education is today a mere slogan; from 2025 it should return to a national reality. There are many challenges and many things that should be done, but let us start with the above.”
Executive Director, Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Advocacy Network, Ephraim Okenwa, while reflecting on the tragedies of 2024, recalled incidents where citizens lost their lives in a bid to get free food.
“What they esteemed as free food turned out to be the most expensive food they could only afford with their lives,” he lamented.
He urged the government to launch an agrarian revolution by mobilizing young people into farming with robust support.
“Enugu State government should, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency in agriculture,” he advised.
He also spoke on the need for functional public refineries to reduce the cost of petrol and housing policies that prioritize civil servants.
For Chidimma Onoyima, a serving Youths Corps member, 2024 was defined by economic inflation and hardship.
“My experience in this outgoing year was horrible. The economic inflation has made life difficult for us here in Nigeria,” she said.
Onoyima appealed for the restoration of fuel subsidies to ease the cost of living before the removal of this fuel subsidy as things were much better.
She also called for reduced electricity tariffs, adding that the government should also work to improve on existing roads.
“The electricity tariff is very high and unaffordable for the poor who form the majority. The government should build more roads, preferably two lanes, for easy passage to reduce the recurring traffic happening every time in Enugu town. The government should provide buses with subsidized transport rates to assist the general public,” she said.
On his part, the Managing Director, Powell Homes and Shelters Limited, Chibuikem Onyekachi, called for stronger support for affordable housing schemes and consistent electricity in 2025, insisting that stable electricity is crucial for businesses and industries to thrive.
He commended Governor Peter Mbah’s urban planning initiatives, noting that “his policies and projects, particularly in land administration, have created an enabling environment for businesses like ours to operate more efficiently. These efforts have reduced logistical challenges, lowering project costs and enabling us to focus on delivering affordable homes.”
He urged increased funding for education and policies to support local farmers adding that “food security should be strengthened through policies that support local farmers and reduce dependence on imports.”
Chief Executive, First Choice Afro Villa Limited and Mburubu Construction Company Limited, Jerry Patrick Onuokaibe, outlined practical solutions for Nigeria’s challenges, calling for reforms in electricity, education, and transportation.
Reflecting on the past year, Onuokaibe described 2024 as a period of valuable business experiences which brought valuable experiences in business expansion and partnerships.
He also praised Governor Mbah’s infrastructural developments.
“The investments in road infrastructure and urban renewal have greatly eased transportation and material logistics, significantly lowering operational costs for construction companies.
“I believe these initiatives will continue to support the state’s growth and improve the quality of life for its residents in 2025,” he said.
On his part, Chairman, Enugu North Local Government Area, Dr Ibenaku Onoh, commended Governor Mbah’s achievements in the power sector and in education, urging the Federal Government to emulate the governor.
“The establishment of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) is already ensuring more reliable and accessible electricity. Governor Mbah has made strides in improving educational infrastructure in the state, and I hope the Federal Government will follow suit by investing in smart schools and experiential learning programmes,” he said.
Onoh also praised the governor’s housing initiatives, stating that “Governor Mbah has facilitated public-private partnerships to create sustainable housing projects.”
On food security, he added, “the establishment of farm estates across Enugu’s 260 wards will position the state as a major player in food production.”
Also speaking, an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Sabastine Okafor, called on the Federal and Enugu State governments to focus on key sectors like electricity, education, and housing in 2025.
“Stable electricity is the bedrock of technological advancement and economic growth,” he stated, praising Governor Peter Mbah’s initiatives in the power sector, which have improved access to electricity in Enugu.
Okafor harped on the need for federal investment in innovative education, saying, “Smart schools and experimental learning have modernized teaching methods in Enugu State and should be adopted nationwide.”
ABIA
Abia residents, like other Nigerians, want the federal and state governments to come up with measures that will benefit the masses.
Speaking along this vein, Celestine Kanu, an agriculturist, said the federal and state governments establish more power plants to increase power generation, describing as condemnable a situation whereby Nigeria presently generates less than 4,000 megawatts of electricity while a country like South Africa generates over 40,000 megawatts.
He said: “Governments at all levels in the country should put up policies in place that will make education in Nigeria if not free, but at least affordable to all layers of the society. The devaluation of the naira is making education to be slipping out of the hands of the poor in the country.”
Kanu urged governments to provide avoidable houses to the citizenry.
He also said that governments at all levels should give genuine farmers interest free loans for enhanced food production.
Another Abian, Okorie Mba, an educationist, expressed worry over the steep increase in fees payable at unity schools and universities which he said is denying educational opportunities to the poor.
Also, Adanma Okoro, a businesswoman, tasked the government to enhance the working conditions of lecturers and teachers, to encourage them to be dedicated to raising an educationally sound workforce for the country.
KADUNA
Chairman, Kaduna State chapter of Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Luka Binniyat said that the government should tackle challenges like poor electricity supply, food shortage, insecurity, poor education without further delay in the incoming year.
He said: “If these problems are reversed in 2025, there will be food surplus again in the country. The Nigerian electricity sector witnessed its worst downturn in 2024 after witnessing about 24 episodes of national grid collapses. For a country of over 200 million to be unable to sustain steady generation, transmission and distribution of a paltry 4,000MW of electricity, it’s not only shameful, but also unacceptable.
“In 2025, therefore, I expect that the Federal Government takes very drastic measures to protect all the major grid lines in the country and also ensure steady gas supply to all gas generating stations.
“The Mambila and Zungeru hydroelectricity dams should be completed in 2025. Again, state governments should generate their own electricity, by taking advantage of solar technology to mass produce power, transmit and distribute as liberalised under the amended Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Act of 2005.
“On Education, the N3.5 trillion allocated for the sector in the 2025 national budget may appear cheering, but it’s still way too poor. That’s about seven per cent of the 2025 budget which falls short of the 15 per cent recommended for all UN member nations. The Federal Government must ensure a reduction of strikes by labour unions in our tertiary institutions.
“Some government-owned tertiary schools are in sorry state with schools hostels looking like concentration camps. The issue of school infrastructure and modern curriculum should be addressed in 2025.
“When it comes to food production and supply, 2024 witnessed unprecedented low production and unimaginable rise in food prices. The price of rice surged from N8,000/50Kg bag in 2014 to N116,000 in 2024.
“The reason is that bandits and terrorists take over about 40 per cent of arable lands in the major food producing areas of the Middle Belt, the Northwest and Northeast areas of Nigeria.”
SOKOTO
People in Sokoto State are understandably distressed by the incessant rise in food prices.
A resident of the state, Mr Bege Makoshi Soja, lamented the impact of the rising cost of food which takes a huge chunk of his monthly income, noting that his daily expenses have become increasingly difficult to manage.
His words: “With a family of five, I now spend no less than N100,000 on foodstuff alone to care for my household in a single month. We’ve had to adopt a new routine of eating once or twice a day; eating three times a day is no longer affordable for an ordinary man.”
He emphasized that food is a necessity, while other expenses are secondary.
Saadatu Abubakar, another resident with disability, also shared her struggles, particularly with mobility and transportation costs.
“As a person with a disability, I have to pay for myself and my wheelchair whenever I take a tricycle. While someone without a disability pays N300, I have to pay N600,” she said.
Saadatu lamented the rising cost of food, explaining that on several occasions, people have gone to bed without eating due to financial constraints.
Comrade Bello Shehu Gwadabawa, the chairman of the Coalition of NGOs in Sokoto, criticized the current inflation rate, noting that while it may be aimed at economic growth, it remains difficult for the common man to understand.
“We all feel the pain when we go to the market. The devaluation of the naira has affected us severely,” he said.
Gwadabawa also pointed out that the education sector has not been spared from inflation, with school fees having been increased twice within the year.
He criticized the categorization of electricity distribution into Bands A, B, and C, which he believes reinforces inequality.
“Those in Band A are usually the elite who have the resources, while those in Bands B and C are the masses, who are left to struggle without access to affordable power to run their businesses.
“For the common man, electricity remains a major issue, especially affecting small and medium enterprises,”” he stated.
Gwadabawa called for good governance and accountability to close the gaps in service delivery and ensure fair distribution of resources.
In the face of these economic challenges, residents of the state are calling for more sustainable solutions to alleviate their burdens.
However, the state government recently distributed free fertilisers to farmers in the state.
The move, according to Governor Ahmed Aliyu, is aimed to ensure a bumper harvest and promote food security in the state.
ABUJA
An overview of the outgoing year reveals that the agricultural sector kicked off on a promising note with the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), releasing 2.15 million bags of assorted fertilizer ranging from NPK, UREA and SSP, worth over N100 billion, to farmers, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Also, the announcement by President Tinubu to grant import waiver for some food items heightened the hope of Nigerians that the country would have food sufficiency and affordability.
Despite the initiatives, prices of food items like rice, fish, chicken, maize, beef, cocoa, bread and soyabean skyrocketed.
While the astronomical hike benefited some farmers and import merchants, others lost millions of naira as they were not able to keep up with the pace of production.
No thanks to the worsening insecurity and flooding that ravaged some parts of the country.
The National President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabir Ibrahim, explained that the devaluation of naira was another drawback as it affected the purchasing power of Nigerians.
Ibrahim said: “We started very well. In fact, we thought we were going to have a bumper harvest until we began to have flooding towards the time we were supposed to be harvesting like rice, maize and other crops.
“Those flooding incidents were very devastating to the plantation in such a way that we lost mature plantation.
“We had a blowback, coupled with the insufficiency and inflation that have been there, we now did not have a good balance. Inflation has not come down and the devaluation of our currency is still very bad.
“You can see the whole nation crying. In fact, there is one unfortunate incident that happened lately when people lost their lives because of stampede during the distribution of food palliatives. It is very sad.
“Anybody who thinks there is sufficiency and things are working well is walking at cross purposes to reality. People died in stampedes and it is a very bad time. You cannot say you have money at home and you are begging on the street.
“This is the realistic reaction of the situation. Even though we thought we were going to have a bumper harvest based on the work we were doing with the African Development Bank.
“People were carrying placards because we thought it was an unnecessary thing to do for Nigeria. It did not lead to any reduction in food prices. So, the food system is still challenged.”
Ibrahim, who is the President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, encouraged citizens to be optimistic and urged the government to up its game.
According to him, the government should prioritise the staple food of every region and not just force citizens to eat what is not part of them.
He charged governments at all levels and development partners also, to address insecurity, reduce cost of inputs, provide access to credit, and access to mechanisation and general distribution of food items.
“In this coming year, because of the budget and the promises being made by the government, we still hope things will get better. You can see that the government has had a very busy schedule of signing MoUs for support in agriculture and livestock development.
“Internally, they are bringing out many things. They have effected changes in Nigeria Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA. There is a Ministry of Livestock Development and the CBN made some donations of fertilizer. We can say that the attainment of food security in Nigeria is still a work in progress.
“It is not something that anyone will do to say they have done this. The reality is affordability. If you claim that there is food in abundance then is it affordable? Unless it becomes affordable it is only then you can have food security. Food security means that it is available and affordable for the people, and not just a few, because this is the situation we have been having.
“So, we are hopeful, but we have to actualise it to be able to see that we have succeeded.
“What I have said in various fora is that the change maker would be to look at every geopolitical zone, knowing its people and then itemizing the production of the people.
“In Imo State, rice is not considered a staple food. If you optimise production of rice in the Southeast generally I am not sure the people are going to be food secured.
“They may have rice, but that is not their staple. So, we should provide the staples in every geopolitical zone, optimise the production and value addition of that staple so that it becomes abundant, so that those people will now say that they have food security.
“Because they have the kind of food that they want and at the time that they want and it is affordable to them. Then they are food secured. Food items should not be forced on the people or any geopolitical zone.”
The Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said the prices of foodstuffs jumped up with minimal purchasing power.
Bassey, who has always kicked against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) crops, cast doubt on what the 2025 budget earmarked for agriculture.
His words: “The 2025 budgetary allocation for agriculture has continued to fluctuate between one and two per cent over recent years.
“It stands at a mere two per cent in the 2025 budget. The African Union policy, according to its Malabo Declaration on the matter, is that nations should budget at least 10 per cent.
“With the minuscule allocation there is no indication that agriculture is receiving the serious attention it deserves. There is no magic that would dramatically change the situation on food sufficiency.
“This is compounded by continuing insecurity of farms and farmers in parts of the country.
“It is wishful thinking to believe that food will be more affordable in 2025. This year is closing with a stark reminder that there is hunger in the land.
“Consider how many Nigerians have sadly lost their lives in stampedes while trying to access food aid.
“As long as we do not have sufficient support for farmers in terms of provision of indigenous seeds, provision of basic infrastructure as well as extension services, food prices will continue to rise.
“Sadly, the picture is one where millions of Nigerians will go to bed hungry for lack of access to even available food due to high costs.
“Additionally, if the government does not rise up and place a moratorium on genetically modified seeds and their dependence on artificial/chemical inputs, our soils will be damaged and more farmers will fall into poverty and the problems will continue to balloon.”
On her part, Founder, Network for Women and Youth in Agriculture in Nigeria, Ejim Lovely, tasked the government to take agroecology seriously next year.
Lovely also said civil servants should be encouraged to own farms in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, to boost food production.
She said: “The cost of inputs is high. The lands are depleting every day. The foodstuffs we are producing have a lot of chemicals.
“For me, adopting agroecology will put more money in my pocket. It will make me to produce healthy foodstuffs. It will preserve my land so that the next generation can still use it.
“Climate change is a result of poor agricultural practices. Our lives are changing every day. All these are caused by the use of synthetic materials for farming. But when we move back to nature, we will restore our farmland.”
RIVERS
Renowned legal practitioner, Chief Festus Ogwuche, has specifically described the power sector as a “shame and embarrassment to national existence.”
Ogwuche, a constitutional and human rights lawyer, said the recurring collapse of the national grid and explanations given by government officials were surprising.
His words: “If there is any aspect of the year that has constituted a source of shame and embarrassment to our national existence and our value orientation claims, it is the stories revolving around the frequent collapse of the national grid. I know very much that the circumstance has no precedence anywhere and it’s astounding the kind of official explanations given to the occurrences.
“I guess there’s a lot of doubts and suspicions on the wishy washy explanations churned out by officials. But even at that, nobody has been able to explain the technical details of the frequent power collapse as to satisfy public curiosity and, indeed, instigate a scrutiny that will meet the demands for transparency and accountability.
“Flowing from the above is also the issue of the amended electricity law that clearly categorizes society into subdivisions for the purposes of supply and distribution in terms of wealth and poverty dynamics.”
He argued that the framers of that law as well as the operators did not have a shade of idea of what Chapter 4 of the Constitution is all about.
He asked: “Or else, how would any sane individual make such law with potentially discriminatory provisions in a democratic and Constitutional order?
“That human rights activists appear a bit taciturn and unconcerned about it should not be interpreted to mean that they have dropped their gauntlets on the matter. It’s simply a demonstration of what everybody makes of the judicial system in the country and the total lack of faith and confidence in its inability to deliver on the justice essence, away from indiscretions, incongruity and travesty.
“Again, I state that the fundamental rights provisions embedded in the Constitution take maximum force against any law that offends its provisions, particularly as in this case the right to equality and right to freedom from discrimination.”
On the issue of education, the legal practitioner stated that the government has no perceptible approach or commitment to the falling standards.
According to him, in no less a measure, lack of commitment has generated a near collapse in the education sector.
“Look at the meagre, miserable allocations to that sector for the past eight years and see what I mean. Then, you look at that sector and you encounter the situation where the citadels are totally non-productive because scholars will abandon the primary areas of research to go falsifying election results for desperate and power hungry politicians; or, they go jumping over themselves fighting, most times, brutally to be appointed Vice Chancellors.
“How would anybody conceive a viable educational system where professors under whose bosoms the intellectual development of the society lies, discard their callings in pursuit of the mundane and frivolous?
“Then, there’s also the problem of the proliferation of universities such that every year, each of the campuses churn out first class materials that surpass the number produced by Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard put together for three whole decades! How do you attach seriousness to this form of intellectual debauchery that debases scholarship to such wanton level?”
On housing, Chief Ogwuche said after the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, no government has taken adequate step to address the sector for the well-being of the citizens.
He threw a challenge: “I dare say that since Shagari, there has not been any genuine attempt at mass housing in spite of its appearance in almost every yearly budget as an item for implementation. Rather, what we have today are forced evictions of the poor, without a single consideration for their rehabilitation and compensation for the development of posh estates for the rich.
“This year alone, it happened in Lagos, Benin, Abuja and in numerous other states. How do you reconcile this with the basic principles of governance in a democratic order?
“It seems now that the barometer for measuring the efficiency of the FCT Minister is the number of estates pulled down and people sent packing.
“We forget that one very important injunction prescribed by the Constitution in its fundamental objectives and directive principles of policy is that all governmental actions must be humane.
“I really do not see any empathy or humanness in the action of uprooting the poor from their houses to develop comfortable homes for the rich that can afford it. That does not also jell with good governance attributes and this cannot be explained away or justified on the ground of aesthetics as though the poor cannot also exist in beautifully and colourfully designed homes and environments.”
Speaking on transportation, Ogwuche said he had always found it “utterly difficult” to agree with the thinking that a viable transport system can be made available to all and sundry in the face of outrageous prices of fuel and diesel which are well out of the reach of the masses.
“That explains why there are very few cars on the roads. What that bizarre policy that culminated in the situation has done is to constrict the economy into narrow margins that make growth and expansion impossible. The idea of providing free transportation to people travelling to their villages at yuletide which has become somewhat a yearly ritual is degrading as well as insulting and the president appears to take much delight in it.
“I doubt if this government understands the weight of the burden placed on it and how best to expend it,” Ogwuche said.
On food insecurity, the legal practitioner bemoaned the untold hardship the citizens are passing through, which manifested in the recent deaths recorded at different rice palliative distribution centres in Abuja and Anambra State.
BENUE
Residents of Benue State have mixed feelings for the outgoing year, during which they experienced disappointments, but still gave thanks to God for surviving the challenges.
As they look forward to 2025, their basic desire is not to have a repeat experience of the troubles of 2024.
A civil servant, Brenda Agba, said: “My expectations from the federal and state governments in 2025 concerning electric power and what we want is a downward review of the electricity tariff which is currently very high,” adding that government should also put in place the necessary modalities to ensure an improvement in the supply of electricity.
“In education, the federal and state governments should provide free education to reduce the number of out-of-school children. Also, the government should build houses for people to buy and pay in installments. This will solve accommodation problems. I expect the government to construct more roads to ease movement, just as it should invest in dry season farming and establish food processing companies to minimize wastage.
“Executive Governor of Benue State, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, since assumption of office, has constantly put in place measures to make all civil servants happy. Apart from payment of salary arrears owed civil servants before his tenure, salaries are paid every month and promptly too in addition to other incentives.”
On his part, Mr Fanen Kuanum, a media practitioner, said he expects the state government to take a cue from other states to establish an electricity regulatory commission to check the activities of the power distribution company in the state and encourage energy innovations.
“In education, curricula at all levels should be revamped to reflect current realities, shifting the current theory-based learning to a more technologically based education where learners from the lower classes would be thought skills,” he said.
Kuanum said roads across Benue State should be given attention, especially federal roads, Makurdi-Adikpo, Zaki Biam Adikpo, among others. There should also be strict regulation on the waterways across the country to avert constant water transportation accidents in the country.
He also called for reforms in the housing sector, in terms of new legislation to address issues in the sector, spanning from land allocation, house acquisition, tenancy, to extortion and fraud, to make houses available and affordable to the masses.
“The Federal Government should also speed up and extend the Renewed Hope Housing Scheme to more parts of the country to help address the massive housing deficiency in the country.
“In addition combatting insecurity in rural areas to enable farmers return home, the government should revive agricultural practices like land clearing and supporting farmers with the requisite training and implements to engage in dry season farming, to address food shortages characterized by the change in climate.”
IMO
Captain David Mbamara (rtd) blamed the hardship experienced in the country in 2024 to the hasty removal of petrol subsidy, adding that every other problems emanated from there.
“It would have been a gradual process, but it was hasty, the result was poverty in the country, food prices hit the roofs, in some cases not that the purchasing power to buy the food was not there, but it was heightened by insecurity, it led to scarcity of food.
“I want the president to work more on the governors so that they will do their own part, I want to applaud the administration in Lagos State for producing their own power. If others will do the same it will improve the economy of the country .
“To this end, I would also commend the governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma on constructing ring roads in the state, but I will also urge him to look at the outer ring roads which cut across over 19 local governments. If it’s done it will make the state a one-city state, food production will be easily accessible now that petrol price is high.
While commending the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo for his efforts in the ministry he appealed for the regulation and reduction of transport fees, especially air.
Similarly, the President General of the South East Youth Leaders, Goodluck Ibem in his own submission would like President Tinubu to ensure that there is affordable constant power supply where consumers will pay bills according to power consumed and not according to “criminal estimated billing by DisCos”.
Ibem also suggested “that the federal and state governments should build smart schools across the nation like what was built by Hon. Ibe Okwara Osonwa, member representating Ohafia/Arochukwu Federal Constituency in Ohafia LGA.
“The government should prioritize education and treat it as a matter of urgent importance because it is a right and not a privilege for all citizens to be educated.
“The Federal Government should make electric vehicles manufactured by Roxettes Motors a national brand because it will make transportation cheap for Nigerians.
“The price of fuel is high which is the reason for the current high cost of goods and services. If FG invests in the electric vehicles manufactured by Roxettes Motors, it will help to subsidies the cost of goods and services.
“Government at all levels should invest in agriculture and provide housing for low income earners in the country. This will help to make life more meaningful for Nigerians.”
In the same vain, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWCIAN), Youth Wing, Belusom Ewerem, said that he expects a better governance next year, pointing out that 2025 was traumatic to Nigerians which he said resulted to hunger, but said he still believes that the President can still turn it around.