After the 2023 presidential election, the President-elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, flanked by the former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, stated, “Don’t Suffocate Nigerians, let them breathe.”
This statement has generated lots of concerns among Nigerians both at home and abroad, who see it as the long-awaited solution to Nigeria’s challenges.
However, President Tinubu’s policies did not seem to address the suffocating Nigerians after his swearing-in.
His inaugural speech announcing that “Fuel subsidy is gone.” Was the beginning of hardship Nigerians began to experience.
While some Nigerians were not pleased with the federal government for removing of fuel subsidy, certain measures needed to be put in place to cushion the effects of the removal.
Till today, government has made promises to address the suffering of Nigerians, but little has been done.
There has been no increase in civil servants’ salaries. The cost of living is rising every second in Nigeria, and there is nobody to address it. If the opposition speaks about it, Tinubu’s cabinet tags them as enemies of Nigeria.
The Senate president, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said that Nigerians protesting over the high cost of living are sponsored by the opposition party. I ask myself, must our political leaders politicize everything in this country?
During Buhari’s administration, Nigerians took to the streets to protest against police brutality. Instead of addressing the issue, the government accused the protests of being sponsored.
Nigerians are suffering. The common man cannot afford three square meals. There have been no salary increments or price controls on food commodities, despite numerous promises to regulate or stabilize prices. Yet, nothing significant has been done in that regard.
For Nigerians to have fresh air to breathe, President Ahmed Tinubu should reconsider the subsidy, open the borders to allow goods from other countries into Nigeria, thereby reducing the prices of Nigerian food items.
Tinubu should face the challenges he signed up for and stop telling Nigerians to be patient with his administration, claiming he is working to fix the country. How long must a taxpayer continue to be patient while waiting for what they have paid for?
– Abubakar Yunusa writes from Abuja.
