It’s a particularly grim time right now to be a Nigerian. Currently, we’re experiencing: power outages across the country, an ongoing Academic Staff Union(ASUU) strike that’s expected to last for 2 more months, soaring fuel prices, an aviation industry crisis and skyrocketing diesel prices. There’s more but I’m too emotionally exhausted to keep listing the many ways Nigeria is trying to choke and kill its citizens with problems.
Many of these socio-economic challenges, unfortunately, aren’t new, serving as a sick reminder of how little progress we’ve made. Take the electric grid, for example, which has reportedly crashed three other times in the last eight months. Or the ASUU strike, which is currently on its 16th lap since 1999 because we have a government that routinely fails to improve the quality of education we have. These problems have been consistent.
As the title of the popular Fela song “Shuffering and Shmiling” suggests, suffering and smiling through our problems, no matter how pressed we are to the ground is part of the Nigerian experience. We are used to carrying on despite the extremely dire circumstances we continue to face. And yet, with how familiar we are with the b.s, there’s something particularly jarring about the current state of our nation. The air is thick with tension and doom, leaving a huge chunk of our population struggling even more than they were before to cope. It’s becoming more and more difficult as Nigerians to do.. well… anything.
You would think, given how deep and dire the situation is in Nigeria, that our politicians would, at the very least, provide some sort of reassurance. Nope. Instead, someone from the Vice-President’s team thought it would be a thrilling idea to create a Tik-Tok of him boarding a private jet to a Kanye West song. If there’s one thing our politicians are going to do, it’s pretend like nothing is happening and fight tooth and nail to avoid any sort of accountability. No solutions, just vibes.
However, I’m reminded, despite these struggles, how much more difficult it is for the average Nigerian. Approximately 40% of Nigerians currently live below the poverty line. With little to no government assistance, almost half of our population are left in an extremely precarious position. This position becomes even more precarious, during these extremely challenging times, that have seen rising transportation and food costs. Is the government even thinking about the effect on this demographic?
The short answer is no. While Nigeria continues to sink further and further into chaos, our politicians look away as the nation suffers. There’s a lot going on right now and we can’t laugh or meme our way out of this one. Nigerian politicians need to sit up and fix these issues that are suffocating its citizens.
