Indeed, God is always faithful to His words. This is unlike human beings who will say one thing today but change it tomorrow.

That is why it is often said that he that puts his trust in man is like someone that lays his foundation on a sandy soil; meaning there is no guarantee of surviving in the event of tribulations.

The country is completing the twelfth month of this administration without any tangible thing to show for it as far as the poor masses are concerned.

From day one in the office, things seemed to have started moving from bad to worse.

With the removal of fuel subsidy; under the guise that the initial increase in price would come down on its own accord within a short period, everything automatically turned upside down.

The prices of petroleum products have continued to rise with its accompanied hardships without any end in sight. Like Yoruba will say “Eeku o ke bi eeku mo, beeni eye o ke bi eye mo”. 

Everywhere is tensed. Feeding has become a problem in many homes. Many homes are in disarray. Many homes are already broken. Costs of transportation have increased, forcing prices of all products and farm produce to rise on a daily basis.

Many private businesses and companies have closed down. Unemployment rate has increased. Basic amenities which are necessity of life are now luxuries; except for the few rich people and of course, those in the corridor of power, some of whom claimed at one time or another that they had made their money before getting into power, yet they have refused to limit their spending on their personally accumulated wealth but are still depriving the masses of the common wealth.

Even when the poor masses are languishing in pains day and night, those leading us would not want to hear of the people’s lamentation, since the people have no access to speak their minds to the power due to security personnel they (leaders) are surrounded with. 

However, when the minds of the poor masses were expressed by a foreign media, ‘The New York Times,’ June 11, 2024 edition, our leaders took an offense at such declaration.

This is what the paper wrote: “A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide.

They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot.

They negotiate with kidnappers when family members are abducted. But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.” is that comment not a true reflection of what Nigerians are passing through?

Government long ago announced opening of country’s borders before the recently announced opening of borders and stoppage of tariffs payment on certain commodities, mostly food items; still there is no improvement.

Talking of stoppage of tariffs on certain commodities, which in itself is just temporary, it means the government has no permanent solution to the hardship in the country. How then can the citizens ‘f’okan bale’ like Mr President usually urges?

The situation, I must say is beyond stoppage of tariffs for some months, what happens after those months? The nation will be back to square one. Such was the case of palliative that the government promised Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) sometimes ago to avert strike action, but what has that brought today?

More agitations for salary increase that has eventually brought the nation to the pronouncement of N70,000 as the new minimum wage; because every aspect of the economy is badly affected by the inconsistency in the government activities.

Some even argued regarding the stoppage of tariffs on certain items; how farmers who produced similar items at high cost of production through borrowed funds are going to feel, if the imported items are sold at cheaper prices? That still shows the inconsistency in government policies.

Rather than focusing on providing a lasting solution to the country’s economic problems, all the government could offer during one year anniversary was a change in National Anthem to the old National Anthem because of the wordings, forgetting than ‘action speaks louder than voice’. After that so much desired change by Mr President, has anything actually changed two months after?

May be the government needs to change a lot of things back to what they used to be before to back up the change in National Anthem: Probably, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) should be relocated back to Lagos; public corporations that were long ago privatized should be taken up by the government and make to function properly; the emoluments and salaries/allowances of those in power should be changed to the amount it used to be 50 years ago and not the purported 50% cut in basic salary for few months, that NASS has announced; education at all levels to be made free and compulsory as against what we have today where parents have to sweat a lot to train a child at elementary level. 

As a matter of fact, I heard some pupils who were driven out of the school for non-payment of school fees recently lamenting “Is it compulsory to even go to school”? What do we expect from such pupils in the long run if they do not have the opportunity of completing their studies because their parents, like many parents in the country cannot cope with the cost of sending them to the school?

Yet government wants to reduce crime rate in the country. As insensitive as the government of the day is, it cannot support the citizens’ education but prefers to loan out money to the students.

The era of graduates having jobs awaiting them even before writing their final examination needs to be returned to too and not only the National Anthem.

Regional government as well as one term in office for our political leaders as against second term currently in place should be returned to.

Also, whoever must have served in different capacities as governor, legislator, president etc must not be allowed to collect pension in respect of all those offices but rather in respect of only one of the offices.

Our political leaders should go back to the use of Peugeot 504 of old and stop wasting the country’s scarce resources on bullet-proof cars that run into millions of naira. Likewise, office holders should use public transport rather than acquiring aircrafts that will further put the nation’s economy in jeopardy. The list is endless. The citizens are tired of “E lo f’okan bale.” 

As if the hunger in the land is not enough, our leaders are again sucking citizens dry with senseless and unimaginable taxes/levies. Imagine car owners now to renew their ‘Proof of ownership’at the rate of N3000. Is that not the same as asking someone who bought an item and is issued receipt in his/her name to now be renewing such receipt yearly, paying money to the government even when the ownership has not changed? Exploitation of the highest order.

The police was also in the news at present for introduction of ‘E-Clearance’ registration or whatever for motorists at the rate of above five thousand naira for the outfit to curb crimes like they used to claim.

Nigerians, however, know why the police is coming up with such exercise and not because the outfit wants to curb crimes as claimed. Was that not the same claim when old number plate was replaced with the current number plate? Has robbery, kidnapping, assassination and crimes in general stopped since then? 

Imagine too, the exorbitant amount being paid for ‘third party insurance’ at moment, yet motorists are on their own whenever anything happens to their cars. 

On the front page of ‘Sunday Punch’ of 21st July 2024 was another caption: “Vehicle owners to pay for on-street parking, Lagos writes Churches, Mosques.” Why must this be so?

In an organized society, any tax or payment that is compulsory like that, ought to be minimal to encourage citizens to pay without stress. In fact, the idea of imposing tax or any level initially was to re-distribute wealth but this days, those with huge wealth often dodge paying same most of the time because no police personnel can stop them and be requesting for the proof of payment except from the poor people who have nothing to bribe the police on the road.

In a chat with an official of state revenue office who sent message to me to remind me that my vehicle’s papers would soon expire recently, the officer too lamented the high cost of renewing vehicle’s paper to the extent that convincing motorists to come for renewal becomes more difficult for the civil servants working in those offices.

What Nigerians are paying yearly in the name of vehicle papers renewal is enough to cover for three to five years like the driver’s licence. In order words, government should have made the renewal of papers three years interval as against yearly renewal, knowing very well that the country’s economy is not encouraging at all.

Majority now move around begging for what to eat. It is not that there are no foodstuffs in our markets across the country but where is the money to buy them?

The prices are so high and change on a daily basis, while those receiving salary collect fixed amount for years, talk less of those that survive only on daily activities, and those that cannot lay their hands on anything amidst non-conducive business environment. 

The citizens are so confused this day that someone going to Lagos from Ibadan will get to motor park and be calling Ibadan again, or while at Iwo Road going to Mokola, some will still unconsciously be calling Iwo Road.

The citizens are not demanding for too much, but for basic amenities and improved standard of living. They can no longer ‘f’okan bale’ because there is no food in their stomach. The leaders should remember the story of Pharaoh and the Israelites in the Bible and learn from it too.

The country’s leaders if still listening should remember “Kenya ENDSARS” and do the needful before the poor masses will go into the streets like already being witnessed in some parts of the North.

The leaders should emulate the leadership style of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is so caring to the extent of leaving ninety-nine sheep to search for just one sheep that goes astray, simply because He never wanted anyone to perish. He sacrificed His blood for the sake of the Sheep, hence he is called Good Shepherd. Nigerians welfare should therefore be paramount in the minds of our leaders and not just their own personal comfort or benefits all the time.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA.