It is clearly obvious that a lot of people are affected by high level of poverty in the land; despite the fact that Nigeria is a wealthy country.
In the face of the economic hardship, the average Nigerians have been turned in to superhumans in the sense that it is increasingly challenging to maintain a stable financial framework in most Nigerian homes. In the midst of all these, there are a lot of silent Nigerians not knowing what to do. Not being critical, we make bold to say that it is a fallout of a failed system.
There are many indices in the land that point to the relevance of this argument. First, so many families are in complete shambles because they are no longer able to meet up with their financial obligations. As a result, domestic violence is now rampant in homes.
There are now moments of great dysfunction in homes. These actions are injurious to our society because the entire societal strata is a reflection of the decadence in the home. Many of our teeming youths have taken to drugs and criminality as escape routes which makes the situation very worrisome.
We encounter overwhelming security issues all over the nation almost on a daily basis. All of these are fundamentally associated with the dire economic challenges. Infarct, there are very mixed reactions among the Nigerian citizens as we live in the time of intense poverty and instability. The cloud of anxiety and fear of uncertainties overshadow many.
This highlights the level of economic breakdown that bedevils our beloved nation. The worst is that no one even pays adequate attention to the poor. Disadvantaged citizens are left to midwife their ways out of the economic hardship. In the spirit of patriotism, we should be deeply concerned.
However, what is really impressive is the Nigerians’ spirit in all these things. Nigerians have demonstrated a highly patriotic spirit, courage and resilience in the midst of these economic turbulence; bearing their burdens with all due patience, working very diligently to pay their bills without any support. Although our president has promised to toll the trajectory of economic development, the ultimate challenge for him is to ensure that our institutions are strengthened by sustainable development policies to intensify the fight against inflation and corruption in the nation, provide maximum management and proper monitoring of the institutions so as to establish equilibrium in the economy to be able to attract Foreign Direct Investment.
Also, Mr. President needs to work with good researchers in diverse areas of the economy to look into these issues plaguing our country and offer sound future solutions instead of sharing five thousand Naira randomly to the masses as a palliative measure to curb the economic effects of the subsidy removal on the economy.
Finally, in a situation like ours, it will be very good to structure intelligence and strategic partnership with the private sector in order to promote dynamism and the Spirit of entrepreneurship among the citizens as well as provide a system that oversees and controls the market trends for easy, transparent and secured transactions.
We trust God that Nigeria our beloved country must survive this hurdle season.
We pray that the Almighty God will grant Mr. President the needed strength and wisdom to strongly review and implement key policies that will attract great transformation to the Nigerian economy.
Dickson Chinma Ihejirika(Mrs.),
Founding Editor, TGCN.