Nigeria's political class and their too much economic sense

Since the Buhari government initiated the economic onslaught on Nigerians in 2015 and ended the administration a few weeks ago with the fuel subsidy removal, all we have been told to date was to endure the hardship that there is light at the end of the tunnel. 8 years later, it is still darkness in the tunnel. Festus talked like he was not a Minister in the Buhari government. The sadists used the 8 years to campaign that fuel subsidy should be removed and he removed it as he was leaving office.

We are now told not to complain but endure.  Then, seek alternative sources of income to supplement our salary. Unfortunately, the political class is not part of the endurance team. They need not seek alternative sources of income to survive as they have allocated to themselves more than enough to fund their luxury lifestyle. They get all sorts of allowances including wardrobe and newspaper allowances while Nigerians can't feed or get to their offices without using their cars as illegal taxis. Driving a car on a Nigerian road is becoming a luxury. 

Is there any sense in having a full-time tenure job whose pay can't take you one month until you use your car for KABUKABU (a private car operating as an unregistered, unlicensed, and illegal taxi) to survive? You have a "job" and can't afford to fuel your car to go to work. To be able to go to work, you have to pick up passengers on your way to work to fuel the car. I have not heard of such in the countries we are copying. Your monthly pay can't take you a month, and need a secondary source of income to live the bearest minimum life? It means we technically don't have a job. This is the situation of most workers in Nigeria at the moment.

It is 4 weeks after the subsidy removal and unfortunately, the labour unions can't help the Nigerian workers as the wings of labour unions are currently clipped. When it was widely celebrated by Nigerians that FG has used the court to clip the wings of ASUU, little did they know that the sadists only experimented, on ASUU, a model they were about to unleash on Nigerians. The intent was to clip the wings of labour unions while they make Nigerians swallow the good, the bad, and the ugly stuff forced through their throat.

Buhari, rather than preparing a Nigeria without fuel subsidy, his government used the last 8 years to tell us why fuel subsidy have to go. But the government was short-sighted or refused to look at the impact of the removal on the general well-being of the people. Some believe that they deliberately refused to fight the corruption in fuel subsidy despite several revelations. Others believe that the fuel subsidy scam was portrayed as not fightable with the intent to use corruption as an excuse to remove the subsidy. The governors are super happy with the removal. There is more money at their disposal. The common sense question to the government economic team is whether they have created a balance to neutralize the impact of the removal on the general well-being of the people. If they have, why was the balance not rolled out alongside with the removal by the end of May 2023?

Fuel is not like bottled water you buy, drink half, and throw the remaining away. Fuel is used to power machines and production for the nation. A change in its price will affect everything, including the price of toothpick as we are experiencing at the moment. Does it mean that there was no thought about this?

When IMF was pushing them to remove the fuel subsidy and allow dollars to control the fuel pump price, didn't they remember to tell them that the minimum wage is not based on the dollar exchange rate? They forgot to tell them that wages in Nigeria are not anywhere close to that of the US and Europe. 

Where are the Economists? Didn't we have the courage to tell the IMF about the impact of the removal on the general well-being of those Nigerians earning the minimum wage of N30,000 per month? Or they could not see any? It appears they did and they were advised to take a loan and share it at N8,000 per month for 6 months for some people they considered "poor", Nigerians will be happy and MILT. We are just a bunch of a joke.

You will be wondering why the political class doesn't carry the people along in the formulation of policies that affects their general well-being. You will stop wondering if you can remember that not even the country's intellectuals are considered important. The intellectuals don't even have a say on policies that affects their well-being and constituency. 

If the country's intellectuals and the entire university community will be punished for 8 months for asking for the proper funding of the public universities and better conditions of service, then, tell me the shit they can't give you to swallow? As you celebrated how the academics were treated a few months ago, now you realize that they consider you more worthless than the academics.

You would have expected that a responsible government with foresight would have made provision for what will cushion the subsidy effect before the removal. You would have expected that they had already worked out a salary increase that will take effect from May 2023. So that as soon as the subsidy is removed by the end of May and prices of basic things begin to jump up, the salary increase will take care of the new price regime. That would have increased purchasing power. The market women will feel the increased purchasing power of the workers as they enjoy more sales and high turnover.

But unfortunately, the general well-being of the people is not an issue of serious concern. They are expected to cope anyhow. 8 weeks after taking over a country with a minimum wage of N30,000 and fuel price of N617 per liter, the government appeared confused, the political class is cashing out, and the people are dying in silence. Their high salary will not cause inflation but a pay rise for the workers will cause inflation. That is too much economic sense.

Why does the political class enjoy watching Nigerians pass through economic hardship? They have adopted a hunger strategy to kill workers' agitation. They are now working with the court to make Nigerians perpetually poor. That is weaponization of poverty taken too far. Buhari called it the war against Sharholiyah (wasteful spending) and it was waged just against the poor. The middle class is wiped off. The used to be middle-class people now have cars that they can't fuel. They have to cut the family feeding budget. The school fees are going up. Meanwhile, the stagnant salary has lost so much value.

The current reality is that petrol is about N617 per litre under a minimum wage of N30,000 per month. The minimum wage can't fill an average car. Senior civil servants now have to use their cars as KABUKABU to be able to go to work and come, or else they stay back at home. Some professors have to park their cars and trek. Students don't see some of their lecturers to interact with except just during lectures. People are abandoning their offices for a secondary source of income. Is this a positive development for a developing country? 

ASUU has been "defeated" by FG and University fees are going up with a minimum of about N100k. Imagine a man earning less than N70k per month and having 3 kids in the university. Meanwhile,  there was a press release from FG that there is no tuition in the universities yet,  the increments are just charges. Electricity tariffs will soon go up because of the naira devaluation. The price of fertilizers is on another level. Tuwon masara, a used to be poor man's staple food, is no more within the reach of the poor.

Nigerians are afraid to protest for fear of the unknown. But how long can Nigerians absorb this hardship? Unfortunately,  there is no sign that it will get better anytime soon as the economy bites harder by the day. How long will they continue to MILT? Will they continue to MILT for fear of getting crushed when people are already dying economically at home? The government's forces are also not immune from this hardship and trauma. Will they have the strength to crack down on the people when they get tired and decided to occupy the streets?

All is not well for the country, especially for the past 8 years with the sadistic policies. The carry-overs from Buhari's government have made the situation get worse over the last 2 months. Dear President Tinubu, you need to do something urgently and fast. Don't underestimate the silence of the oppressed. I hope you do not stretch the people beyond their elastic limit. When they are completely broken and they decide to strike, the resultant effect will be catastrophic.

You need to act now!

By

Prof. Abdelghaffar Amoka Abdelmalik

Copyright © Amoka 2023