Nigeria and Nigerians
It is a New Year and a new dawn for Nigerians. Yes, it is the year 2025 which seems to be a promising one. Nigerians are looking forward to this year with great expectations.
The year 2024 was indeed a turbulent and trying one for Nigerians. Many things happened particularly with the consistent increase in pump prices which resulted in geometric increase in the prices of goods and services. A lot of issues arose as many people could not make ends meet. Some families even fell apart as a result of financial issues. Financial responsibilities could not be met, some children even had to drop out of school, people who couldn’t afford their medication died as a result of that and so many much more.
Yes, there were wins, gains and successes but the overall situation was not an interesting one at all. But Nigerians who are hardy, sturdy and resilient will always adapt to whatever situation they find themselves in. I think that is actually our undoing as people and government always take advantage of that.
Over the years, Nigerians have been able to adapt to difficult situations albeit inconveniencing for themselves. Some people try to rip off the generality of the people as most times there is no one or no body to regulate whatever is being done.
There are no strong institutions to regulate how things are done, prices of goods and services, monitor and ensure compliance by all kinds of service providers. This makes it a ‘free for all, can do anything kind of thing.’ If there are monitoring and regulatory bodies, they need to up their game because their work is not being felt.
That being said, Nigerians are the problem of Nigeria. Outsiders or foreigners are not the ones in control. We can help to make or mar our economy. In this new year, it behoves on us to make the country a better place.
In the past weeks, the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), has reduced at least by some naira. It is expected that the prices of goods and services would reduce a bit. However, that is not the case.
Before the yuletide break, the price of fuel had reduced but the cost of transportation continued to soar. In the second week of December, the cost of transportation for Jabi Park in Abuja to Lokoja was N8,000. This is against the N5,000 or N6,000 that was previously charged by drivers. At the peak of the yuletide season, the cost of transportation increased. From Gwagwalada or Giri Junction, the fare was N10,000 at the least. Passengers were being exploited by transport operators as they knew that these people did not have a choice. It was another form of exploitation. Aws it the government doing this? By all means no. The consistent hike in the cost of transportation was attributed to the prices of petrol. What was supposed to be the situation when the cost reduced? Your guess is as good as mine. Most times in Nigeria when the prices of goods and services go up, they hardly come down. It’s either it goes up or remains at that price without reduction.
Even in this new year with a further decrease in the price of fuel, the cost of transportation, even intracity is still high. I boarded a bike some days ago and engaged the motorcyclist in a conversation. Ordinarily, the place I was going to was supposed to go for N100. He told me N200 and I told him the price wasn’t fair as fuel price had gone down. This was where it got interesting. He left the issue of fuel and started talking about the cost of parts of the motorcycle. Nigerians! We will always find a way around things.
Things are difficult and times are hard. Can we truly stop exploiting one another? Can we be rational in our costing of goods and services? We must not get 100% profit on everything.
Those selling foodstuffs and household things are not left out. People want to get the benefit in one day. We should try to make life better for us all. The onus lies on us all to make life a little bit easier for all of us.
Now that the holidays are over and the price of premium motor spirit (petrol) is ‘gradually’ coming down, we should try to make things easier for all. The cost of goods and services need to come down a bit. I know there will be arguments and counterarguments about this but we all know what it is.
The year 2025 has just started and I know we all want to make it big. We want to be able to afford things we need or want. We want to live well above the way we did in 2024. Yes, 2024 was difficult but we can make 2025 better if we do not exploit one another. Let us not use the opportunities we have to exploit others or try to milk a people that are already feeling the heat.
Government on its own part also needs to put machineries in place to regulate, monitor, and ensure compliance by operators and providers of goods and services. Let government further reduce the price of fuel further. We are a country that is blessed with abundance of petroleum resources. Let government do all that is needed to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians. A reduction in the price of fuel is expected to translate into a reduction in the prices of goods and services which will help to better the lot of Nigerians.
2025 is a year filled with hope. A year that people expect much. Let’s make it a positive one for us all.
