President Tinubu, Ebi Npa Wa! By  Solomon Azu

Mr. President, It’s so scary that under your watch every Nigerian irrespective of class or status now wakes up daily with the fear of galloping food inflation, insecurity, and volatile exchange rates.

The economic situation has worsened from what it used to be under the inept administration of Muhamadu Buhari.  there is widespread poverty and severe food insecurity as never experienced before in the history of this country, Nigerians are no longer sure of a single meal a day unless those in government Mr. President, we thought you came prepared when you told us “Emilokan” (It is your turn)?

We were expecting a speedy economic revival when you selected a cabinet of technocrats and eggheads who graduated from some of the most prestigious institutions across the world making your cabinet a parade of the most qualified, certificated, and experienced professionals any African nation ever had.

But 11 months down the line the economy has taken a dangerous nosedive that the citizens can no longer feed, Food inflation is standing at 45%, our per-capita growth is stalled, poverty and food insecurity have hit the rooftops, cost-of-living has become extremely high, even agbado is no longer affordable, insecurity has taken a very dangerous dimension to the point that Abuja, the nation’s capital that should be the most secured state is under siege by kidnappers.

Many of us thought that you understood the depth of the rot and destruction Buhari and his super corrupt and mischievous Central Bank Czar Emefiele did to the economy and that you have ready-made answers to the socio-economic woes heaped on the nation by the ineptitude of your party man whom you railroaded Nigerians into voting for, knowing that he lacks the competence to lead a once robust and fast growing economy under Goodluck Jonathan, but it appears that the problems had overwhelmed your government and you have run out of ideas and tactics making all the economic trial and error initiated by your economic team inefficacious, all the economic policies being initiated by your team of seasoned economic experts and brilliantly communicated using inveigling rhetoric have all proved less effective and doesn’t seem to present relief to the hunger, starvation, galloping food inflation and insecurity ravaging the country at present while the naira has remained at an all-time low exchanging for €0.92 – 1,517NGN as at this morning.

Mr. President sir, let me believe that you have yet to read the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recent report on Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria that highlighted that almost 83 million people live below the poverty line in a country blessed with all the human and natural endowments.

I am sure that you may have seen the latest World Bank report that suggests that Nigeria houses 11 percent of the world’s extremely poor, meaning that one out of the poorest persons in the world lives in Nigeria according to the World Bank Poverty Index. it is estimated that 70.92 million live in extreme poverty, hunger, hopelessness, and starvation and we have never seen it this bad not even during the Biafra/Nigeria civil war.

The hunger in the nation is ubiquitous, it has become unbearable to the point that Nigerians globally known to be very resilient and enduring to the point of tractability are today protesting on the streets of Ogun, Ondo, Lagos, Niger, and Osun states and I am sure if there is no urgent proactive intervention other states will follow, Mr. President please do not harken to the voice of those telling you that the protests are politically sponsored they are being deceitful, the protesters are ordinary Nigerians who are among the over 70 million Nigerians at high risk of food insecurity, facing hunger and starvation occasioned by the high cost of food in the market.

I acknowledge some empathetic moves by your administration to see that Nigerians do not starve to death, but the policies have to be more far-reaching, aggressive and directly touching on the poorest of the poor, 90 percent of the governors and legislators divert the food palliatives released through them by the FG and share it amongst their friends and a few party fateful neglecting the real intention of the palliative.

The truth is that the removal of petroleum subsidy though inevitable was not properly thought through, the necessary buffers would have been put in place to assuage the ripple effect,  the knock-on effect worsened the situation despite efforts to improve it, making it more difficult for people to buy basic essentials, poverty and hunger have increased dramatically and the country’s economy has been shattered, the last one year have seen over 500% increase in prices of goods and services.

The insecurity in the North has caused a supply shortfall in agricultural products, Farmers in the major food-producing belts of Benue, Kaduna, Yobe, Kogi, Niger, Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi, Jigawa and Plateau States can no longer go to their farms for fear of bandit attack and kidnapping, staple foods such as rice, beans, tomatoes, onions, yam, and garri have seen over 300 to 500% surge in prices.

The fastest growing enterprise in Nigeria,” particularly the northern region of the country is kidnapping and banditry,  hundreds of farmers are being killed, kidnapped, or meant to pay taxes to the bandits before being allowed to access their farms as a result many farmers have abandoned their farmlands, fled their communities, and relocated to urban areas, or taken shelter in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, these disruptions have hurt agricultural production and supply leading to inflation in prices of agricultural produce and triggering hunger, poverty and rise in food inflation across the nation.

You applied for the job and Nigerians graciously hired you to make things better for them, the economy is headed south, the security of the nation is in dire straits, there is widespread poverty, and the people are dying of hunger.

Mr. President, just as you told us that it is your turn to govern (emilokan) and we hearkened, Nigerians are pleading with you to save us from hunger and starvation.

We are hungry (ebi npa wa )

Solomon Azu is a journalist, the state secretary, Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ, Cross River State Council and public affairs analyst
Email: Solomonazu67@gmail.com