Nigerians in the grip of hardship

SIR: Nigeria under the hegemony of General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) is a hell on earth because of the unbearable hardship despondently encountered by the hapless Nigerians. I wonder how post-Buhari administration will be. The thought of Nigerians during the stint of the erstwhile President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who gained power under the umbrella of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is that we have seen the worst side in the country, not knowing another deadlier scene awaits us.

One of the problems Nigerians encountered between 2015 and 2023 is the issue of inadequate security. The men of the underworld, especially the Fulani herdsmen in Southwest, in a brazen manner, perpetrated a number of heinous and nefarious activities of abduction for ransom and the killing of people in a broad day light without efficacious action taken by the government to thwart or prosecute them. According to a reliable report, between January 1 and July 29, 2022 in Nigeria as a whole, not less than 7,222 people were massacred and 3,823 people got abducted. 

To mention also is the plight of unemployment that has propelled Nigerian youths to the perpetration of illicit and immoral job of cybercrime popularly known in a street lingo as “Yahoo-yahoo.” In Nigeria, few are those who aren’t engaged in cybercrime, to say the truth.

The present problem Nigerians face at the moment is cash scarcity, which has adverse effect on the economy of the country. Albeit, it is observed that some bank managers are responsible for the cash crunch by hoarding whopping sum of money. I will not desist to unveil that I didn’t support the action of changing of naira notes, not because it’s unpleasant but because of the period it is done, which is perceived to have political tone underneath. 

This article isn’t written mainly to castigate Buhari’s administration but to broaden the horizon of the contestants vying for the presidential seat of Nigeria, the acclaimed giant of Africa, of what is expected of them to tackle the economy if they gain power. For Nigeria to advance and be able to stand out among comity of nations, lasting solution must be proffered to the problem of unemployment, insecurity among others I didn’t highlight. 
• Olayode Inaolaji wrote from Ogbomoso, Oyo State.