In our prevailing sad situation, money is now both difficult to find and worthless when found, and food is both hard to find and unaffordable when it is found. Indeed, this is unprecedentedly profound, not to mention unsurvivable, existential torment. Nigeria has never witnessed this scourge.
The physical protest has gone but the overwhelming causes and effects of this irritating menace on our social and economic life remain with us hurting excessively and intensively hard on the masses. Nigeria and the Government seem to be at a crossroads. The minimum wage , planned importation of food items and palliatives are far from solving our multi-faceted problems.
The Minimum wage will only be enjoyed by workers mainly in the public sector and a few private sector organizations, representing less than 25 percent of our population . Indeed, the minimum wage will worsen the inflation spiral in the economy.
The importation of food items cannot meet the immediate and foreseeable future needs of the country on food security .Instead, it will be counter-productive as it will discourage our farmers . This will compound our already bad case of insecurity that has displaced disturbing large number of farming population while scaring the youths from venturing into farming business.
The government is embattled with selfish interests and endemic corruption within the ranks of the leadership.
Corruption has eaten very deep into the social and economic fabrics of our national life and will remain a major obstacle to finding solution to our immediate challenges. We must rise to fight this menace headlong before they completely destroy this nation .
The nation is sinking down the pit until right policies are put in place to arrest the social and economic policies including:
Enactment of law that make corruption punishable with death sentence or life imprisonment. A special Court be set to handle corruption cases. Government should stop negotiating with thieves to return part of their loot or stolen fund from our commonwealth because this approach is not a sufficient deterrent.
All culprits found guilty by courts should be banned for life not to hold any public office inclusive of elective positions.
Make education free from primary to secondary school throughout the country.
Make health free for all women, children and elders (60 and above of age )
Provide massive public transportation in all nooks and corner of the country to reduce excessive transportation costs that contribute significantly to high cost of food stuff in the country.
Provide cheap power to boost small, medium enterprises for subsequent industrial growth. Items 2 to 5 above are the only means the masses will be relieved of the current unprecedented hardships in our history .
Legislation both at state and federal levels should be on part-time basis to reduce cost of governance.
Industrialization should be on the front burner to reduce mass unemployment of our geometric growing population.
The current unending insecurity and banditry in the country must be fought to the end if we are to achieve meaningful development in agriculture ,industry and commerce.
To come out of the woods, leaders and followers must change their ways to receive divine help.
Barrister-Chief S.O. Momoh wrote in from Abuja