POLITICS TODAY

By Halilu Hassan
People no longer save money anymore, especially as they buy fuel at an expensive rate. They also go to market and buy things at an increased price. People who look up to others for help are also waiting for assistance and many other issues.

The present federal government has within the past one year made things difficult for Nigerians as a result of its policies, especially subsidy removal and devaluation of the naira. When politicans are out of power seeking for votes, they sweet talk electorates. When they get elected, you would begin to wonder if they are the same people that told electorates all those brilliant solutions they would employ to solve Nigerias problems when they were seeking for votes. It reminds me of the popular campaign words from the incumbent president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu “Let the poor breathe, don’t suffocate them”.

That statement alone gave many Nigerians hope; hope that a great leader who has the masses at heart would be elected. However, things are different one year on. It’s severe hardship and continuous suffering. Insecurity issue still persists in most states especially the nations agricultural hub (Northern region), thereby leading to food insecurity, this has seen many farmers abandon their farm lands. Another issue is the high cost of fertiliser and farm inputs. The government has not really profered a workable solution to this issue.

Fertiliser still remains very expensive and out of reach of small scale farmers. Only few state governments and other elected officials came to their constituents rescue on this issue by distributing free fertilisers, tractors and other farm implements to farmers.

Also, workers are also not smiling in the past one year. Take home pay can no longer take majority of workers home due to high cost of fuel, food items, transportation, rent etc. Many workers have abandoned their vehicles for public transport. Some could no longer cope with the high cost of maintaining vehicles, they had to sell them off. It is a pitiable situation for most workers.

Moving forward, there is need for the Federal government to quickly find solutions to the myriad of problems being faced.
There is need to quickly do the following:

1. Open land borders for basic food items to be imported and sold to citizens at subsidised rate. This would crash prices of goods in the market. The government can also import food items and sell to citizens at subsidised rate in retail outlets across the 774 LGA’S. The aim is to ease hardship faced.
2. Government should also explore all means to end banditry and all other insecurity issues facing Nigeria. Activities of these bandits have kept people away from farmlands thereby affecting food production.
3. Government should also make genuine efforts towards assisting farmers. The high cost of fertilisers need to be looked into and ways should be explored to get subsidised fertilisers to real farmers. Fertiliser presently sells for close to 40,000 naira. While a bag of maize costs between 80 to 90 thousand. The implication is that one bag of maize can only buy two bags of fertiliser. This is not a good business for farmers. Let’s have subsidised fertilisers for as low as 20,000 or less.
4. Affordable homes should be built for workers and low income earners. This would solve accommodation challenge of workers who would no longer bother about rent.
5. The social intervention programmes of the Federal government should be reviewed. It is not really solving problems permanently due to its low amount and also poor selection of beneficiaries. The government should rather take data of those involved in small scale businesses with low capital and assist them to boost their businesses. Government should also set up funds to assist companies that have gone moribund. Example of such is the textile companies in Kaduna, Kano and other similar companies that have potential of employing several citizens directly or indirectly.
6. Stable and affordable electricity should also be guaranteed to keep businesses operational. Most businesses have folded up due to poor electricity and more worrisome is the high cost of petroleum products to power generators. Those that are still in business have to increase their prices to survive in business.
7. The government through the NNPCL should expedite action in fixing our refineries. We should be able to produce our own crude oil instead of exporting and reimporting finished products of our crude oil. Reviving the refineries should lead to reduction of prices of diesel, petrol, fertilisers, kerosene etc. The government should also support more private refineries (big and modular refineries) to spring up. The target is to reduce prices of petroleum products which would also lead to reduced prices of commodities.
8. Local governments administrators should also support security in their respective domains by recruiting and catering for the bills of local vigilantes in their respective LGA’S. Each LGA should be able to recruit, employ and comfortable pay 300 local security men the sum of 20,000 monthly. This would amount to six million per month. They should be able to work closely with police and other security agents in boosting security at the local governments. There are many of such volunteers on ground presently working. But they would be more effective if the local governments can take responsibility for their welfare.
9. All 774 LGA’s should also have at least three tractors that farmers could hire at subsidised rate. This would increase food production if properly utilised.
10. While the government plans to increase minimum wage of workers, efforts should be made to reduce prices of basic commodities and other items workers spend salary on else, impact of the increase would not be felt. As earlier submitted, prices of food stuff should be crashed, refineries should be fixed, building materials should also be affordable, there should be cheaper and affordable houses built by government in conjunction with property developers for the benefit of governmwnr workers and other low income earners. The present houses built are on a very high side and not affordable to workers. Workers should also have access to part of their pension to

The present administration must remember that welfarism is a major part of governance, when citizens welfare is not properly cattered for, there would be series of challenges faced. There is urgent need to do something about the welfare of citizens, they are hungry and angry.

Halilu Hassan wrote from Zaria, Kaduna State