Inflation has been on a steady move upward, like a thick cloud of rising smoke, with Nigerians struggling every day to cope with the astronomical prices of basic items.
The gloom, the hopelessness, and the bold melancholies on the faces of Nigerians exemplify the horrible economic situation in Tinubu's Nigeria during this Christmas. It is not a situation the people would have loved to be in, but they seem to have surrendered to the utter desperation of a man who vowed to govern them at all costs, even without a known roadmap detailing how he intended to govern upon assuming office.
It is now settled that as the worst president since independence, Tinubu's ascension to power ignited unprecedented economic hardship, which began with his insensitive, ill-advised, ill-thought decision to remove subsidies on petroleum products. This was immediately followed by several other anti-people policies as well as excessive taxation to ensure Nigerians are perpetually held in economic mire whilst his government reaps bountifully from the people's nightmarish conditions.
Inflation has been on a steady move upward, like a thick cloud of rising smoke, with Nigerians struggling every day to cope with the astronomical prices of basic items. To be specific, inflation presently stands at an alarming 33%, yet the Tinubu calamitous regime appears both unconcerned and wholly ignorant on how to stem this pestilential situation.
It is therefore sheer deception for anyone to make comments to the effect that Nigerians are 'celebrating' the 2024 Christmas; they aren't. They are only surviving through it. The economic hardship deliberately brewed and imposed by the Tinubu anti-people administration has ensured that Nigerians are rather experiencing the worst moment in the country's history. The signs of hardship and acute hunger are pervasive throughout the country. The recent deaths of several children during stampedes in Oyo, Anambra, and Abuja, whilst the deceased struggled for food, are only some of such examples -- a national tragedy and profound embarrassment. Rather than addressing these problems that he created, Mr Tinubu resorted to defending his cruel policies, claiming without evidence during his rare presidential media chat that people struggle for food even in developed countries in Europe and North America. Tinubu's anti-people regime is often quick to make references to Europe and North America only when it pleases it, but refrains from doing so when told to build the same infrastructure that these countries have put in place, which is responsible for why Mr Tinubu himself is often quick to hop on a plane for medical tourism in France.
Lamentations intensified across the country from the start of this week as people scrambled to buy food items for their Christmas feasts. However, the astronomical cost of chicken, beef, rice, and several other items has been scary. Whilst it is true that prices always soar during this time of the year, never before have we witnessed what is happening in Tinubu's Nigeria, where some car owners, for example, leave their vehicles behind because they think public transportation is now cheaper in comparison to the petrol they must buy if they use their vehicles. Tinubu has so destroyed the economy with his suffocating policies that not only are people dying whilst fighting for food in public places in 2024, even those alive are now gasping for breath. Indeed, there is no difference between war-torn Somalia and the economic decimation Tinubu has brought upon Nigeria.
During his media chat, Tinubu rated his performance as "excellent," whilst in reality he has been so woeful that an objective assessment of his ruinous reign would fall way below a fail. Nothing seems to be working in Tinubu's Nigeria except rampaging poverty, high inflation rates, outrageous costs of transportation and foodstuffs, economic ruin, apartheid-styled electricity to favour affluent people, Naira devaluation to please foreign powers, aggressive corruption, police harassment and brutality, etc.
In the end, everything lies in the hands of Nigerians to decide whether or not they want to continue under the economic hostility that Tinubu has plunged them into whilst he maintains his flamboyant lifestyle at the expense of the same people he impoverishes daily through his economic policies. Until Nigerians are ready to resist their oppressors, what is evident is that the 2024 Christmas is one of lamentation and despondency in a country where citizens' purchasing power has been stifled with hyperaggressive gusto.