Editorial: Before Tinubu kills us all
As swarms of locusts fiercely stripped areas it invaded of all flora, President Tinubu’s inconsiderate and impulsively made economic policies have ravaged our once lush green habitat, threatening Nigerians with extinction.
In less than 16 months, brickbats have outstripped plaudits as forlorn figures permeate every nook and cranny of the country. Alas, the much-touted renewed hope that promised El Dorado has become the undertaker’s motorcade chauffeuring Nigerians to their early graves.
Just like the May 29, 2023, subsidy-gone declaration by President Bola Tinubu caused the prices of produce, especially food, to hit the roof because of an upsurge in the prices of logistics, the June 14, 2023, CBN free-float of the Naira policy led to the free fall of the Naira. Today, one USD to Naira is N1,605, N2,097 to a pound sterling, and N1,782 to one Euro.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data say Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 31.70 per cent in February 2024 from 29.90 per cent in January 2024. It stood at 33.40 per cent in July 2024, evidencing the ever-increasing cost of commodities prices.
Amid the economic hardship, Tinubu’s tax committee is proposing an increase in the VAT rate from 7.5 per cent to 10, starting from 2025. This crass insensitivity is coming a few months after the 300 per cent hike in electricity tariff.
Except for suffering and overtaxing the masses, nothing is working in President Tinubu’s government, including its policies and initiatives. Today, the official pump price of petroleum motor spirit (PMS) is N897 per litre, albeit retailers sell at N1,100 to the advantage of the political class.
From the claim of N45.6 billion student loans to the over N200 billion Consumer Credit Corporation to help Nigerians acquire essential products without the need for immediate cash payments and the $620 million Digital and Creative Enterprises to empower young people, all President Tinubu’s initiatives appeared to be hoaxes executed in the pages of newspapers and on social media.
For instance, while dissuading the Labour Unions from embarking on strike in August 2023, Tinubu assured that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operation by December 2023.
The promise has since become a hoax as the Senate’s Downstream Committee, while announcing the delayed operations of the three government-owned refineries, pushed the commencement date to January 2025.
This publication frowns at these incessant failed promises, political dribbles and deceits because they seem contemptuous of the ordinary Nigerians. The solitary achievement of the fuel subsidy removal was the criminal placement on the shoulders of the poor masses, the burden of the ruling class as it continues to steal from them to enrich the gluttonous politicians.
Before Tinubu kills us, we demand the immediate reversal of these anti-human policies that are decimating Nigeria’s population rapidly. According to Eric Hoffer, “No matter how noble the objective of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion, it is an evil government.”
