The world will always remember the African-American man, the late George Perry Floyd Jr., who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected he may have used a counterfeit $20 bill on May 25, 2020. Floyd died that same day after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground under the knee of a white American police, Derek Chauvin, for more than nine minutes as the Black man lay on the pavement face-down while handcuffed. Chauvin was later convicted for killing Floyd by pressing his knee onto the Black man’s neck.
Thia will always remain relevant as long as we remember his cruel act as a complete reference of man’s inhumanity to man.
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The late George Floyd was hogtied, he cried out, saying: “I can’t breathe,” but those words were ignored by the officer who thought he was exaggerating his distress. Chauvin believed erroneously that if Floyd could still talk, he was still breathing. That thinking led to the gruesome murder of Floyd in 2020. The sad event became the rallying cry of the 2020 global #BlackLivesMatter protests in America.
Unfortunately, Nigerians woke up last Tuesday to witness another tragic increase in the price of the Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. The sudden increase in the price of the most sought after product came as another rude shock of the Tinubu administration. And today, Nigerians are groaning in pain. Since he became the President of Nigeria on May 29, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been in the news for both the positives and the negatives.
But the recent increase in the price of petrol product shows to a great extent that Nigeria has a long way to go. This is the truth because if things continue like this, only God knows what will be the consequences of this bitter pill that the present administration is forcing down our throats.
For me, the positives of the Tinubu administration came with the removal of the subsidy – the thorough “house cleansing”, which led to the removal of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, AbdulRasheed Bawa; and the Service Chiefs. All those came within the first four weeks of his administration.
But the negatives saw Nigeria sliding downhill with the increase of petrol price from N500 to N617. Well, it is very unfortunate that the administration that had promised to save the country from the pitfall of economic doldrum had drifted a bit. And no one is sure where exactly “Emilokan” is taking us to.
A lot of people are worried about the growing feeling of public distress in the country. The situation is becoming very unbearable because of the strangulating economic policies.
It is very sad to note that the new administration is bent on carrying out harsh economic reforms without any assurance of how and when the pain will end. It is very unfortunate that a country where over 63 percent of its entire population is officially classified as being poor means that many people are not breathing.
The irony of our situation in Nigeria is that we are one of the leading oil producers in the world and the citizens are groaning in pain over insensitive increase in the prices of fuel.
Sadly, before May 29, we knew how much we buy fuel. Now, the subsidy removal brought the country to its knee. Nigerians are yet to survive the subsidy removal that led to the sudden increase in the price of fuel from N187 to N500 per litre, and now to N617 per litre within a period of two months. It is very painful because Nigerians didn’t bargain for this kind of hardship.
While reacting to the ugly situation, the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, expressed dismay at the present situation in the country. The Yoruba generalissimo said the situation in the country is not what Nigerians expect from a president that is coming from the South West region of the country. He added that President Tinubu is one of the products of the present democratic struggle and as the father of the nation, he should know that Nigerians are his children. Naturally, a father must work on the best way to solve the problem of the children.
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Aare Gani Adams’s reaction to the situation in the country became the talk of the town, but it is very sad that many of our leaders are pretenders. Many of those that are also feeling the same hardship kept quiet as if things are going on well with the increase in the fuel price. In an ideal environment, people must be ready to speak up and put the government on its toes.
All over the world, energy, including petrol, diesel or gas, need to be subsidised for productivity sake. No economy survives high cost of energy. More so, it is the responsibility of every government to subsidise food, health and energy among others.
All over the world, Governments are subsidising energy in order to boost productivity. It is sad that people are losing their jobs, more businesses are collapsing and companies are folding up and tension heightening in the country.
Not long ago, Germany subsidised electricity and it would cost 5 billion Euros for its industrial output in 2023. What it means is that the government of Germany has taken up about 80 per cent of the cost from industrialists and major manufacturers in the country. This is added to the fact that in Germany, government subsidises food, energy, health and housing and they have an enduring welfare and social security scheme that caters to the needs of the vulnerable and indigent citizens of the country.
As at 2022, China has subsidised energy with $130 billion. And also, over $100 billion is being used to subsidise energy in Britain.
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In Nigeria, it is a different ball game. Hyper inflation is setting in and it shows nothing, but the insensitivity of the new administration.
Nigeria runs an informal economy. We all know that. And petrol is the most important energy source in Nigeria. Today in Nigeria, the poor cannot breathe. Everyone is buffeted on all sides by a tottering economy and rising unemployment and growing poverty.
Interestingly, leadership is about total commitment to the well-being of the greater number of the people. In his new book, titled: “Scars Do Heal,” one of my lecturers, Kayode Akinropo, tells a moving story that encapsulates love, bitterness, tragedy, adventure, freaky social settings, politics, family, persistence, compassion, triumph and reconciliation. Though, things are becoming very difficult, I hope the scars we see and experience daily in Nigeria today might heal.
It might heal if our president is determined and committed to a better Nigeria. If President Tinubu is ready to save Nigeria, especially at this critical time, he should give us a breath of fresh air.
. Aderemi writes from Lagos.
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