TS from the Sidelines 
Some 25 odd years ago the hopes of millions of Nigerians were raised with the advent of the Fourth Republic, which saw Chief Olusegun Obasanjo being sworn in as President on May 29, 1999.
During his swearing in that balmy day at the Eagle Square, Abuja, Obasanjo, who had previously ruled as a Military Head of State between February 13, 1976 and October 1, 1979, reeled out an inventory of promises which, in a nutshell, meant that Nigerians would benefit massively from the return to civilian rule.
Of course, millions had also had their hopes raised high right from the nation’s independence in 1960, when Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, promised the expectant populace that they would fare better under the rule of their own rather than what obtained under the colonial administration from far away Britain.
After Balewa, we then had 10 heads of state before 1999 with each of them pledging to improve on the performance of the person they took over from. History is there to judge their performances vis-a-vis their promises.
But on May 29, 1999, the optimism was heightened as many felt that having been in office before and being imprisoned by the late Gen Sani Abacha on alleged plan to topple his regime, Obasanjo was the most appropriate person to pilot the affairs of the latest civilian experiment after prolonged military interregnum, which had lasted 16 years.
In fact, many attribute longevity of the Four Republic to his decision to, soon after taking office, retire a host of senior and middle-ranking officers he said had ‘tasted political’ office and, thus, might be averse to remaining in their barracks squirming at having to obey orders from ‘bloody civilians’.
It was believed that he was able to get away with this without upsetting the men in uniform because he was previously one of them.
By the time Obasanjo had served his two terms in office, the Ota-based farmer had raised pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) eight times, taking it from N20/litre to N75.
Under his watch the naira also dropped from N21.89 (88–90 PM)/dollar to N125, which saw the prices of goods and services correspondingly going up to the displeasure of millions.
The next two presidents who replaced Obasanjo, Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, were all members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and under them the gradual slide continued so much that by 2015 the people had become disillusioned with the party’s 16-year rule and were ready for a change.
This led to the birth of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which had been birthed in February 2013 with the merger of Nigeria’s three major opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) along with a breakaway faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP – a faction of the then ruling PDP – with the sole aim of presenting a united front to contest the 2015 general election. The new party became the main beneficiary of this disillusionment.
The merger worked and the APC became the first opposition party to oust a sitting government in a democratic dispensation.
As at the time of the change of guard in Aso Rock on May 29, 2015, the exchange rate was N155/dollar while the price of PMS was N87.
By the way, in arguing for the need to increase the price of PMS, the PDP administrations had insisted that it was necessary in order for the government to have the needed revenue to meet the needs of the citizens in terms of medical services, education and infrastructure.
Ironically, it was main persons in the APC that were instrumental in forcing the Jonathan administration to back down on its plans to raise the pump price of fuel from N65 to N141 on January 1, 2012 by spearheading the ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protest.
Unfortunately, the relief was short-lived as the Buhari government took the price of the essential commodity from N87 to N195 by the time its tenure ended last year!
It was also during the tenure of the former military head of state that the naira further nose-dived against the dollar.
Both factors led to a corresponding increase in the cost of goods and services with people lamenting their harsh economic situation under the former general.
However, things have clearly gone from bad to worse for millions of Nigerians since the migration from one APC government to another last May.
From his inauguration on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu left no one in doubt as to his readiness to tackle hard decisions head-on when he announced the end of subsidy without consulting anybody.
The ripple effects from this announcement, which saw the price of PMS shooting to N568, was still hitting home when he landed a one, two sucker punch by also deciding to float the naira, which saw the local currency tumbling from around N500 to a dollar to about N1600 now.
This double whammy has had a devastating effect on most Nigerians who have seen their standard of living nose-dive.
Last Tuesday, further misery was unleashed on citizens by the decision of the NNPCL to hike the cost of fuel to between N855 and N940!
However, while all these measures may be sweet music to the ears of Western international financial bodies like the IMF, the government should not forget that its primary duty is to its citizens and as such shouldn’t swallow Bretton Woods policies hook line and sinker without considering the impact on Nigerians.
It’s very sad that genuine efforts by citizens to air their grievances has seen the government cracking down hard on them and have even charged them with treason.
The dire economic situation in the country is bound to lead to more job losses as more companies shut down, unable to operate, while crime and other social vices will undoubtedly increase.
Government should realise that Nigerians have a right to tell those in control of the nation that they are suffering, and have a right to know when they too will begin to enjoy the benefits of the sacrifices they have made all these years.
