By Steve Otaloro
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As the nation gets drawn into the frenzy of ending the electioneering campaigns ahead of the 2023 general elections, majorities of Nigerians are unhappy and in a state of despondency due to poor living conditions and the general state of affairs in the country.
With widespread insecurity top the list of issues giving grave concern to citizens, hitherto, inability to meet basic needs like fuel, access to the new naira notes, and election uncertainty completed the three biggest challenges unsettling Nigerians presently.
Some Nigerians believe that strengthening the economy should be a top policy priority for President Mohammadu Buhari than saying the same about any other issue. Most Nigerians identify this as a top concern, according to a survey that asked about the importance of president Buhari’s policy priorities as he heads into the last laps of his presidency.
The public’s concern about the economy is coming at a time when the reign of president Buhari’s government is coming to an end. Inflation in Nigeria has hit a record all-time high. Large majorities of Nigerian say prices for food, consumer goods, fuel prices, and the general cost of living are worse than they were a year ago.
Nigerians are groaning about their current living condition, a situation that could threaten the ruling party at the poll as the electorate would not likely want to give their votes to any party that will not serve the interest of the poor people.
It was established that 82 percent of citizens are mostly unhappy with the state of affairs in the country; 40 percent considered heightened insecurity, 78 percent considered the inability to meet basic needs while 35 percent considered the coming elections as prone to violence despite the continuous assurances from the government as the three biggest challenges facing them personally.
The present hardship facing Nigerians is said to be addressed with lip service as the current fuel scarcity lingers on for too long and the redesigned new naira notes are difficult to access for Nigerians. All these are causing unnecessary disruption to the nation’s economy and wanton hardship to the citizens.
Some people think this is some conspiratorial plot on the part of a cabal within the ruling party to deny Asiwaju Tinubu the Nigeria presidency. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu himself gave a sly, conspiratorial wink at Abeokuta during his campaign in Ogun State recently.
One fact that is never in doubt is the involvement of President Buhari as a possible collaborator in the plot. No president in the history of the world will ever want an opposition party to succeed him.
President Mohammadu Buhari is wise enough to know it’s in his best interest for Bola Tinubu to be his successor to protect his good work and continue from where he stopped than for another political party to destroy all his legacies.
It is common knowledge that governance is no longer a continuum if a different political party wins the election, as a new President from another political party will not give credit for the work of his predecessor in office
It’s therefore pertinent to appeal to President Mohammadu Buhari to quickly sanitize and restore orderliness in the polity and avoid masses revolt, “a time bomb” possibility, as there are limits to human endurance when going through pains.
As a matter of urgency, the president should make the new naira notes abundantly available to Nigerians while ending the lingering fuel scarcity in the country within the shortest possible time to alleviate the current suffering of Nigerians.
The barbaric and criminal incident of stoning the president’s convoy during his last visit to Kano State, the State where he is well-loved and has a large pool of cult-like followers, is indicative of the frustration Nigerians are going through presently.
The APC is therefore seeking understanding from Nigerians to keep their renewed hope for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the man that will turn things around for them.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has his own different identity. He has been tested and trusted by Lagosian as a great achiever. Many Nigerians can also testify to his performance as governor of Lagos State as having the capacity to take Nigeria to the promised land, an Eldorado of boundless riches and growth if elected as Nigeria’s next President.
