[ThursdayRapAround] Nigeria On The Precipice: A Situation Foretold

By Michael Ayotunde

*Adulterated fuel everywhere
*Nigeria living on extra time – Sanusi
*Nigeria to spend 92% of 2022 revenue to service debt – IMF
*IMF asks Nigeria to increase VAT, improve tax compliance
*Top risks for Nigerian banks in 2022
*Gunmen unleash terror in Niger, Kaduna
*Nigeria’s domain name fails to gain traction
*NIMC portal breakdown enters sixth days

From the economy, to security, social life, digital assets, businesses and virtually every facet of our national life, it has been from one frustration story to another.

Since the start of the week and even beyond, pages of newspapers have been saturated with stories ranging from governance failure, economic setbacks, dwindling revenue, mind-blowing debt profile, insecurity, kidnapping, killings, system collapse, incapacitation, economic sabotage etc.

It is even more unsavoury that all these are happening in a nation – a nation that prides herself as the proverbial giant of Africa – when smaller nations around the world are recording and churning out great results, and making their citizens to have cause to smile.

As for Nigeria, it is a totally different signature tune.

What truly qualifies a nation which has been projected to spend 92% of a yet to be generated revenue in 2022 to service accumulated debts, ill-advised debts that have been amassed without caution? In simple arithmetic, this is nothing short of parallel F9 – failure, lack of capacity, incompetence epitomised.

But true to the Nigeria style of playing down critical, life-threatening situations, power mongers who are always out to oil their political machinery will come out to discredit the very obvious negative indices; as though that is not enough insult upon injury, political jobbers will carry on from where they stop to further confuse the unsuspecting, hapless members of the public and luring them into believing that all is well. However, in the midst of these their charade, prices of commodities are steadily on upward trajectory, inflation is shooting beyond bounds with deafening noise from the forex market.

Contaminated fuel in circulation is the latest of the many fracas that are currently challenging the already delinquent nation to its very foundation. Of course, there have been cries and worries and authorities have reeled out plans to punish offenders, one can only hope these are not empty threats – like the usual tradition.

Under this unfortunate circumstance, one cannot entirely rule out deliberate sabotage by hell-bent oil merchants to circumvent FG’s effort to reposition the oil sector. Who knows, this may a deliberate plan to cause confusion in the system over FG’s resolve to defer subsidy removal.

In the midst of these, insecurity is another issue. It has become a hydra-headed monster which has defied all possible solutions. Without doubt, the country is dangerously reaching a tipping point where it may no longer be able to hold potential danger at bay, particularly now that another general elections are close by.

The fact still remains that these can no longer be ignored, handled with nonchalance, and or swept under the carpet as is usually the case. The issue is hitting hard at the very foundation of our existence as a nation and is fast eroding the essence of our being referred to as a nation with distinct boundary among comity of nations.

Unlike in the past, both peasant and subsistence farming are gradually fading out – largely due to insecurity. One can no longer dare to go farming anymore – for fair of being kidnapped, killed by marauding killer herders with many having their farm being overrun by cattle. There is the issue of ritualists – who are now on killing spree. What on earth is our dear nation turning into?

All these have caused many to abandon farming and other gainfully-employed ventures, thereby leading to serious economic implications for the country.

There have to be serious cohesion, concentration of efforts and serious determination – political, economic, social, psychological and military – to deal decisively with the menace of criminality and any other act of terror.

Certainly no meaningful development can be recorded in an atmosphere of chaos. Effort must be made and urgently so, to arrest this inglorious path the nation is headed.