While in my shop yesterday, I heard an announcement over the radio that the cost of premium motor spirit, petrol has been increased by the authorities to one thousand, two hundred naira (N1200). Over the last one year, the price of fuel has increased well above three hundred percent (300%). As at the time this new government came into office, the price of fuel was about one hundred and sixty naira (N160). Presently, the price has increased to well over a thousand naira. So, yesterday the Nigerian government announced the increments of the petrol price to one thousand two hundred naira (N1200).
We were asked by @ericvancewalton through the #memoirmonday initiative to share how our country has changed in our lifetime. In my lifetime, I have witnessed several unpleasant as well as pleasant changes in Nigeria. The link to the #memoirmonday initiative is here
The economic situation in my country has been getting worse by the day. The cause of this is due to the accumulated corruption from bad government. There is serious inflation which has arisen from the effect of this fuel pricing. We are groaning for the pains of this. The polity is hot with severe hardship.
The Masses Bears The Pains
One would have thought that everyone would suffer the impact of this. But the saddening thing is that those who put us in the mess we find ourselves in do not lift not even as little as with their fingers the load of the problems they have put on us. The masses bear the pains. Is it always how politics is. Why aren't the corrupt officials not brought to book? Why are they not made to suffer the crimes they committed? Why are evil doers going about the society freely when the masses keep suffering from their evil work?
The Impact
The economic system is controlled largely by transportation and power. We are in a country where there is no effective power supply. Small and Medium businesses are run by small generator sets which use fuel. The economic life of our country seems to be driven by fuel. Now, an increase in the price of fuel translates into an increase in the cost of goods and services. This is the pain that we are bearing.
As a mother, I have observed and experienced a high cost of living. The prices of food have been on the increase on a daily basis. We do not have much money being generated but we have a cost of feeding to contend with. Feeding in the family becomes very difficult these days because the high cost of transportation has made the prices of food stuff to increase.
This is a memoir from our country. We are all expecting that things will get better but we don't know when. We don't know how far we have to go in this horrible experience before we can see a better life. The infrastructures are not good. There aren't job opportunities for school leavers. Both the educated and the non-educated suffer alike. The current changes in Nigeria is not palatable to the citizenry.