Survival For The Fittest, Life In Nigeria
Life is hard all over the world, sometimes I deliberately ask those who are living in other countries how the situation is over there, and funny enough in some countries, it's almost the same thing as it's happening down here.
The cost of living is high almost everywhere but it's easy to survive in places where there are good jobs with good pay, the heat of the inflation won't be felt much compared to places where job opportunities are scarce talk of good pay.
I won't say much about other countries because I am not there, they say "seeing is believing". But in Nigeria, the economic situation is beyond bad, it's as if things are going from worse to worse. Anytime you hear the word "change" from leaders, expect hell.
I wonder how some people survive in the villages with the ever-increasing prices of goods and services. It's as if the prices of goods hike hourly. The morning price is different, the afternoon price is different and so evening price.
A few weeks ago, I bought golden penny spaghetti for seven hundred (700) Naira, I went recently to get the same thing and it's eight hundred and fifty (850) Naira. I was shocked, nowadays if you want to go and buy something, always go with extra money because the price must have hiked overnight. Funny enough, when things hike in price down here, It only takes the mercies of God for them to drop again.
Life has suddenly become too expensive, an average man barely gets his basic needs, talk me of wants. Our currency has no value in the market anymore. The annoying part is it's very difficult to earn. Imagine you spent hours to get a small amount of money only to get to the market and it can't even afford you what to eat.
Well, that's the situation down here, people are dying of hunger, and things are too expensive when I say things I am not even talking about wants, I mean basic things like food, let's even keep clothes aside, it's someone who has eaten that thinks of clothes.
People earn little but buy things high, some months ago, I heard that the labor congress wanted to go on strike for salaries to be increased but the issue died off just like that, I'm still wondering what happened.
Seriously I respect those working with government and private institutions in Nigeria, how do they cope with transport fares?
Last month, I visited my elder sister, and I was interacting with her husband, he told me ever since this fuel subsidy removal something happened, he spends two thousand Naira daily on transportation to work. Let's keep feeding aside, and calculate that in a month. How much will he have left when he subtracts that money from his salary? and he has a family.
Back to me
Well, I don't know what the prices of goods are in other countries, but I believe there are countries whose economy isn't rotten like ours, where you can earn fairly and spend fairly. Life out there might be hard but it's fair at least.
If I have the chance will I go to such a country?
If a job or an assignment carries me there fine, my answer will be yes, if not I'll still prefer to stay in Nigeria.
All hope is not lost. I have this belief that things will be better soon. Every good country you see out there today started from somewhere, they also have their story. If we don't all die, we will reach there too eventually and all this mess will be history someday.