“Nigeria has never been this bad,” have been the words on the lips of almost every Nigerian due to the economic hardship or recession in the country. Life, in the last few years, seems to be at a standstill.
One word that captures the mood of most Nigerians right now is hopelessness. Many Nigerians who used to be very hopeful by saying “e go better” meaning things will get better are no longer optimistic. The economic recession has taken its toll on all Nigerians irrespective of social status and things are getting ugly by the day.
The situation is so bad that In order to survive, unemployed Nigerians, especially the youths have turned to crime as a means of survival. Young men are stealing, while more ladies are getting attracted to one of the oldest professions (prostitution).
According to a resident of Ojodu Berger, Ikeja, theft has now become rampant. Nanma Labar told The Next Edition that her phone was snatched from her in broad daylight. “As soon as I stepped out of my house on a Monday morning, someone on a motorbike snatched my phone from me as I was about to make a call. I’m not the only one who has experienced this. It has now become a daily occurrence here.” Pointing to a direction of youths playing card, she said “look over there; most of them don’t have any means of livelihood. All they do is loiter around. The unfortunate part is that some of them are graduates”
A club manager in a popular night club at Opebi Allen who simply gave his name as Tony, said that ladies who ought to be in school or doing reputable jobs are now selling their bodies for stipends. “Since the economic problem, we see new faces every day. Some of them are students of tertiary institutions trying to fend for themselves. As you can see, they aren’t bold enough to stand on the main road, so they sit at the bar hoping for patronage. Unfortunately for them, people don’t come here like they used to do. The few who come here only buy one or two bottles of drink and feed their eyes,” he added.
It is unfortunate that most people are no longer living but surviving. Almost everyone is living for the day. What makes us higher animals is our ability to live life without thinking about food alone. These days, human beings in Nigeria talk about food more than any other thing. We all agree that no human being can survive without food, but it didn’t use to be a topic. Today, it is a topic. According to a food vendor popularly known as Mummy K, ‘Have you eaten?’ is now the most common question, while “I haven’t eaten” has become the most common answer.”
Wherever you go, you hear cries of hardship in the land. The hardship has become so unbearable that some parents are trading their kids for bags of rice. That is how bad things have become.
Last year, an unidentified middle-aged man allegedly abducted two siblings in Satellite Town in Lagos. He exchanged them for two bags of rice in a shop at 63, Marwa Road, near Chemist Bus Stop after deceiving the shop attendant that he was their father. That is the extent some people have gone to eke a living.
Yunusa Abubakar who lives in Agege narrated a touching story to Next Edition about a woman who stole a pot of semovita from fire to fee her family, claiming that it happened in his area. “It happened on my street. A woman just finished turning semovita in a pot. She went inside to get plates to dish it only for her to find out it was no longer there. She saw her neighbour with the pot of semovita eating it with her children without soup. They were using water as their soup. When the owner saw it, she decided to give them soup. That’s just one example. There are so many cases.”
Mr. Rotimi Obajemu, a shoe maker, is complaining bitterly of low patronage. He said “I use to make more money when the economy was better. Today, people think of what to eat more than any other thing. A hungry man would think of his stomach before his appearance. In that case who do I sell my shoes to?” He urged government to inject fund into the economy so that life can return to normal.
“The situation is terrible my brother” cried Baba Abdullahi, who is a fashion designer at Mafoluko. “My son has been fired from his place of work due to the bad economy. He is 33 years old yet I am the one feeding him. I left my father’s house at the age of 19. I am a fashion designer. This is the shop I used to train my children up to university level. At my age are they not supposed to be taking care of me?” He queried.
“This government promised that they would create many jobs and pay N5, 000 to every unemployed graduate. Till date, they haven’t kept to their promise,” he added with concern.
That the economy is bad right now is no longer news. What is news now is how some Nigerians are struggling to survive. There is a saying that what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. While it is a fact that the hardship is almost unbearable, some Nigerians are determined to make the best out of the bad situation.
Abdullahi Idris took to farming last year. He told us that agriculture is the way out of recession. “We have abandoned farming for white collar jobs not knowing that it takes intellect to do these farm jobs. My area of specialization is plantain. I decided to focus on one thing since I’m not very experienced. So far, it is paying off. With this, I don’t need to be worried if I don’t get a white collar job. If not for the recession, I wouldn’t have gone into this,” he said.
Another positive aspect of recession is that Nigerians are learning to live within their means. Extravagance has almost become a thing of the past. The era of flaunting wealth unnecessary is over. A Nigerian youth, Kunle Adesina said he used to buy three bottles of beer even when he didn’t need to, but today, he drinks “only one bottle of beer.”
According to him, “this isn’t the time to spend money unnecessarily. I still go clubbing with friends because all work and no play will make me a dull person. But the difference is that I have to cut cost. I used to drink heavily in the past. But today I am more responsible. There is more money in my account thanks to the recession. It has made me a better manager of money.”
So, how are you coping with recession?
