ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES
All revolutions are dismissed by beneficiaries of the establishment as a non-starter until they are swept off their feet.
This is Nigeria’s best chance to peacefully avert a major disaster. Nigerians are dissatisfied with how the system is being run. Every Nigerian who has a business, who earns legitimate income and who pays bills is saddened and the frustration has got to its hilt. It is Peter Obi’s candidature that has doused the tension and helped millions of frustrated citizens trudge on.
I do three major businesses, and I can share my own experience about the impact of worsening economic situation on my businesses.
As a filmmaker, purchasing basic equipment has become a big problem. Not necessarily because the prices of these equipment have gone up, but because the exchange rate continues to crash. A set of lens for my cameras which is 3000 dollars, remains 3000 dollars, but the problem is that barely two years ago, 3000 dollars was barely 1,080,000 but today the same 3000 dollars is about 2,130,000 Naira. In the Association of Movie Producers WhatsApp group, it is lamentation galore over the cost of making films and to show you how insensitive the Nigerian system is, the Censors Board increased their fees, just suddenly.
When I started my farm business in a larger scale last year, Day Old Chicks were between 260-360 Naira depending on the hatchery you stock. A bag of Nutria Feed was a little above 7000 Naira. Today, Day Old Chicks is between 750 to 820 Naira. A bag of Nutria Feed is from 10,400 Naira for large quantity buyers like us.
Just two years ago, most of the binders and thickeners I use for my paint production have increased by over 100 percent in the last two years and there is no hope in sight that the prices will come down.
Everyday, small businesses are closing down. People are losing their jobs, those who can are trooping out of Nigeria. Go to the international wing of either Lagos or Abuja airports and you will be shocked at the number of people running away from this country everyday.
Bills are piling up. Cost of living is suffocating. For low income earners like us who have a large family, the pressure is more. For my four kids who are in school, my basic fees for them every term is above One Million Naira. You can’t maintain a family with less than 400,000 Naira monthly. And that is if you are very conservative. It is a lot more. You haven’t talked about those who have extended dependents.
Go into the streets of Kano, Abuja, Katsina, the feeling is the same. Everyone knows that the political class has failed. It doesn’t matter if you are Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Ijaw, Tiv or Igbo. There is a consensus that things need to be done differently or this country will collapse. We are hanging on the edge and it doesn’t matter how much you pretend about it.
My dear fellow Nigerian, Peter Obi has to happen or we forget about this place. That’s the truth, as sad as it is. Anyone who loves Nigeria and has a few investments he cherishes has to key in and support this revolution to work.
It doesn’t matter if you are in Party A, B or C. You will most likely not have a Party to run to if Nigerians are pushed to a point where they have to take out their frustration on the system. They won’t care about death, because for most of them, they are already dead and rotten. It’s just skeletons walking and they won’t mind setting that skeleton ablaze.
