Inflation is the parent of unemployment and the unseen robber of those who have saved.” Margaret Thatcher
Life has extremely been difficult for the masses as a result of the untold hardships the predominant and aggressive inflation has caused in the country. Most Nigerians feel great agony when they go to the market or a shop to make some purchases because prices of food items and commodities are increasing daily but their purchasing power is dwindling at an alarming rate.
Consequently, poverty increases as a result of diminishing income, which culminates in hunger and hunger degenerates into violent anger. Of course, an angry man is a potential danger to lives and properties. Inflation now is a dreaded economic disease afflicting the masses who cannot afford three square meals per day in Nigeria.
Inflation is currently coercing the masses to bear the unbearable suffering that is spreading despair in many homes. It has broken many families into pieces and ruined their happiness. It has also generated massive unemployment as many factories are folding up, laying off their workers owing to high cost of production courtesy of Naira devaluation. Indeed, it has caused many socioeconomic destructions that will be hard to reconstruct.
The trouble with our government is prescribing the wrong therapy for economic ailments. History has taught us that currency devaluation, recommended by our foreign creditors, has done more harm than good to our economy. Recall that former military ruler Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s deep romance with the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) only succeeded in the economic enslavement of most Nigerians, widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
More than three decades after the imposition of SAP, with currency devaluation as its mainstay, its negative repercussions are still living with us and following us like a shadow. At the commencement of the infamous SAP, the late erudite economist Professor Sam Aluko had prophesied that the real effects of SAP would not be felt until after 10 years. Has Aluko not been vindicated? Unfortunately, most of our leaders fail to learn the good lessons of history.
The Buhari administration, right from its inception, did not start on a good note. Despite the fact that boosting the economy was a cardinal aspect of his campaign promises, he failed to assemble the best economic team that would weather the storm and deliver on the pledge. Many experts on economy, including two former Central Bank Governors, Prof. Charles Soludo and Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned the Buhari presidency of the impending dangers of the poor handling of the economy. The poor result now is that the economy is worse than he met it when he took over the mantle of leadership in 2015. For instance, what a bag of rice costs now could be used to purchase three bags of the same rice in those years!
The worst part of it is that the government has failed to tackle the rising cost of living in the country. It has not initiated any positive step to soften the adverse effects of this economic crisis, which has been left to resolve itself. This ‘I don’t care’ attitude of the government has given rise to a general feeling of disenchantment, and the masses have withdrawn their loyalty to the government. This reminds me of Mark Twain’s assertion: “Loyalty to the nation all the time. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.” It is a well-known fact the present government has lost many loyalists as a result of its poor performance which the authorities still don’t acknowledge in order to redress the situation.
In northern Nigeria where the rate of poverty is higher than southern Nigeria, many youths are vulnerable to the activities of brutal gunmen. They find it very convenient to lure the unemployed ravaged by inflation to sustain their terror acts to the next level. It has been observed that not long after the closure of land borders in northern Nigeria, insecurity started gaining ground because poverty is the twin brother to insecurity. They can never be separated because they complement each other to make living very miserable for the populace. This symbiotic relationship, analysts argue, denied many youths their means of livelihood who engaged in economic activities around these border areas. They have been rendered jobless without any legitimate alternative. With soaring prices of goods, they are becoming poorer and poorer; and remember that a frustrated mind is indeed the devil’s workshop.
Inflation is wearing two distinct faces. One face is very attractive and compassionate to the extremely rich and the other horrible and hostile to the masses. Undoubtedly, inflation is a notorious symptom of capitalist ideology that recognises capital accumulation. Since our inflation is fuelled by a capitalist approach, it does not reflect compassion.
Capitalism has three evils, according to analysts. But the most dangerous amongst the three, which is winning in Nigeria, is popularly known and addressed as INEQUALITY. When inflation thrives in a capitalist setting, such as ours, the evil of inequality rears its ugly head, favouring those who are in the stronger bargaining position. And for the sake of emphasis, the northwest, which is the most dangerous region to live now in Nigeria, is characterised by inequality which has undergone several stages of transformation. We are now bitterly paying the exorbitant price of this social disaster.
As a result of the persistent increase in food prices caused by border closure to boost food production, restrictions in the forex market and insecurity predominantly in the northeast states, the misery of the poor has heighted. The inflationary trend was further aggravated when the EndSARS protest against police brutality hindered and limited the movements of persons, and goods and services across most cities, in addition to rising cost of transportation. These are some of the factors that have taken us to where we are now, living with a little hope.
The government has sanctioned currency devaluation to continue making life more difficult for Nigerians for its own economic reasons. Only last month, a Dollar was sold at more than 700 Naira! This is the worst performance of Naira in the history of Nigeria. But the government insists that it is spoiling our money to increase the balance of trade by improving competitiveness of domestic goods in foreign markets, making foreign goods less competitive in the domestic market by becoming more expensive.
But let us face reality to avert economic chaos. In the history of currency devaluation, nine countries had to replace their currencies because they lost their purchasing power to the barest minimum. Such countries included the Weimar Republic, Hungary, Chile, Argentina, Angola and Zimbabwe. In fact, the currency depreciation of the Weimar Republic was so terrible that between 1921 and 1923, it caused internal political instability as well as misery for the general populace.
If this currency depreciation persists, very soon our currency will also undergo a similar experience of currency replacement. As of now, the downfall of the Naira is an economic assault against ordinary Nigerians who live from hand to mouth.
The earlier the government recognises inflation as a reckless vehicle that has the potency to complicate insecurity, the better for the nation because the government’s gains from inflation is the masses’ massive loss which has dire consequences.
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Abdullahi, aaringim68@gmail.com