By Otori Ozigi
True, Nigeria is in the throes of unprecedented economic upheaval and widespread hardships, confronting the over 200 million citizens.
However, there is no gainsaying that most Nigerians are a bunch of wicked and conscienceless group of people.
The removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government about 8 months ago, have brought to the fore the true characteristics of most Nigerians.
The hardships and rising cost of living that have been brought to the front burner of our national life is a scenario that speaks to our true nature.
That most people are behaving foolishly with a high level of idiosyncracy is no longer in doubt.
The lingering forex crisis in the country have brought to the fore the wickedness of our people
Because the naira have continued to depreciate in value in exchange for other currencies of the world economy, particularly the dollar, have been causing unmitigated ripples in the country.
The prices of everything have hit the rooftops with the senseless claim that the dollar is responsible for the socioeconomic challenges in the country.
But the fundamental question begging for answers is that is the dollar actually the reason for the galloping inflation and high cost of everything in the country today.
If you look critically at the rising prices of these items, you would agree that the greed and wickedness of Nigerians are to blame and not the dollar.
What has the dollar got to do with the underlisted essential commodities, to mention but a few.
1.The price of gari that is selling between 100 and 250 naira per a cup of tin milk,depending on your location.
2. The price of one bag of sarchet water now selling between 300 and 500 naira, depending on your location in the country.
3.A bag of cement now selling between 9,000 and 11,000 naira, depending on your location in the country.
4. The price of one piece of egg now selling between 120 and 150 naira,as if our hens have stopped learning how to lay eggs,because of the almighty dollar.
The list of affected products are indeed endless.
But the bottom line is that the hearts of most Nigerians are fearfully wicked.
We are directly responsible for the present socioeconomic challenges in the country and not President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Our propensity for abusing every opportunity that comes our ways is legendary.
We are all living witness to how billions of naira released for palliatives targeted for the less privileged ones and the poorest of the poor in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic era, were brazenly embezzled or diverted by most people saddled with the responsibility to disburse the largess.
Another example that readily comes to mind is the wide spread abuse and corruption uncovered in the Central Bank sponsored agricultural anchor borrowers programme, designed to boost food security in the country.
Uptill today, the majority of Nigerians who benefited from that laudable program have refused to pay back their loans, with some of them saying that it was their own share of the national cake.
From the forgoing therefore, it has become evidently clear that the dollar is not to blame for most of the hardships and rising cost of living in the country today.
Nigerians are fearfully wicked.
We are at the core root of our economic woes.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu means well in his economic policies and programs.
The hardships in the land is a passing phase.
You can not make an omelette recipe,without breaking an egg.
It behooves on us to stop our greed and propensity for quick and easy grains in everything we find ourselves doing.
Nigeria can only get better if we are patriotic and nationalistic in our ways.
Otori Ozigi, a veteran journalist and PR Consultant, writes from Okene, Kogi State.
08073295000–SMS only.
