By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
As 2024 is winding down, here is a review of major socio-political issues that made the headlines and shaped the political landscape in the outgoing year.
Price Of Food And Water Soars
The price of food stuff continues to increase making life difficult for the common man.The price of a tubber of Yam in Lagos market sells around N2,000. A bag of rice is currently being sold between 98,000-N100,000. The price of sachet water also increased from two per satchet for N50 to one for N50, while 3 Sachet water is now N100.The price of a sachet water has increased by 100 percent in the new year.The price of cooking gas is around N1,200 per kilogram. Many Nigerians could not afford to buy chicken to celebrate the yuletide because the average price of chicken is around N20,000.
The #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria protest
Nigerians in a bid to show their dissatisfaction towards the rising price of goods and services decided to show their grievances by protesting in various part of the country. On Thursday 1st of August 2024, the #Endbadgovernance protest was organised to call attention of the government to the increasing poverty level in the country which makes feeding difficult for many homes. Protesters came out in their large numbers to show their dissatisfaction against economic hardship and the prevailing rate of hunger in country. A lot of the protesters were arrested across Nigeria including some minors. As a result of local and international public intervention, on Wednesday 5th of November 2024, a Federal High Court presiding in Abuja struck out treason charges brought against 119 Nigerians including detained minors since August for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Unstable Petrol Price
The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) increased tremendously since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy. In the early days of January in 2024, Nigerians bought fuel for N625 to N670 and rose to over N1,170 per litre in 2024. On 21st of December, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited announced reduction in its ex-depot price of petrol to N899 per litre in Lagos.The price of petrol has continued to go down since Dangote Dangote Petroleum Refinery and NNPC Port Harcourt Refinery started producing petroleum products locally. With this, competition has lead to decrease in prices. On 30th December 2024, Mele Kyari announced to that 125,000 (bpd) Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company manage by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has started operating the at 60% capacity. Some analysts have commended this administration for reviving local refineries with a projection that if all the refineries in Nigeria starts working, the price of fuel will continue to reduce.
National Grid Fall 13th Times
Nigeria continues to experience blackout as the national grid fell 13th times in 2024.The economy and businesses faced untold crisis as a result of in adequate electricity supply despite the increase in the electricity tariff by distribution companies across Nigeria. Nigerians continue to be at the receiving end of power crisis after the removal of fuel subsidy. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) usually claimed vandals used to pull down the transmission lines which usually led to the disruption of power supply across the country. Although, the federal government has promised to look for a permanent solution to stop vandals from attacking the national grid.
Cash Scarcity Continues
The cash scarcity has continued to linger despite the extension of the old naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Government. The commercial banks have refused to load their ATM with cash for the public. The Point of Sales (POS) operators now charge exorbitant prices in exchange for cash to their customers. Our reporter was at the new Afrika Shrine on Sunday 29th of December where the POS operators charge N100 for each N1,000 withdrawal. The sparklight reporter who went there was told to pay N1000 as charges to get N10,000.
The PoS operators said they pay heavily to get the cash used for their businesses. As a result of this, customers will be at the receiving end.It is pathetic that despite the intervention of both the federal government and CBN, the cash scarcity will continue until 2025 except a deliberate effort is taken by major stakeholders to stop the cash scarcity in the coming days.
