I wonder how many people in Nigeria wake up and desire to listen to the news or newspaper headlines. Okay, someone says how can you avoid sources like that which announce weather, traffic, crime and terror flashpoints.
But the fact is that the safety and health notifications are now the most important news items. Some of these probably sponsored by government agencies or corporate Institutions are largely because the governments' duty to provide security and welfare are crumbling from the federal to local level.
The rest of the news items would be dominated by the suffering of the masses. Soaring cost of basic necessities, school fees, transport etc , protests in Niger, Kano and Delta.
Apparently government indicated preparedness in the reduction of cost of Gas, instead increase occurred. And what do you hear now? That they're considering removal of electricity subsidy.
During Sam Amadi's Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) administration, I'm aware that part of the Act provided subsidized electricity for rural communities. That suggests that if the communities are making efforts on their own, the government being a stakeholder and defender of rural communities would ensure that such efforts are not frustrated.
The world's is watching as Nigeria drops to low level in human development. "Nigeria's Human Development Index (HDI) value is at 0.539 and ranked at #161 of 189 countries in the world." "Nigeria's life expectancy is 54 years (compared to a global average of 73)."
Social Progress Indices of a country are based on certain critical aspects of human existence like their well being basic needs and drive for opportunities. Without these rudimentary environment restiveness, dispair would set in.
Between 1990 and 2015 halve of the globe lived under $1.25 per day. During this period more than 90 million children were undernourished. That questioned United Nations (UN)'s Target 3 to eradicate hunger? Is Nigeria's Indices not showing how precarious the masses are with daily hues and cries?
During same period, 1990 and 2015 the UN's target 2 was to provide full and productive employment whereas 300 million workers were living below $1.25 per day. Extrapolate these analysis to 2024, specifically to Nigeria. What do you see? Scary, isn't it?
The only word for those who find Nigeria's environment indescribable is #resilience.
