Nigeria: How Subsidy Removal May Collapse The Economy

 By Luke Onyekakeyah

Ordinarily, the removal of subsidy on energy sources – petrol, kerosene, diesel and electricity would free up billions of naira for government to plow into other social and economic needs such as infrastructural development, give incentive for domestic refineries to produce more petroleum products, reduce the country’s over dependence on imported fuel, boost the economy and create jobs. Some of these are very contentious in the Nigerian context.

This line of thinking may be possible for stable economies and not one that is deep in crisis like Nigeria. Truth is that the removal of subsidy is an ill wind that could collapse the beleaguered and fragile economy of Nigeria.

Nigeria: Pandemic Of Empty Pockets!

 By Seun Awogbenle

Make no mistake about it there is another pandemic in town, unlike the one before it. This pandemic does not affect the lung or liver, rather the pocket of Nigerians, leaving more families poor while for many, surviving each day has become an achievement.

Growing up, one of the prayers I heard people say frequently in Yoruba, loosely translated in English was “may your pockets never run dry.” The prayer was a metaphor for abundance, plenty and replenishment, following an act of kindness. Today, I am reminded that it is perhaps the single most important prayer in today’s Nigeria as we all meander through the current economic hardship and financial strain.

Corruption: Nemesis Ripens What Our Hands Have Sown

 By Emmanuel Okoroafor

Corruption has woven itself into the tapestry of the Nigeria narrative such that it has become the eternal plague of this most populous African country. For decades, this malady in its various manifestations – embezzling, backhandedness, kickbacks, internet fraud, thievery and all what not – have defined us more than our characters, capabilities and accomplishments. It is so bad that even one United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister had the cheeks to brand us “fantastically corrupt.”

For a country touted as the giant of Africa, the tragic flaw of corruption has whittled down Nigeria’s goliath stature to that of a Lilliputian. Today, it has become the gangrene eating away our corporate structure, the poison oozing from every pore of our collective body and the bile in our cup of wine. What is worse, even the younger generation has gradually bought into the corruption franchise. It is now fashionable to hear young people say, “If I get there (public position), I go chop (embezzle) my own.” Which means “if you can’t beat them, then join them.”