The recent revelation that 78 percent of Nigerians are unhappy has not come as a surprise to the majority of Nigerians.
The result of a recent poll conducted by the Africa Polling Institute, in January 2022 has noted that 78 percent of Nigerians have are unhappy. Of the total number of Nigerians who are unhappy, 37 percent are extremely sad, 41 percent are sad, 14 percent are indifferent and 8 percent are happy.
The poll also noted the greatest challenges faced by Nigerians today to be those of Heightened Insecurity, Inability to meet basic needs, Unemployment, Lack of Electricity, and Lack of basic infrastructure, (Road, transport, and water).
As the country prepares for the 2023 elections, it will be important that candidates reel out clear actionable plans to ensure that the plight of Nigerians is addressed
It would not be out of place to say that those in rulership whether in the Judiciary, Legislative or executive arms of government are also amongst those who have been noted to be unhappy. Recently, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State for the umpteenth berated President Muhammadu Buhari’s style of governance. He stated that Nigerians are unhappy with him and regretted voting him as president.
He also accused the Buhari administration of escalating the misfortunes of Nigerians with more citizens now wallowing in abject poverty and economic hardship. Moreover, he criticized the handling of the Herders-Farmers crisis and the inability to curtail the palpable insecurity situation in the country especially in the North.
“Nigerians are not happy, they regret voting him as president. A president who is not for somebody but for everybody, as he declared in 2015 when he came. I have personally visited Mr. President several times and I have told him. But as I talk to you, Mr. President believes except there are cattle routes, and grazing areas, otherwise, there can be no peace. So, his thinking is just as a Fulani man and not as a president of Nigeria.
“He believes the Fulani man can live with his cattle, whose evil agenda is to take over the land. He does not believe that the farmers should thrive in this country and do their legitimate farming business which the cattle came to destroy. And he believes that the Fulani man can carry AK-47 which they use to kill. I have told them that it is not possible.
“There is no way you can have cattle routes and grazing areas as it was in 1950 when the total population of Nigeria was less than 40 million people. Today, we are more than 200 million people and we are still battling with a land area of 923sq kilometers and even less because of the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon.” He said.
Food prices are on their highest level as more Nigerians have found it difficult to afford the basic necessities of life. As at December 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics noted that Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 15.40 percent in December from 15.49 recorded in November 2021. The urban inflation rate also increased by 16.17 percent (year-on-year) in December 2021 from 16.33 percent recorded a year earlier in December 2020.
The NBS attributed the sharp rise in food index to increases in prices of bread and cereals, fish, food product, potatoes, yam, and other tubers, oil and fats, milk, cheese and eggs, and coffee, tea, and cocoa.
More Nigerians have also been noted to be out of work. The National Bureau of Statistics in the second quarter of 2021 said that one in three Nigerians able and willing to work were out of jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 33.3 percent, its highest rate in over 13 years. This in effect means that about 23.2 million Nigerians lack jobs.
The Education sector is still not at par with the expectations of the international development bodies. The UNICEF says that in Nigeria, only 61% of children of primary school age attend school and the percentage is lower in the North. It is worse for the female child in the North of the country, where only about 40% are registered in school.
The Buhari administration has also not been able to deal successfully with the corruption that pervades the land as at when he took over in 2015. Instead, the corruption in the government has worsened. Recently Nigeria dropped five places in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) as published by Transparency International (TI). The country scored 24 out of 100 points — ranking 154 out of 180 countries – the lowest corruption ranking in 10 years.
The Naira has lost 300% of its value in the last eight years making it practically impossible for firms in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors to bring in the required implements, semi-manufactures, and equipment from foreign countries to increase the number of manufactured goods.
Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria contend with the high cost of doing business, banditry, and kidnappings, lack of skills and entrepreneurship for the youths, lack of reliable power supply, and the high rate of brain drain of able bodies Nigerians are also challenges being faced in the country today.
Unfortunately, the President does not believe there is anything more he has to do to better the lives of Nigerians. Possibly out of naiveté, he said: “I have been a governor, minister and now a second term as president, what else can I do for this country,” he said this year.
The African Polling Institute randomly interviewed 1,026 Nigerian citizens – aged 18 years and above. The interviewees were citizens and they were drawn from all six geopolitical zones in the country proportionately.
Among the challenges the citizens faced today, Heightened Insecurity affected 38 percent of Nigerians, Inability to meet basic needs – 34 percent, Unemployment – 20 percent, Electricity (Blackouts and outages) – 4%, and Lack of basic infrastructure (Road, transport, and water) – 4%.
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An independent analysis of the surveyed outcomes also showed that the highest percentage of those who feel extremely sad are from the South-West (54 percent) while the highest of those who feel sad are from the Northeast (59 percent).
A large proportion of those who are indifferent are Northerners (51 percent).
Per age group, over half of those who are unhappy are in the 60+ age bracket.
As the country prepares for the 2023 elections, it will be important that candidates reel out clear actionable plans to ensure that the plight of Nigerians is addressed. Indeed if and when the various indices of malgovernance are faithfully prudently addressed, Nigerians and Nigeria will be happy again.
It bears repetition to state that leadership has a crucial role to play in this crucial issue. Our leaders should therefore put their hands to the plough, with a view to putting smiles on the faces of Nigerians.
