January 18 2016 the Federal Government of Nigeria imposed stamp duty of 50 Naira on bank customers for money received into their Accounts. When this directive was released to the Public there was outcry but the Federal Government have its way and it has been implemented since then. Fast forward to March 2016 the Federal Government of Nigeria through the President himself declared publicly that Nigeria can’t meet the forex demand for students studying Abroad. The President said this in an interview he granted Aljazeera Television Network during his trip to Qatar, he hinged the decision on the fact that high demand of Forex by Parents whose children are schooling abroad is putting a lots of pressure on the Naira which in turn is affecting the Nation’s Economy.
This decision was so unpopular that one of my mentor Dr Dele Momodu in his Pendulum backpage Column in Thisday Newspaper advised the President to shelve the decision in an article titled “President Buhari ,Don’t offend those kids” he highlighted why the forex demands should not be scrapped and how some of these kids have brought lots of glory to Nigeria but as the military man that Buhari was ,even though he claimed to be a repentant democrat, he had his way and till today some Nigerians have dropped out of school outside the country, some Parents have withdrawn their children back to Nigeria to school. The sad part of this is that some of these children are in their finals and some in Universities. One of my facebook friend Posted this on his timeline ‘A tale of two Presidents”, while in office Goodluck Jonathan kids schooled in Nigeria yet he provided forex for our kids to school abroad including Buhari’s Children, but now Buhari is denying us Forex to send our children abro
ad’ that message sums up how bad things have become .
This and other inactions of the President is making him unpopular everyday but I don’t think his advisers are telling him something is going wrong but to prove me right that the President is not concerned his Special Adviser Garba Sheu informed us that his oga at the top prefers reading cartoon inside Newspapers than news . as a result the President doesn’t know how we are feeling and the state of the Nation.
Also in January 2016 the Federal government of Nigeria through the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) announced a 45 Percent increment in electricity tariff. This among other unpopular decision of the Buhari Administration was rejected by the Public but the decision was imposed despite the protest by the National Assembly, Labour and other Public commentators .Till date the Electricity situation in Nigeria have gone from bad to worse despite increment in Tariff .so what’s the gain for ordinary Nigerian from the Buhari Government-nothing!
As if that was not enough on the 11th of May 2016. The federal Government jerked up the Petrol Price from #86.50 to #145 and this was followed by Nationwide protests and to summarize it all the Buhari led Federal Government have their way and we are still hearing news that the 145 is not sustainable so what’s the change for Nigerians ?? What’s that thing that we can point to as what have been better in Nigeria than it was in 2015? A bag of rice that use to be 10,000 is now 23,000, a bag of Beans that used to be 18000 is now 27,000 among other food commodities that have gained 100% increment.
No single Project have been commissioned by the Buhari Administration apart from the Abuja –Kano Railway that was built by the Jonathan Administration. Majority of their campaign Promises have been cancelled for one reason or the other, the 5000 Naira Stipend for unemployed Nigerians have been cancelled, the free school feeding Programme have been cancelled, The Police recruitment Failed, what we’ve seen is the recruitment of their wards into NNPC, CBN and other juicy Federal Government agencies while the children of the “mekunnu” have been restricted to N-POWER jobs.
Just Recently The Federal Government led by President Buhari Increased the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax, pension and National Housing Fund (NHF) deductions, which were applied on gross salary which is making some of the workers to have as much 30 per cent reduction in salary.a Decision that have been condemned by the Ekiti State Governor Already but as expected Buhari will have its way, this is Happening when the Economy is In Recession Already.
The failure of the Buhari Administration received a grand endorsement by the First Lady Hajia Aisha Buhari when she declared that this hardship and other ills of the Buhari led Government was not what her husband promised Nigerians and she wont be supporting Buhari come 2019 but the President few days after replied her by saying she belongs to the Kitchen, the living room and the Other room. That comment also goes to show the view of the President concerning women empowerment as they have no place in his government compared to how they were honoured in the Jonathan Government. We can’t continue like this.
As former President Obasanjo said recently in Lagos that Buhari was not elected to complain, he was elected to work. Let the President work for us and make Nigeria better than he met it. Let there be Change in a Positive Manner !
Adesina Tosin Nathaniel is a forward looking Nigerian Youth, He writes from Ikorodu Lagos
For more of his writings visit http://www.donteewrites.wordpress.com
Tweets @donteeaaua
Facebook- Adesina Tosin Nathaniel
Instagram – Dontee15