Nigeria’s economy

That the Nigerian economy is crumbling is no longer news. The nation’s currency is a mere paper when compared with many other African countries not to talk of the western world.  It is a slap on our face that the giant of Africa is unable to stabilise its economy, no thanks to the ubiquitous corruption and other sleazes that encompass our governments.

The youths are the worst-hit; unemployment has been their lot. Many of them are qualified for jobs but their government would not create any. The few vacancies that exist are being filled by the cronies of those in power.

As we churn out graduands every year so is the unemployment index soaring with the cacophony of excuses by the government. It is appalling that Nigeria is globally acknowledged as the poverty capital. Three quarter of the populace can hardly afford two meals in a day. Minimum wage of N30,000 cannot last a bachelor 10 days. Those essential utilities of life have become unbearable and those on the payrolls of government and private businesses are choked by demands of dependants. The cost of living is unbearable today; prices of petroleum products have skyrocketed. Insecurity caused by centrifugal/centripetal forces stares us in the face. It has equally added to the high cost of goods and services. The “modus vivendi” of the “hoi polloi” is becoming worse by the day. In the midst of these, one of the survival methods being employed by the resilient youths is the use of motorcycles for commercial purpose.

Apart from easing the transportation challenges, it also reduced the menace of armed robbery, theft and other social vices. Therefore, if the Federal Government carries out its planned ban on the use of motorcycle for commercial purpose, the government will create more security challenges that the step attempts to solve. Their activities can be regulated. Beheading is not the solution to a head ache.

Adelani Olawuyi, Ibadan.