PALLIATIVES have become the socio-political norm of the federal and state governments in Nigeria since the abrupt incursion of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Given the attendant socioeconomic shocks, as well as the sudden twin debilitating policies of the Bola Tinubu administration –on the naira, and petrol subsidy –, governments have sustained piecemeal interventions instead of emplacing the right economic structures and systems to address the economic scourge.
On Easter Sunday, Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State offered an interesting perspective on the sharing of palliatives, stating that the “offering of palliatives was not the lasting solution to the economic hardship in the country.” Diri has brutally hit the nail on the head.
Palliatives are only not sustainable; they just scratch the surface without healing the deep-seated problems of extreme poverty afflicting Nigerians. They demean the people. The fickle policy direction shows that the government has detoured to small measures.
In February, seven people were killed in a stampede while struggling to access the 25kg bags of rice for N10,000 from a Nigeria Customs Service office in Lagos. Similar palliative programmes in Nasarawa State led to the death of two undergraduates, while an alms-giving event in Bauchi State led to the death of seven people last week.
During the COVID-19 palliatives-sharing programme, food items were thrown at Nigerians. Huge amounts of food items meant to be shared were hoarded by government officials, politicians and their cronies, triggering looting, stampede, injuries, and deaths. This is dehumanising.
Nigeria is in dire economic straits. In 2022, the NBS said 133 million Nigerians were multidimensionally poor; 71 million Nigerians remain extremely poor, per the 2023 World Poverty Clock. Food inflation remains high at 37.92 per cent, overall inflation is 31.70 per cent. The unemployment rate soared from 4.2 per cent in Q2 2023 to 5.0 per cent in Q3 2023 based on new NBS calculations. The ephemeral nature of the palliative programmes cannot salvage these gnawing realities.
In Nigeria, there is a hint of corruption about palliatives. In January, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission detained the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Faruq, over the alleged mismanagement of N37.1 billion allocated to social intervention funds during her tenure. President Bola Tinubu suspended her successor, Betta Edu, for alleged corruption last January. The World Bank said only 1.5 million out of the targeted 15 million received the N25,000 conditional cash grant as of December 2023.
In this, Tinubu directed the release of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to cushion the rising cost of food in the country. This has yielded little effect; neither would it tackle the rising spate of food poverty. The FAO says 26.5 million Nigerians are food insecure.
Crucially, the role of government is to create an enabling environment for citizens and businesses to thrive. While Nigeria lacks a clear welfare programme, in the United Kingdom, unemployed citizens receive a regular Jobseeker’s Allowance to help cover their living expenses till they get a job.
To truly empower citizens, Nigeria needs to achieve a rebound in the manufacturing sector. It must boost the electricity and must reverse its control of the refineries through outright privatisation.
Insecurity plagues Nigeria. Without security, it cannot have a robust economy. It must institute state police to curb the rapine of criminals, bandits, kidnappers, and violent Fulani herdsmen.
Rural roads are crucial. India scaled up rural road construction from 80km daily in 2014 to 91km in 2023. There is no harm in adopting this.
Governments should support SMEs, the largest employers of labour. The Federal Government should fast-track the harmonisation of taxes to displace the current stifling multiple-tax regime.
Ultimately, the Federal Government and 36 state governments must begin to implement enduring solutions to the hardship bedevilling citizens instead of focusing on palliative.
