2027: NIGERIANS WILL VOTE AS HUNGRY CITIZENS NOT AS POLITICAL SCAVENGERS
By Sanusi Muhammad
There comes a point when government policies stop being mere figures on paper and become the reality of the people. For millions of Nigerians today, that reality is hardship, rising transportation costs, expensive food, high energy costs, and a struggling naira.
The present administration cannot continuously increase the burden on the people, suffocate families, and then expect them to forget their experiences when another election approaches. How long can Nigerians continue to absorb policies that make survival increasingly difficult?
The Tinubu administration has packaged all of this as economic reform. Nigerians were told that the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira were difficult but necessary decisions and that better days would come. But nearly two years after, where is the relief? What is there to show for the suffering?
It is expedient to speak not just as a journalist, but as a realist about what Nigerians are facing. Transportation has become a punishment. A journey that once cost about ₦200 now costs ₦1,000 or even ₦1,500 on some routes. Workers now spend almost half of their daily wages just to get to work and back, and many have abandoned their jobs because the fare is higher than the gain. Today, car owners now prefer to park their vehicles in their compounds and struggle for commercial buses to get to their offices and various destinations because fuel price has engulfed their daily income. Many can no longer afford to fuel their tanks due to the persistent hike in the price of petrol. They would rather queue for Danfo and Keke than drive their own cars, and that tells you how bad the situation has become.
Feeding has also become a daily battle. In the market, a bag of rice that was once within reach is now a luxury. Garri, beans, yam, and even sachet water have gone beyond the reach of ordinary families. Many parents now feed their children once a day, not by choice but by force of circumstance. Behind every inflation figure is a mother reducing the contents of her pot.
Small businesses are dying silently. The barber, the welder, the cold-room operator, and the market woman who needs fuel for her generator are all suffocating under high energy costs, multiple taxation, and low purchasing power. Shops are closing, not because their owners are lazy, but because the cost of doing business is higher than the profit.
The naira has lost its dignity. Its persistent pressure against the dollar has affected everything, from imported goods to locally produced items that depend on imported raw materials. Landlords now peg rent to the dollar, while school fees, medical bills, and building materials have tripled. When the naira falls, every Nigerian falls with it including Tinubu’s lapdogs.
Salaries have lost their value. They remain the same in figures, but their purchasing power is gone. ₦70,000 today cannot buy what ₦30,000 bought two years ago. Workers receive their salaries and the money is exhausted on transportation and food on the same day. Is this what the present government calls reform? A reform that has no human face, no safety net that truly reaches the people, and no clear timeline for relief is not reform; it is punishment for submission.
What amazes me most is to see a set of Nigerians and loyalists to the present administration defending what is clearly indefensible, turning a deaf ear to the reality confronting every common man in this country. These defenders of the Tinubu administration go about trying to cajole Nigerians into believing that the government can still be re-elected, and that if it is re-elected, the second term will be better. If the first term is this bad, what is the assurance that the second term will be better? I wonder how they package their sweet words. I wonder how they feel so comfortable and shameless sending messages of deceit to the Nigerian populace, knowing fully well what is confronting each household in Nigeria today including theirs.
Nigerians are not statistics. Behind every increase in inflation is a family adjusting its meal. Behind every increase in fuel price is a commuter paying more to get to work. Behind every fall of the naira is a business owner recalculating costs. This brings us to the reality of 2027.
Let it be clear to the Tinubu administration: the decision Nigerians will make in 2027 will not be based on ethnicity, religion, or empty slogans. It will be based on what is on the ground. It will be based on the scorecard of this sinking ship called Nigeria and whether this government has rescued it or pushed it deeper into the ocean. Nigeria cannot continue to be deprived of what rightfully belongs to its people under the present administration, suffocated under the guise of reforms with nothing tangible to show for it, and still be expected to believe that tomorrow will be better when today remains undefined and frustrating.
Nigerians cannot endure hunger today on the promise of surplus tomorrow. A better tomorrow must start with a survivable today. When the time comes, Nigerians will not vote as Yoruba, Igbo, or Hausa. They will vote as hungry citizens, as stranded commuters, as struggling business owners, and as parents who have watched their children lose hope. They will vote based on their lived reality.
The Tinubu-led administration cannot mismanage the country and still expect the people to reward it with another term. The people are watching, the people are suffering, and the people will decide come 2027. Defeating a Tinubu desperation for re-election is the beginning of wisdom and the soothing balm.
*Muhammad is a commentator on national issues*
