Signs of the time: A boy eating crumbs from a pot. (Photo: The Guardian)
As the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government kept
repeating that the hard times as a result of an economy in recession
would turn to be better, and in spite of government’s assurances,
Nigerians are still bracing up over the challenge of petroleum scarcity,
increase in electricity tariff, hike in cost of goods and services,
skyrocketing exchange rate of the naira to a dollar, backlog of unpaid
salaries and mass retrenchment of workers.
A public affairs commentator based in Kano State, Aminu Muhammad
has recounted his experience of the hard times, which has gone viral on
social media.
According to The Guardian, he said;
“I was sitting with a guy who sells tea when an elderly man
came and said ‘Give me ‘Buhari’s mixture’. Without saying anything more,
the man was given some tea and small bread for a sum of N40.
"I was baffled, so I asked the seller what the man meant by
‘Buhari’s mixture’. He explained that it means tea without milk plus a
small loaf of bread.
“Again the next day, I stopped by a small kiosk to get a
battery for my wireless computer mouse. While I was leaving, a guy came
who said: ‘Give me Buhari and Osinbajo. I waited to see what he meant
and the seller handed him garri and groundnut.
“I inquired from the seller, who explained that garri is the
street term for President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is
groundnut, while Senate President Bukola Saraki is sugar, slang for the
staple foods the poor can afford,” he added.
According to a public opinion survey by NOI Polls, released on
August 10, 2016, 97% of the respondents said the recent economic
realities have had a negative effect on the wellbeing of the average
Nigerian.
Some survival methods discovered by the polls include cutting down
on household expenses and luxury items, resorting to prayers and hoping
for a miracle, engaging in subsistence farming, adjusting feeding
patterns in place of the regular three-square meals.
A businessman, Emeka Obinna told a correspondent that he has had to adjust the feeding patterns of his family.
“I have a family of six, with several other dependents. That’s
the only way we are managing to survive. No more three-square meals. It
is either breakfast and dinner, or lunch and dinner. So, it is the
1-0-1, 1-1-0 or 0-1-1 formula I am operating now with the little
resources at my disposal,” he said.
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