HARD TIMES: WILL 2025 FARE BETTER?

Ima Nkanta

As the year comes to an end, many are waiting with bated breath to see what the new year holds in stock for them. The year 2024 has been a period of anger for many due to economic difficulties in the nation. So, as we deeply reflect on what we have passed through in the year, we should also heave a sigh of relief that finally the burden of the year would be lifted off our shoulders, as we give hope a place in our hearts for a new beginning with fresh air for new start. It is our transition hour!

Growing up in my village, we took end of the year so seriously, trusting that all bad events of the outgoing year would not hang on us into the new year. Our preparedness to light off the old year included a chore of routines such as gathering all old clothes together to burn on 31st December.
Burning old clothes to us then mean a departure of all old and undesirable elements, so they won’t follow us into the new and spotless year.

Those old, ragged clothes represented poverty, and everything bad; getting rid of them was akin to getting the old bad year ridden off, for the new and more welcoming one to dawn.
Today, many still keep faith with this tradition of getting rid of the old year and all its troubles -“Good riddance of a bad rubbish.”

The hardship all of us go through didn’t just start in 2024, it is a culmination of the economic reforms orchestrated by President Bola Tinubu, when he removed fuel subsidy without proper mitigation measures to cushion the effects of such abrupt policy somersault. Fuel is a major driver of the economy of the nation. Currently, it sells at a little above one thousand naira. So, how will 2025 fare, since the economic reforms programs of Tinubu administration have not yielded expected fruits?

Whereas the federal government, alongside its economic managers are scrambling to ensure pump price of the premium motor spirit (PMS) also known as petrol continues to fall, with the Dangote and Port Harcourt refineries beginning to refine crude for PMS, the bureaucratic bottle necks in the oil and gas sector are, however, seen as a clog on the wheel of progress of the administration; and this scenario might continue with same narratives in 2025, unless some interventions above come through.

Similar difficulty is experienced in the nation’s power sector; incessant collapse of the national grid has become our albatross. Meanwhile, power distribution companies are intensifying drive for bills payment by hapless poor Nigerians who don’t have access to power they are coerced to pay for. Clever personnel of power distribution companies exploit poor Nigerians with threats to disconnect them from power source, unless they pay bills; even when there has been no blink of power in weeks. And these are estimated bills.

Power issues have further added to the suffering of Nigerians, as alternative power via generators is also very expensive with increased costs of PMS and diesel. Beside fuel and power issues, traders and transporters have squelched life out of the downtrodden, as they raise prices of essential commodities like foodstuffs and toiletries on daily basis. For instance, a female retail store operator by Akpan Andem market, Uyo, that stocks noodles lamented loss of profit to unimaginable price hike at such alarming rates that erase off her profits.

According to her, she noticed more customers were picking up her items the previous day, but her return to the wholesaler’s shop to restock, prices have soared over 30% the next day. Unless by some strokes of the supernatural, she’s out of the business, as both her capital and profits were consumed by sudden surge in prices under 24 hours. Things are tough for the poor, yet the poor themselves are unkind to each other; leaving them with nothing, as stated in Proverbs 28:3 “A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.”

Year 2024 fading away has left soured taste in our mouths. The only thing government did was to increase minimum wage from thirty thousand naira to seventy thousand naira. But this is even more cruel, as inflation rates have correspondingly quadrupled; dwindling the purchasing power of minimum wagers who’ll have to grapple with soared prices of foods and other household items. Poor Nigerians, even the workers groan under the heavy weights of President Tinubu reforms which has no human face.

The whole economic cloud of the country is ominously scaring, with opposition accusing the administration of massive corruption and excesses. How then do we expect 2025 to usher in a breather for Nigerians? Will Tinubu administration renege on its difficult reforms and bring back fuel subsidy? Certainly not! Tinubu administration is not a listening government; it will continue to drive its policies through the rough roads, expecting that results will trickle in somehow. But that’s a hoax! Benefits of fuel subsidy removal may not be felt so soon. Experts doubt if reforms will bear expected fruits in the lifetime of this administration.

How will Nigerians fare in 2025? Unless by the finger of the supernatural, the sufferings of Nigerians next year could exceed those of 2024. God forbid! We might then need to go spiritual and unlock what good is in the womb of the incoming year. Will the angelic number 5 make any difference in 2025? Let’s find out from a Bible numerologist, Bishop Nick Iheanacho in the next page.