US-based Nigerian Professor of Journalism has warned that only hell and inferno await Nigerians at the end of the tunnel of Tinubu’s so-called economic reforms.
He made the remarks during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday.
The social commentator commented on President Tinubu’s two years in office, saying it is “so far so bad.” He said the removal of oil subsidies and the simultaneous devaluation of the naira has created a hyper-inflationary conflagration in the country.
During his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu infamously declared: “Subsidy is gone.” That state, coupled with the follow-up policy of floating the naira, immediately plunged the nation into an inflationary spiral that has continued to drive the prices of basic necessities beyond the reach of most Nigerians. Despite repeated assurances by the government that the hardship felt by Nigerians will only be temporary, there is still no sign of respite.
“There is nowhere on earth where the gutting of subsidies and the devaluation of the national currency simultaneously has ever led to prosperity,” Prof. Kperogi posited. “ What it has always led to is the hollowing out of the middle class, mass pauperization, and, of course, the enrichment of the already rich. When you add that to other optics of governance of concentrating power within a certain class of people that are connected to the president by virtue of location and ethnicity, then it gets even particularly worse.”
The award-winning author said all the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration assurances that the subsidy removal will make more money available for investment in infrastructures, education, and health and make further borrowing unnecessary have failed to materialize.
Also, speaking of the Cybercrime Law that the government is actively using to hound social media critics, Farooq said that the existence of such a law is inconsistent with democracy.
“In most places in the world that at least claim to be democratic, libel is a civil case. That means you don’t go to jail for it. You only pay a fine.
“The Cybercrime Law that was passed, interestingly by Goodluck Jonathan, is actually an unnecessary repetition because Nigeria already has libel laws. They just needed to amend it to include publications on social media.
Arresting someone for libel is against the ethos of democracy. Part of the Cybercrime Law says insulting the president is a crime. In fact, Omoyele Sowore was accused of insulting the president during a media interview. That’s an anomaly in a democracy.”
