Nigerians have faced difficult circumstances in 2023, but remain hopeful for this year 2024.
The year 2023 started with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Naira redesign policy and cash withdrawal limit, which created interruptions in economic operations and widespread hardship in the first two months of 2023 (January & February 2023).
As countries were trying to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and adjusting to the instabilities created by the Russian-Ukraine war, the impact of fuel subsidy removal, further intensified hardship of most Nigerians, as they could no longer eat twice a day, (as some Nigerians put it).
Barely a month after the removal of fuel subsidy, the government, in an attempt to switch to a unified, market-reflective foreign exchange (FX) rate, decided to float the naira. Instantly the exchange rate moved from the official rate of N460/$ to ranges of N800 to N1099 and the parallel market went above N1300/$ at some point.
Despite these challenges, Nigerians who spoke to me, affirmed that 2024 would be a year of restoration and fruitfulness.
A business woman in Lagos, Mrs Clara Ayomide told me that, she has gotten to a point where she could no longer bear any hardship.
“My resilience has gotten to its limit. I don’t think I can cope with another policy that could bring more hardship upon us. I have prayed to God, (at crossover night) to intervene by helping our government formulate good policies that can turn things around for good in 2024,” Mrs Ayomide stated.
Mr Chris Segun, a civil servant in Lagos, prays for the naira to be strengthened, and the war between Russia and Ukraine to end.
Explaining further, Mr Segun posited that, “The only thing that affected me in 2023 is the massive surge in the prices of goods and services. I could no longer eat twice a day. Even when the government had to increase our salary, it still wasn’t enough. I had to trek a long distance to save more money.”
He however tasked the government to fix the economy so that Nigerians can breathe.
For Edikan Ita, a businessman in Lagos, “I do not have any hope. Things have been going from bad to worse, so nothing is going to surprise me in 2024. If the government want to turn the country upside down in 2024, I will still survive with God’s help, inasmuch as I am alive and healthy.”
