Independence Day: Tinubu’s Policies Has Inflicted More Hardship On Us – Ondo Residents
As Nigeria marks another Independence Day, citizens across the country have expressed a mix of frustration, disillusionment, and cautious hope about the state of governance and the nation’s direction.
Those who spoke in separate interviews with OSUN DEFENDER in Ondo State noted that the policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration has inflicted more pain and hardship on the people.
They also dismissed the impact of the federal government’s economic reforms, stressing that the reduced inflation and monetary policy numbers are official statistics that has not materialised in the life of the people.
Here are some of their reactions;
Mrs. Ajibike, a Trader at Owo market said, “Before, I could stock my shop with ₦50,000. Now, the same money buys less than half. Customers complain, sales are down, and profit is almost gone. It is like we are working for hunger.”
“The removal of fuel subsidy and rising cost of fertilizer has made farming difficult. Bandits don’t allow us rest in the farm, and government is not giving us support. Food will continue to be costly if nothing changes,” Ibrahim Akeem, a Farmer from Akure North noted.
A commercial transporter at the Akure Garage in the state capital, Tayo Adisa, stated that, “We cannot breathe again. Petrol price don climb too much. We carry passengers but they no fit pay the real fare. Sometimes I work from morning till night and still no money to take home.”
“Salaries have not increased but school fees, food, transport — everything has doubled. We are struggling to survive. We keep hearing promises of palliatives, but ordinary people don’t see them,” Mrs Funmilayo Adeleke, a civil servant in Ondo town stressed further.
“No job anywhere. Government said they will create opportunities, but we see nothing. Many of my friends are leaving Nigeria because the system is not working for young people. Independence Day no longer feels joyful. People are hungry and everything is expensive. Sometimes it feels like we might have been better off under colonial rule than with the kind of government we have now,” Chika Abasi, a trader at the Arakale market in Akure stated.
An undergraduate at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Owo, Miss Adeoti Blessing asserted that, “I still love Nigeria, no matter what. Yes, things are hard, but we cannot give up. Independence Day should remind leaders that young people like us still believe in this country.”
While anger and disappointment dominate many of the responses, there remains a thread of resilience and hope that leaders can draw on to renew the social contract.
For most Nigerians, the demand is clear: less talk, more action.
Taiwo Akinyemi is a budding writer and journalist with a dedicated passion for unearthing stories that arouse public interest and advocate good governance in the society. She reports stories within Ondo State and Nigeria’s South West Region.
