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Last week was one of a kind for me. Some exciting things happened but the atmosphere for me was still gloomy.
I cried all week following the loss of my colleague, Chukwuma Onuekwusi with whom I have reported with at the State House for eight years. I will tell you a little about it later.
One of the most exciting things that happened last week was Acting President Yemi Osinbajo appearing at the Garki market. Yes, the Acting
President showed up unannounced at the market to see for himself what the Nigerian people are going through. According to the Presidency, he wanted to feel the pulse of Nigerians for himself.
It has been two years of bitter, sweet relationships between the government and Nigerians. So last minute, I decided to change the direction of my piece after Osinbajo decided to stop at the market.
Nigerians have continued to complain about the high cost of food produce in the country. The cry about town has been that despite the good news that inflation has been dropping for some months now food prices are refusing to go down. The ordinary man on the street actually doesn’t understand the logic, it beats me too.
Recall that some months ago the government set up a task force to force down food prices and to review the major causes of the hike so that it can be handled. The committee had listed some issues that were militating against food prices, chief amongst them was the high cost of transporting food produce.
The Minister of Agricultural Resources, Audu Ogbeh, who headed the task force said the committee realised that the hike in price cost was “not due to shortage but the high cost of transportation”. Not just transporting the produce from the farms or from one states to the other but what they face on the road.
According to him the mode of transporting food items across the country, with heavy trucks and the increase in the price of diesel were noted as factors that led to the increase in food prices.
Extortion from police and other touts on the roads do not make things easy, either.
Back to our main discuss, when I heard Osinbajo was stopping over at the market, first I was shocked. The clouds were gathering already, it was about to rain. This Acting President still insisted. Thankfully the rains held up just till he was done before pouring out.
So the crux of the interaction with the excited women and men at the Garki market was on why their prices were still high. Their complaints?
The high cost of renting shops and the cost of the foodstuff from those they buy from.
His response? We will meet the management of the market and talk with them. Then, he asked them to return to farming so that they can produce more. The logic is, if we produce more there will be more to
buy at a cheaper rate. “The more we farm the cost of products will come down,” he told them.
The Acting President never ceases to amaze me and no it is about what he said but what he did by going to the market in the first place. Are they, (the Buhari- led administration) or is he trying to please Nigerians or what? Leave me out of it. This administration will be two years tomorrow and this is one of those times when the ordinary man
suffering on the street, the one who feels the real pinch of the recession, gets to see the human side of government.
Did you hear that Presidential media aide Garba Shehu, last week say that if President Muhammadu Buhari chooses to contest he will win
overwhelmingly? How so? That the administration has given Nigerians enough theatrics with the war against corruption, failed to successfully prosecute a lot of the cases and recovered monies that are yet to be ploughed back into the system or what? Ok maybe according to Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, it is just too early to judge.
It is not enough to sit in Aso Rock and talk about crashing food prices. Whatever strategy the task force talked about has clearly not worked as nothing has changed since the discuss in February this year.
Before I deviate, you have to love an Osinbajo that visits the mechanic in their own spots, or receive school children in his office or finds time have that close relationship or interaction with the
everyday Nigerian. I mean what is there not to love?
You see, Nigerians have grown to abhor the mere mention of the word Change, the mantra that brought the Buhari-led administration to
power, so pardon me when I totally agree with Osinbajo’s strategy of getting Nigerians back on their side, even though it may only be in my
head. For me, his move was considered a fence-mending venture.
The story of most Nigerians, especially the ordinary man on the street, in the last two years is one hunger and anger but this year I am getting a feeling of some seriousness to turn things around.
Osinbajo seems to have taken the war to change the business environment in Nigeria personally. He has also given personal attention to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), vis-a-vis the MSME clinics, taking out time to go round the different states where the clinic goes a difference from the aloofness we have seen. Let me leave this here before I am seen to be blowing Osinbajo’s trumpet.
So Chukwuma died and it got me thinking the whole week of what life is really about. For the journalists, it is waking up (or barely sleeping), prepping your mind both religiously and psychologically for your day and rushing out for the next assignment. The race with everyone apart from journalists just never stops. Ours is a hectic one that can keep you at one spot for almost a whole day and sometimes not in the best of conditions. Whatever the case, I have learnt to make time and get checked properly and not procrastinate.
It also got me thinking about the main reason for life. Mr. Onuekwusi’s death is trending on social media and has been reported to be one of the trending issues on Google. Chuks, as he was fondly called by colleagues reached far in his life and made an impact in death. For the first time, at least since I started covering the State House (8years ago) that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will observe a minute silence for anyone that is not a cabinet member or the relative of one. I can vaguely remember that it happened when the country experienced one of those mishaps, I think air crash or Boko Haram victims. Chuks got all that.
You see, Chukwuma reported from that beat for 10 years and was a star in his own right, a thorough journalist. If you ever watched Channels
television news, you could not have missed his voice, Chukwuma Onuekwusi, Channels television. We sat closely for all my eight years, explaining why his death affected me so much. I have come to accept that he is gone but learnt to give my all to life. No holding back, choose your path, follow through and live life well. Adiue my brother, friend, and colleague.
Elizabeth Archibong
