Blooming where nothing grows
“You think you’re the first to try and bloom where nothing grows” — Nonso Amadi 2023
Lately, it’s been that way in Nigeria; it has been like nothing is going right, not even the weather. So forgive me for feeling like I’m doing something unprecedented. The nation’s spirit is hurt. Ever since the removal of the fuel subsidies by the Tinubu government upon its entry in May 2023, the struggling economy has dictated the mood in the country. And I dare say, it has been sour.
Aside from being a global event in 2023, inflation was exaggerated in Nigeria by removing the long controversial fuel subsidies. The removal of the fuel subsidies in Nigeria caused the price of petrol to triple overnight, a phenomenon that has had spillover effects on the lives of everyday Nigerians. First, businesses that relied on petrol to power their production process saw their cost of production soar. Of course, higher petrol prices automatically mean higher transportation prices, all to be borne by the common man.
Adding to the, as they say, “short-term” suffering of everyday Nigerians, Tinubu’s government, in a double-whammy policy shift, floated the naira whose value was formerly guaranteed by the Nigerian government through its foreign exchange reserves mostly earned by its main export, oil. This system, formerly run by Nigeria, is the fixed exchange rate system. However, the Tinubu administration, with its neo-liberal reforms that are cheered on by the Bretton Woods duo, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has switched to the floating exchange rate system where the free market is king. Under the floating exchange system, the forces of demand and supply determine the value of a currency, in this case, the naira.
Consequently, the switch to the floating exchange rate system by the Tinubu administration has meant the devaluation of the naira by about 69 per cent as of February 2024, from about 469 naira per dollar to about 1,530 naira per dollar. For an import-reliant country like Nigeria, this spelt doom — the much weaker naira could purchase fewer goods than it formerly could. Also, the situation is more heart-wrenching given that Nigeria’s meagre export capacity, especially the non-oil exports, cannot capitalize on the silver lining to the devaluation of the naira, i.e., Nigeria’s exports becoming cheaper on the international market.
Nevertheless, the debate whether the IMF supported policy reforms, i.e., the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira, undertaken by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, makes economic sense does not diminish the fact that most Nigerians are suffering as a result. The income of an average Nigerian cannot keep up with the runaway inflation ignited by the said IMF-okayed policies. As of February 2024, inflation in Nigeria stood at about 30 percent, the highest since mid-1996, about 27 years ago. Given that half of Nigeria is aged below 19 years, it’s safe to say that about 60 per cent of the population has never witnessed current levels of economic hardship.
However, economic hardship is just a facet of the problems Nigerians face on a regular day. There’s insecurity, infrastructure deficit, and the nasty reputation that comes with being Nigerian in a globalized world. As for the insecurity, spates of kidnappings, skirmishes, killings, and terrorism plague the country. At first, it was Boko Haram in the country’s North East getting the world’s attention in 2014 for kidnapping 276 school girls in Chibok, Borno State. Ever since Nigerians have become unfazed and numb by the country’s deteriorating security situation. Armed non-state actors run amok in every corner of the country. The South East is terrorized by the Indigenous People of Biafra, a separatist organization. At the same time, the South West has had incidences of insecurity, such as the Owo Sunday massacre, which claimed the lives of 40 people.
As for the North Central, about 195 people were killed in Plateau state in what appears to be a symbolic attack on Christmas Eve. More recently, 16 soldiers on a peacekeeping mission concerning communal clashes in Delta state, Nigeria’s South-South, were killed. Lastly, on the 7th of March, 2024, in Kaduna state, the country’s North West, about 287 pupils and teachers were kidnapped by bandits who are demanding 1 billion naira from the federal government for their release. With all these incidences, it’s logical to assume that no part of Nigeria is safe.
“Discover the earth beneath the concrete. Plant the seed, then watch it bloom” — Nonso Amadi 2023
Despite the difficult situation that is Nigeria, from time to time, you hear unbelievable movie-like breakaway stories. Growing up in Onitsha, Philip Emeagwali, the mathematical genius’ impossible story, was folklore known by all. The man was deified a living legend for his feats. The story is that his secondary school education was cut short by the Biafran Civil War, where he was conscripted as a child soldier. Yet, after the war, he finished his secondary school education by himself through self-study. He went on to study mathematics in the United States under a scholarship after completing a course at the University of London. His most significant contribution to science is supercomputing, where he improved oil reservoir modelling.
Blooming Where Nothing Grows is a story of resilience, rebellion, and perseverance in the face of adversity and difficult situations. It’s a story of not being defined by your environment. Although it may seem as though outliers like Emeagwali are the only ones blooming in this toxic wasteland called Nigeria, that’s not true. Every Nigerian who keeps on keeping on is a hero in their own right.
I was inspired to write this piece by the ordeals I had to pass through to get a textbook for my master’s dissertation. I couldn’t get the book locally, as expected. I tried ordering it on Amazon, but it was no surprise that it didn’t ship the book to Nigeria. At this point, my frustration and resentment had already started to build up. “How could I get this book to Nigeria?” I asked myself.
After consulting with friends and family, I discovered I could use the drop shipping route via GIG, a famous logistics company in Nigeria with an outlet in Texas, America. “Perfect!” I thought to myself, despite having to pay more, given that I had introduced a middleman to the mix. But I wasn’t getting my book to finish my dissertation yet; Nigeria had more hurdles for me to jump. I couldn’t pay for the book on Amazon because my Nigerian debit cards are not enabled for international transactions. At this juncture, I was getting fed up trying to solve issue after issue.
The payment conundrum was solved by sending the naira equivalent to a friend in the United Kingdom so she could place the order using her account on my behalf. “Don’t even think it’s smooth sailing from here henceforth. The Nigerian factor still had tricks up its sleeves.” GIG, the Nigerian logistics company that was meant to receive the book in the United States on my behalf, dropped the ball and caused Amazon to cancel the delivery and issue a refund to my friend, who helped me coordinate the transaction.
While all this was happening, the clock was ticking on my dissertation as the deadline was fast approaching. I was at my wit’s end. What other possible option do I have to obtain this book in time to write my dissertation? I was frustrated. Nevertheless, I had to keep on going regardless of the situation. I had to concede to getting the softcopy of the book, given that the universe didn’t want me to get the physical copy. But the Nigerian factor wasn’t going to make this route easy either. Apparently, Google Books, where I wanted to purchase the soft copy book, doesn’t operate in Nigeria in 2024! It was very disheartening that being in Nigeria limits one this much. But I wasn’t going to quit just yet.
Remember my friend in the UK who was going to help me order the book on Amazon? She saved me again. I gave her my Google account login details, “a first,” so she could log in and purchase the book on my behalf using her “internationally accepted payment method.” After purchasing the book, I used a VPN to mislead Google that I was in Germany, where Google Books is functional, so I could download the book locally on my system. The heist was a successful one. The only thing I was left to sulk about was that the book came in this weird epub format that can only be read by a special Adobe reader.
Nevertheless, I was able to finish up my dissertation thanks to the book and, in my own little way, bloom where nothing grew.
