Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
Following the increasing hardship in the country compounded by the high cost of premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly referred to as fuel or petrol and the federal government’s naira redesign policy that has made the currency scarce, some residents of Rivers State are now lamenting bitterly.
Speaking to TPCN on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, some of the residents complained that the increased price of petrol to N450 a litre at the filling stations and N600 at the black market which has caused a hike in transport fares, as well as the high charges by point of sale (P.O.S.) operators have subjected them to unprecedented suffering.
Miss Favour Abasi, a seamstress, said she now treks all the way from Okilton to her shop at Rumuola because of the high cost of transport.
“Before, I will just pay N50 from Okilton to Gateway; then I will trek to Wimpey and enter taxi to Rumuola for N100. But now, they’re charging N200 to Rumuola and N100 from Okilton to Gateway. I can’t afford it. Things are expensive and everything has gone up, the money is not even there,” she lamented.
The story is almost the same for Mrs. Gold Nwodu, an Etche woman who sells foodstuff at Ozuoba. She said the increased fare from Ozuoba to Mile 1, Diobu, has forced her to look for alternative markets that are near for her purchases.
Mrs. Gold said: “I dey go Sangana Market for Mile 1 every early morning to buy vegetable and other things because things dey cheap there. But since bus people increase the transport to N350, I no dey fit go there again. If I pay N350 going and N350 coming, na N700 be that, how much I dey sell wey I go spend N700 for transport alone?
“For now na Choba market I dey go. That one I go just pay N100 going, N100 coming. Anything I see I manage buy am like that, make person dey survive first. Wetin dey happen for this country no good at all. No money, bus drivers dey complain say fuel dey cost, bank people sef dey complain. This country dey make life tire person.”
Sharing his own pitiable experience, another resident, Lawson Braide, bemoaned the scarcity caused by the new naira policy. He said the federal government and the central bank should have made adequate plans to cushion the effects on Nigerians before embarking on the project.
“The situation is quite terrible. We don’t have enough money in circulation in the country right now. They didn’t print enough new notes and that’s why we have this scarcity now. You go to banks, they won’t pay you more than N3000. You go to their ATM machines, the same thing.
“You go to P.O.S, they will charge you N200 for N1000, N1000 for N5000, 2 or N3000 for N10,000. And most of them don’t have money to give you. Some have even closed down. The whole thing is causing serious hardship for us; people are suffering,” he said.
On how he thinks the hardship can be reduced, Lawson, a businessman, said: “First, the federal government, through the NNPC, should make fuel (petrol) available and bring it down to the former price of N195 per litre. Then the CBN should send enough cash to banks. I heard they have withdrawn a lot of old money out of circulation. Let them also print more of the new money and send to banks so that the masses can get money and eat.
“Some people are now starving because of this whole thing. It’s worse in Port Harcourt here because our population is too much. More people have relocated to this city because of Boko Haram and gun men.”
Meanwhile, the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has commended the Supreme Court of Nigeria for ordering the banks to keep collecting the old naira notes even after the February 10 deadline in order not to cause more suffering for Nigerians. He spoke at the PDP campaign rally at Abua/Odual LGA on Wednesday.
