It’s Christmas day! Hearty congratulations for witnessing it. For Nigerians, it’s been a tough year. A year of vicissitudes. As many Christians troop to church this morning in thanksgiving for surviving this year’s unprecedented hardship, many others are mourning the death of their loved ones who were trampled to death for venturing out to palliative distribution centres in search of food. Gory! Preposterous!! Heartrending!!!

This year alone, there have been seven incidences of deadly stampedes. Foundation for Investigative Journalists in a December 22, 2024 report, online said, “In 2024, at least 84 Nigerian lives have been lost at events and programmes that were originally meant to help the poor and put smiles, temporary or not, on people’s faces. While many have cited shoddy planning and poor organisation by the organisers of such events as the root cause of the disasters that were recorded, some have argued that such could have been avoided had the victims been patient, less desperate and maintained orderliness.” In the past week alone, about 70 Nigerians died in stampedes that happened during food and gift distribution events in Oyo, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory.

The timelines are as follows: On February 23, seven Nigerians lost their lives in a stampede that occurred during a rice distribution exercise the Nigeria Customs Service organised at its zonal headquarters in Yaba, Lagos. On March 22, three students of the Nasarawa State University Keffi, died during a stampede that occurred while bags of rice were being distributed to them as palliatives by the state government. On March 23, no fewer than seven people died after a stampede that occurred during an almsgiving exercise organised by Shafa Holdings Company Plc, a petroleum marketing company, in Bauchi State. Over 35 people, mostly children, died on December 18 in a stampede at a children’s Christmas party hosted by Naomi Silekunola, an ex-wife of the Ooni of Ife. The incident happened at the Islamic High School in Basorun, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Three days after the incident in Ibadan, another stampede occurred during a palliative distribution event organised by the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Maitama area of Abuja, leaving at least 10 people dead. On the same Saturday, 22 people were killed during a stampede in Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State. Though unrelated to food or alms, this newspaper also recalled in its editorial yesterday, “Four people were killed in November at the annual Christ the King Catholic Church in Aba, Abia State, during a procession. Several children were injured in the massive procession.”

These food aid-related deaths are symptomatic of the acute state of hunger and deprivation under this administration. Nigerians under the 18-month-old President Bola Tinubu’s administration are witnessing an unprecedented rise in the cost of living occasioned by his economic reforms, such as petrol subsidy removal and floating of the nation’s currency– the naira.

Unfortunately, the president is very unapologetic for inflicting this untoward hardship on Nigerians. In his maiden media chat last Monday, December 23, he claimed the act and the timing were appropriate. I beg to disagree with that. The subsidy removal should have been removed after the Port Harcourt and Dangote refineries were fully operational and the Compressed Natural Gas presidential initiatives commenced. The premature removal of subsidy is what has thrown Nigerians into this economic abyss where they can no longer feed and pay their bills.

Simple triangulation of commodity prices in May 2023 compared to now; comparison of rent, inflation, unemployment and poverty rate within the same period will show how Tinubu have worsted the lives of average Nigerians. Many compatriots are now heavily indebted with no idea of how to liquidate these debts. Yet President Tinubu sees his student loan scheme as an anti-corruption measure. Can you beat that? Tinubu, now popularly called T-Pain or Tinubulation, should thank his stars that he is not seeking reelection soon; upsets such as happened in the UK in July, the US in November and Ghana in December this year would have been inevitable.

However, the truth is that it is not only President Tinubu who should carry the can for our underdevelopment and national miseries. Successive administrations as well as leaders at the subnational levels are equally guilty. There is no gainsaying that corruption, maladministration and incompetence contribute in no small measure to our current unenviable state of the nation. Fixing the rot in the country, therefore, needs all and sundry.

Today Christmas should not be for lamentation but celebration. It’s a time-honoured custom and I enjoin my compatriots to engage in modest celebrations. This is not the time to be suffering and smiling as Afrobeat music icon, Fela Kuti, sang in his timeless song. Despite the food aid distribution tragedies of the recent past, those who are rich and wealthy should still spare resources for the less privileged. I have suggested on several media platforms that unless you’re a farmer who wishes to give farm produce, it’s easier and better to give financial aid through cash transfer to any target group you want to support. Get them to text their account details and wire the money to them just the same way the Federal Government now does with Conditional Cash Transfer under the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. Cash transfer will enable the beneficiaries to go to the market to buy foodstuffs of their choice.

And those who have the resources to celebrate should be mindful of responsibilities awaiting them after Christmas and New Year celebrations. Schools will resume from vacation early January and tuition and other fees must be paid for children and wards. Some people’s rent will be due in January and even daily living costs must be provided for. Thus, this is the time to save for the rainy day; that’s if you can save at all. Don’t lavish your savings on Christmas merriment and New Year jollification. Both days will come and go but responsibilities will not cease. So, save some money for the after-party. For those who do not have food to eat or money to travel to visit loved ones, keep hope alive and hope for a better future. May we all live to celebrate many more Christmas and New Year, in good health and wealth. Merry Christmas!