A renowned economist, Bismarck Rewane, has said poverty and hardship following the economic policies of the Nigerian government led by Bola Tinubu and the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration has increased the number of lunatics and mentally unstable people on the streets of Lagos.
Rewane, who is the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, made this statement on Thursday during an interview on Channels TV.
He said many people are under tremendous Hardship and some of them walk across the road even in moving traffic.
He also said that Nigerians are not interested in the budgetary figures rolled out by the government if the prices of basic commodities like rice, bread, and garri do not go down.
He said the people want to feel the impact of the government’s economic policies on their day-to-day livelihood to relieve Hardship.
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He said, “You will notice that on the streets of Lagos in particular, the number of lunatics has increased and part of it is driven by poverty. Many mental health issues. People are pushed to the wall. Some of them walk across the road even in moving traffic.”
He added, “In the end, budgetary arithmetics, budgetary mathematics in economics is of no use to anybody except when by this time, six months’ time, if we are buying rice at N40,000 a bag rather than N60,000 a bag, if we are buying bread N900 a big loaf instead of N1,300 which we are doing today. If we are buying garri at lower prices. The people are not interested in whether the budget is balanced and what the debt is. How does it (the budget) affect their day-to-day livelihood? That is the key thing.”
Rewane, analysing the budget proposal, said the rate of poverty in the country is driving people mad.
He urged the government to address the economic challenges facing the nation and improve the living standards of the people. #Hardship