As I lay on my bed, trying to round up my engagement on hive for the day before going to bed, I received a notification from my most recently published blog post, I quickly decided to check before taking the much-needed night's rest, and I was surprised to see a comment from Leo.task that someone had gifted me premium subscription, wow! How happy I was, because becoming premium is something I had been looking forward to getting so I could get the most out of INLEO, I quickly typed a reply expressing my gratitude to the giver, and also ran to threads to make my first thread as a premium user, the day was ending or should I say starting well for me, since it was already 12:58 am, filled with excitement while making that thread and thinking of ways I could maximize my premium gift, suddenly, I heard a loud shout which seemed to be coming from my landlord's apartment, and cries from the children followed, I'm not one to leave my apartment in the middle of the night for security purposes and fetish practices among resident of my neighbourhood, but the noise kept on increasing, I listened attentively to be sure of what was happening, and it felt like a fight was taking place or someone was being beaten, I also heard screams which seems to be coming from my landlady after each blow, with that, I quickly unbolted my doors, and off I went to the source of the noise, normally, i'm one to mind my business, but a woman being beaten shouldn't be one I should stay back from, worst still, my husband was not around, as he is yet to be back from his business trip.
Image edited using canva
True to what I heard, a fight was happening, the husband battering his wife and she retaliating from what I could see through the window as their five children cried out for help, it was dark, and I had my phone's flashlight on, I quickly ran to the front door, knocked on the locked door for someone to open up, apparently, I was the only other adult around in the compound, no answer, I prayed for none of them to kill each other because it was intense observing what was going on from the outside, their eldest son of about 8-9 years in his tearful state managed to find the key which he handed over to me through the window.
I opened the door and dashed to the room, the very sight of husband and wife battering each other almost made me weak, I summoned the courage, got in between them to separate, and tried to calm the wife down, but they were too powerful for me to hold and anger had already engulfed both of them, in fact, I also received a punch on my face and sustained some bruises on my wrist, I had left my phone outside the apartment with my flashlight on to avoid it from getting damaged while trying to separate the fighting couples. I managed to beg the husband to leave his angry wife who was hell-bent on making her husband beat her to death, thankfully he listened and left the apartment while I still tried to calm the wife, holding onto her strongly, a few minutes later, he came back inside with my phone in his hands, searching for something which I later found out was his phone, in the heat of the moment, his wife left my grasp dashed for her husband hitting him on his face, next, she went for my phone which she thought was his and smashed it on the floor, oh! my heart skipped, I couldn't even interfere anymore, I picked my phone up, the screen was badly damaged, I felt really bad, and had to seek for assistance outside to the neighboring compounds to help me in separating the fighting couple in the middle of the night.
Thank God I found some adults who were stronger than I am, and they helped in separating them, while they rained gut-wrenching insults at each other. As for me, I was left with broken heart, a damaged phone screen, and unexpected expenses because I can't do without my phone, my phone is my portable office/business place, and now I had no choice than to deal with the expenses of changing my phone's screen which cost about 15 HBD, I had to remove some amount from my savings to get my phone fixed yesterday, I almost missed posting and fall out of my new year resolution of daily posting and engagement due to this unfortunate experience and me trying to be a good neighbour, maybe I should have minded my business after all, but what if one person succeeded in killing the other.
Well, from their explanation, the root problem of their matter is all due to the hardship we currently face in our country, the high cost of the dollar-naira exchange rate has done more harm than good to businesses and in turn families, the lack of understanding between them, and impatient has led to this very disgraceful act, the husband who runs an import business has for experience some setbacks in his business due to the high cost of the dollar, hence, he can't provide as he used to for the family, so the most expenses has fall on the woman's shoulder, which had her agitated when her husband came back with the usual complain of no money, according to her, her mini business was greatly affected due to the expenses and also falling apart, but was resulting to violence the best option or solution to their financial issues? Of course not.
Sadly, many families in Nigeria are also facing the same struggles
Effects of a High Dollar Exchange Rate
A high exchange rate of the US dollar relative to the Nigerian naira has wide-ranging impacts on the Nigerian economy. Nigeria relies heavily on revenues from oil exports which are priced and traded globally in dollars. Additionally, Nigeria is dependent on imports for many consumer goods, raw materials, and the very food we eat, therefore, dollar costs influence prices of basic needs. Imagine rice, the commonest meal in Nigeria is also imported, and now it is not affordable to the common man, how then do they expect families to cope, especially with children?
Some of the major effects include
Increased Costs for Businesses
A stronger dollar makes imports more expensive in naira terms. Many Nigerian businesses import machinery, commercial vehicles, spare parts, and processed inputs for manufacturing, just like my Landlord does, the higher cost of these imported items reduces profit margins for local businesses. This makes it difficult for them to be price competitive, especially against foreign products and companies not facing the same dollar exchange rate issues. there is no gain because consumers can't even afford to buy these goods anymore even if the businessman forces himself to buy them, about two months ago dollar was rated to naira at 700 naira, and today, the dollar rate is approximately 1500, more than double the rate, goods gotten at a price for instance $200 is now sold at $400-500 at capital level in naira rate, how would such business experience profit?
Higher Prices for Consumers
With the above point, Nigerian consumers also face rising prices as businesses are forced to pass on higher import costs. Everything from food items to electronics and household appliances that rely on imported inputs becomes more expensive. Lower-income households feel the impacts the most because their salaries/income remains the same if not lesser and has no value compared to dollars.
Constraints on Economic Growth
The high cost of imported capital equipment, machinery, and manufacturing inputs slows business expansion and construction. It makes it harder for Nigerian companies to grow and boost production, and this makes it difficult for Nigerian companies to plan and budget accurately. It can deter long-term investments and encourage short-term thinking, the resulting downturn in economic growth impacts employment and consumer spending. It makes the country unattractive for some potential investors, which further results in a slow/ crumbling economy
Potential Solutions
Curb Non-Essential Imports
Nigeria must take steps to curb its appetite for non-essential finished goods imported from abroad. Given scarce foreign exchange, priority should be given to imports of raw materials, capital equipment, and production inputs that local businesses need. Luxury items, basic consumables, and other non-essential imports should be phased out through tariffs and import restrictions, we can produce our own rice to be of the international standard we all prefer if the government gives the necessary attention to that aspect, it's outrageous that the giant of Africa still imports its own rice and ours is not something good to write about because of how it is poorly produced.
Import Substitution Policies
Policies aimed at encouraging domestic manufacturing to substitute imported goods can reduce foreign exchange outflows over time. But this requires long-term investments and competitiveness improvements, as I stated earlier, the full support of the government is also needed and not just by making policies, supporting local farmers, getting the right equipment, and reducing the tax on them, making it moderate.
Strategic Foreign Reserves
Building up Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves during periods of high oil prices provides a buffer for the Central Bank to smooth volatility and intervene in currency markets during downturns, but the high corruption among our leaders won't let them use this alternative, rather, they are focused on looting enough money for themselves and their unborn generation.
As for Nigerians, we know how unconcerned our government can be since it's not new to us, this is not the time to fight your spouse or parent, but rather the time to put your head together devising plans that can help you manage yourself and family, get additional sources of incomes, passive ones if possible, there are ways to earn dollars online also rather than depend on the monthly salaries, look out for investment that can yield good profits in months it years to come, if you can, save in dollars or crypto, of course thus is on your own risk, so endeavour to make proper research before venturing.
Only if our government can be of better help by diversifying exports, boosting domestic production, eliminating waste and corruption, and judiciously deploying reserves, Nigeria can manage its dollar shortage and start rebuilding for the long term. Although the challenges seem daunting, Nigeria's economic future remains bright if its leaders take decisive action.
Thank you for reading❤❤
Image 2is mine