*After the fall… The sun shone brightly, in sync with the nation’s celebration mood. It was a day to remember. A day destined for the annals of history, to honour Nigeria's hard-won democracy. Twenty-five unbroken years! The air was electric. The stage was set, the crowd buzzing. All eyes were on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as he took to the podium to deliver his speech. Done, he proceeded to mount the motorcade to inspect the presidential parade. Then, it happened in a flash! One moment, President Tinubu was walking sure-footedly between his security aides towards the ride. A few ginger steps and he would be there. The military parade would start as soon as he was in place, waving at his people. But, as he lifted a foot to step onto the back of the truck, gravity had a different plan. *The security aides rushed support him up. Suddenly, as the president ascended the steps of the car, the unthinkable happened – he lost footing and - “Hu...
Some citizens say the current Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu is out to kill all the poor citizens. Very few are smiling in the streets!
Hungry or not, the already poor and overtaxed Nigerians are now to give up food, so they can pay the National Security Adviser to protect government computers and othe systems from thieves.
That is the simple interpretation of the recent cybersecurity levy imposed by Tinubu’s government.
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting internet-connected systems such as hardware, software and data from threats and unauthorized acces.
However, the decision has raised so much dust, with some Nigerians and groups
saying Tinubu is out kill all the poor with numerous taxations and tough policies. Many of them took to social media to express their frustration.
“It is inconceivable to expect the suffering citizens of Nigeria to separately fund all activities of the government. Policies such as this not only impoverish the citizens but make the country’s economic environment less competitive”, said Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra state and the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
Obi, commenting on X, added: “The introduction of yet another tax, in the form of Cybersecurity Levy, on Nigerians who are already suffering severe economic distress is further proof that the government is more interested in milking a dying economy instead of nurturing it to recovery and growth”.
Nigerians are already suffocating under the weight of fuel price hike, high inflation, increased electricity tariffs, call credit hikes, naira devaluation, food scarcity, sky-ricketing cost of living, among others.
Obi said, “the imposition of a Cybersecurity Levy on bank transactions is particularly sad given that the tax is on the trading capital of businesses and not on their profit”.
Although another netizen named “Moechievous” argued that Cybersecurity levy was introduced into our law books since 2015 and updated in 2024 without any challenge, he recommended public interest litigation as a pillar of governance.
But a commentator with username: “George Best 247” was not that diplomatic. He queried the timing for the harsh policy. “Would a government who cares about the plight of it's citizens choose this period to implement the said levy? Inflation is going through the roof. Petrol, food, electricity, everything going up. Salaries remain low, meanwhile. Would that be considered fair?”
The truth is that the common man is no longer smiling under the harsh policies, with no cushion in site.
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