Major part of my yesterday was spent at Nkwo Nnewi Automobile Market. I’d gone to replace some of our delivery bikes parts as well as replace the Exhaust of the one I use for personal purposes but nothing could have prepared me for the shock that awaited me.
Just a few years ago, I bought this entire bike for ₦200,000. But yesterday, the price of the exhaust alone was ₦220,000.
I laughed at first, thinking the vendor was pulling my leg. But after haggling from shop to shop, the reality sank in, this was the new normal.
I stood there, amidst the noise of engines revving and traders shouting, feeling a wave of frustration wash over me.
How did we get here?
How did we come to a place where a mere motorcycle parts now costs more than the whole bike did just a few years ago?
It’s not just about inflation or market dynamics.
It’s about a system that keeps sinking its citizens deeper into hardship.
A country where prices soar while incomes stagnate.
Where leaders sit comfortably, detached from the struggles of the everyday man.
I looked around at the faces in the market; men and women grinding hard just to make ends meet, traders trying to sell at prices they themselves could barely afford, buyers walking away disappointed because their pockets could no longer carry their needs.
What has Nigeria turned into?
A place where survival has become a luxury.
Where dreams are constantly deferred by policies that do not favor the masses.
Where hope is a fragile thread easily snapped by economic realities.
It is not just about the exhaust or the motorcycle.
It is about a system that keeps robbing its people of dignity and progress.
How long will this continue?
When will we have leaders who care enough to fix the mess, who prioritize the people over power?
I left the market that day not just with an expensive exhaust and other parts but with a heavy heart.
Something must change.
And it starts with us asking the hard questions.
