We must break eggs to make omelette-Bala Ibrahim

Sequel to my article justifying the petrol price hike, I received a lot of responses from people, some of them sarcastic. I knew it would happen like that, but I purposely chose to start the discourse, in order to correct the long-held misconception about the so-called “living condition” abroad.

Ordinarily, I would have delayed my response till much later, but when I received the message below, from a close friend, an academic in Mass communication, and one that I once worked with abroad, I said the delay is dangerous, because it may consume the elites.

“Your previous articles appear more objective than this because you only cared to do a cost comparative analysis of petrol in different countries without considering the level of underdevelopment and backwardness of the Nigerian economy, which translates into near-zero opportunities for the Nigerian people. Even countries like Niger provide more stable power supply, security, predictable exchange rate, consistent business policies etc and more conducive business environment than our own. Hence, citizens, there can afford to pay high petrol or electricity cost!”. The introduction of his message says, “This your article, was it commissioned by Femi Adesina or Garba Shehu?

At least the intro gave me the desired laughter.

Read Also:PMB and the proper pricing of petrol-Bala Ibrahim

Because my friend and I are from Kano and we once lived together in London, I would centre my comparison of living conditions to, between Kano and London.

According to a recently published report, it was found that a single person living in London would need to earn at least £27,000 a year to be able to pay rent in a shared house and live comfortably. Live comfortably here is to me, relative.

Another report has this to say about living in London: “Living conditions in the heart of London are not to be envied, despite all the profligacy there. City lungs are slowly filling with chemicals; City minds grow weary thinking about where their wallets are in case of theft, and how full they are, in preparation for the next financial crash; and City offices and homes burn up power as air-condition whirl and a thousand and one gadgets are charged.

Going by the exchange rate today, £27,000 is equivalent to N16,470,000,00. So you need nearly N17m to live in a shared apartment, in a city that fills your lungs with chemicals, to arrive at a so-called comfortable living.

I can say without fear of any contradiction, with N17m you can buy a very good house in Tarauni, which is a stone throw from the Government House, of Nasarawa GRA, Kano.

Again, if purchasing power is the value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy, and going by the data of Numbeo.com, a leading site on comparative living standards,  commodities sell higher in London than in Kano:

Milk (regular), (1 liter) 0.96 £=N585.6

Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) 1.06 £=N976

Rice (white), (1kg) 1.46 £=N890

Eggs (regular) (12) 2.11 £=N1,280

Apples (1kg) 2.05 £=N1,250

Water (1.5 liter bottle) 0.85 £=N519

One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 2.80 £=N1,708

Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 150.00 £=N91,500

Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) 2.00 £=N1,220

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 28.80 £17,568

Petrol (1 liter) 1.27 £=N774

Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment 170.94 £=N104,273

1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) 0.13 £=N79

Summary about the cost of living in London:

1. Four-person family monthly costs: 1,798,280₦ (2,948.94£) without rent (using our estimator).
2. A single person monthly costs: 506,910₦ (831.00£) without rent.
3. Cost of living index in London is 135.15% higher than in Lagos.
4. Rent in London is, on average, 105.50% higher than in Lagos.
5. Cost of living rank 37th out of 557 cities in the world.
6. London has a cost of living index of 83.48

I need not put the prices of similar commodities and services in Kano, because it would amount to a waste of time.

What most of us are failing to understand about life abroad is the position of tax, and how it is used to bolster other social services like education, medical care, transportation and housing.

If we don’t apply and pay the right taxes, we shouldn’t ever dream of getting the right services. Every time I watch the TV and see cliches of Nigerians that were deceived into falling victims of going abroad, under the illusion that it is the heaven they want to go to, I weep in pain. Life there is not as rosy as is being painted. And what we look down upon in Nigeria, is more than dear there.

I cry when I see doctors, engineers and first-class graduates giving out their lives to get there and end up as taxi drivers or underpaid house helps.

A friend said, “All the things for which President Buhari is being chided today – fuel price increase, electricity tariff hike and aggressive tax regime-  were things that he was equally blamed for in the past, as his lack of economic reform initiative by allowing them to be at what was considered as non-competitive rates”.

Sure, there are concerns by people that are thinking out of the box, advancing arguments for reforms that would reduce wastage and revive moribund institutions, but the journey must commence with realistic taxes and tariffs, one of which is the petrol price.

They may be painful, but you have to break eggs to make omelettes.

Bala Ibrahim, a Media Advisor writes from Abuja