It remains just two days to the new year. Thanks be to God who made us weather the storm of 2023 especially when children too felt the heat of the economic situation in the country. By now, both young and old are reflecting on the events that took place in the course of the year. Some children shared their views about the outgoing year.
Oreoluwa Fadeyi
The entry into 2023 was filled with hope and aspirations about the year. There were positive hopes about the country, as the 2023 election was to take place in the first quarter of the year.
These hopes were short lived as there has been continuous joblessness, high cost of living , high prices of goods and commodities. The increased cost of petroleum products and its scarcity threw caused a lot of problems in the first half of this year.
There have been changes and effects of economic instability in our various homes and schools, even general living, because whatever affects the parents will directly affect their children.
Most schools increased their tuition by more than 25%, academic activities were not affected because learning must continue.
As the year winds down, the hopes of the festive period brightened our faces because it will be a season to reflect and set goals for the new year.
Timileyin Adeyemo, JSS 3
I see year 2023 as harsh to Nigerians. Many families, jobs, businesses were affected negatively. I cannot forget my experience at the beginning of fuel subsidy removal when I usually got late to school. I also observed that many abandoned their vehicles at home and would use public transportation. There was an increase in food prices too. Many children lacked food to eat, some ate unbalanced food while some began to steal.
Divine Ajekiigbe
2023 has been a challenging year for me and my dear nation, Nigeria.
After the merry making of the new year, we started with cashless policy, where so many people died, and others went hungry. We also bought money with money; imagine using N1500 to get N5000 and many people slept at the bank.
This was followed by the election where some angry Nigerians fought themselves. Also, hike in the price of petrol as well as its scarcity. Many times I and my brothers trekked to school in the hot sun because of fuel scarcity. I cannot forget the increase in the price of food items, followed by increase in gas price. But I thank God I experienced good health, academic success, and so on.
Oluwajomiloju Olalekan, JSS 1
The outgoing year is somehow but I thank God that I am alive with my family members. Some of the events that caused problems that I will not forget quickly are: fuel subsidy which resulted in its scarcity and high prices of food and other items. Many lost their lives due to hunger. In my church, someone was kidnapped due to insecurity and was released after paying a huge ransom.
IseOluwa Agunbiade
2023 was quite a memorable year with different experiences. Things were at some point difficult due to fuel price increase and removal of subsidy. I could not go to different places as I wanted like parties. Church was also limited to only Sunday at some point. As a boarder, I ate small amount of food and sometimes our meals were changed because they were quite expensive to buy. All the same, 2023 also had good memories, notwithstanding the price of fuel and transport. My mum surprised me on my birthday, she came to visit me in school and came with birthday surprises which I never expected. I pray that 2024 will be full of testimonies in Jesus’ name.
Blessing Ani
2023 has been a great year with ups and downs. I thank God for His provisions. Things were quite hard this year due to the economic situation in Nigeria. My parents’ businesses did not really go well so that I could not even celebrate my birthday. The cashless policy also did a lot. In all, I still thank God. My brother went all out for me on my birthday, took me out to celebrate and bought a very beautiful pair of shoes.
Mary Ishola
People experienced lack in 2023 to the extent that some parents could not afford to buy Christmas and New Year clothes for their children. Though, we had a new president this year and hoped things would be better, I am not happy because the situation of things became worse for Nigerians.
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