Nigerian comedian Basketmouth has voiced his frustrations regarding the state of Nigeria’s economy and the leadership of the country.
Speaking during an interview with the African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA), Basketmouth shared his growing concern over the rising inflation and the depreciation of the naira, which has drastically affected the lives of everyday Nigerians.
He said, “There’s nothing that can happen, quote me anywhere. Think about it, in 1970, the year I was born, it was one naira to a dollar and this year it’s one dollar to 1600 naira. There was never a time from that time to date that the dollar crashed and went back to what it was and stayed there. It has never happened; think about it.”
Baketmouth also slammed the saying,’ E go better’, meaning ‘It will get better,’ a popular saying by Nigerians in the midst of hardship.
“Every time it changes, all the conversations you’d be hearing is ‘E go better, E go better.’ it’s getting worse, bro. What are the policies? And what have they done? Now 100 pages for a passport is 100,000 naira; they just increased it,” he explained.
He speculated that the government might have orchestrated these economic challenges to push citizens toward the idea of “japa,” a popular term for emigrating in search of better opportunities.
“I suspect that our government planned this thing to make the Nigerian population suffer. So that when they suffer they can now want to japa, then they will increase the price of the passport and they’d make money,” said the actor.
Sarcastically, he added, “It’s not like I’ve given up hope; I’m hopeful. Maybe one day, the country will be better. Let’s all believe in that pipe dream. It’s done, it’s over.”
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