The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Thursday December 22nd, 2022
Nigeria: 2022 IN RETROSPECT by Kola King
2022 was a rollercoaster and quite rough and turbulent across the world and Nigeria was no exception. On the international scene, war broke out in February in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, while Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned for 70 years as the longest-serving British monarch died on September 8 aged 96. Also, the UK witnessed three prime ministers within the year and the emergence of Rishi Sunak of Indian ancestry as the new prime minister after the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss who had earlier succeeded Boris Johnson. Back home insecurity and economic challenges persist. The economic headwinds were of tsunami proportions making short shrift of earnings and further eroding the standard of living for millions. Indeed, Nigerians were buffeted both on the economic front and by forces of nature that unleashed unprecedented rainfall which led to catastrophic flooding in 32 states of the federation. Besides more than 600 people were killed by the floods and over 3 million people were displaced from their homes by the floods.
2022 will go down as a period of great economic challenge for millions of Nigerians. The year marked a period in which 133 million Nigerians further sunk into economic misery and poverty, according to reports by the National Bureau of Statistics. The sagging economy is best illustrated by the rising cost of rice with a 50 kg bag being sold between 31,000 to 35,000 naira, which is above the minimum wage of 30,000 naira. Plus, spiraling inflation hit 21.47 percent, and prices of foodstuffs and goods have skyrocketed. According to the World Bank Nigeria’s growing inflation rate has reduced the existing minimum wage by 55 percent and raised the number of poor by 5 million in 2022. Also, the unemployment figure hovers at 33.3 percent. At the moment, many compatriots struggle to put food on the table for their families.
Continue reading HERE!
The lotus flower #poem by Moustafa Al Yassin
“If I were in charge
I would change the yellow white
and the white green…..
and the green red…….
and the red stone……….”
Continue reading HERE
AntySaurus Prick #54 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas
For more AntySaurus Prick HERE!
For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!
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