Hardship: Basketmouth slams Tinubu’s govt

Popular Nigerian comedian, Basketmouth, has slammed the President Bola Tinubu-led government over the current hardship in the country.

The actor lamented that the living conditions of Nigerians have deteriorated based on the policies of the government which has led to the depreciation of the naira.

“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,” Basketmouth stated.

He noted that at no point in the nation’s history has the currency regained strength after a fall. “It has never happened; think about it,” he added.

Basketmouth also dismissed the common saying “E go better,” meaning “It will get better,” which many Nigerians use to remain hopeful in times 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, pointing out the rising cost of essential services like passport renewals.

The comedian went on to speculate that the economic difficulties might be part of a deliberate government strategy to encourage citizens to emigrate, known as “japa.”

“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,” he said.

Despite his criticism, Basketmouth sarcastically concluded by offering a sliver of hope, saying, “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.”