Stakeholders in Rivers State have lamented the difficult operating environment in all sectors, arguing that Federal Government’s policies have made things difficult for millions.
In separate interviews with The Tide, some residents of Port Harcourt appealed to governments at all levels to initiate policies and programmes to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians in 2018 to cushion the negative impact of government actions and inactions in 2017.
One of the respondents, a lawyer, Barrister Temple Weje said, “The year 2017 which has just ended was quite traumatic economically, and as legal practitioners, we are at the receiving end.
“It is so pathetic that our clients, even in the heat of the economic down-turn, when they decide to dispose property to make ends meet at ridiculous rates, the prospective buyers are never coming, apparently on the account of fear of insecurity or being arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“The multiplier effect is that money is not circulating from one hand to the other, which is the hardship we all experience today.
“We also find situations where our clients (litigants) cannot afford the minimum requirement financially to prosecute their cases, which by implication, means sacrificing their rights because of poverty,” Weje added.
A businessman, Vintage Mart Supa Centre, Mr McDonald Lordswill said, “Every businessman would always expect a better year, even though the previous year was not that successful.
“In the year 2017, we experienced a lot of setbacks. In my business, we deal on imported products, and those time, bringing in goods from outside Nigeria has not been easy because of harsh economic policies and non-availability of Forex. All these setbacks affected our business negatively.
“Nevertheless, we believe that we are going to have successful and business breakthroughs in 2018. We hope that the experience witnessed in the 2017 Christmas period due majorly to fuel scarcity, which also adversely affected businesses will not continue in 2018.
“If there is a change in policies that directly affects our businesses negatively, it would be a way forward. I believe that it would have positive impact on our business, especially most of us that deal on imported goods,” he said.
A commercial bus driver, Elder Friday Elijah said “This business recorded a very low return last year due mainly to the use of old vehicles. Majority of the buses used by Port Harcourt commercial drivers are very old, and as such, if we work for a day, the next day, the bus is in the mechanic workshop for repairs which makes it difficult for us to save any reasonable money. The drivers mostly affected are those on hire purchase.
They find it very difficult to eat, not to talk of balancing the bus owners.
“No driver can be proud that he has achieved much with such condition in the commercial bus business. We are, however, looking forward to a situation where the government would support bus drivers in Port Harcourt through an empowerment scheme. This would go a long way in reducing the hardship being faced by commercial bus drivers.
A civil servant, Joyce Tonye said, “2017 was not that bad. We thank God for life, and pray that the year 2018 will be better than 2017. I commend the Rivers State Governor, Mr Projects, Chief Nyesom Wike for ensuring the prompt payment of workers’ salaries. The workers are happy with all the achievements he has recorded thus far.
“I appeal that he should ensure workers’ prompt promotion and payment of their promotion arrears. I also humbly appeal that the governor ensures that in 2018, he pays priority to the payment of arrears of annual increments, gratuity and pensions,” she pleaded.
A medical doctor, Dr Simon Lazarus said, “Our business as private doctors in the year 2017 increased tremendously, as we received highest number of patients. But it is sad to say that in the midst of all these, returns on income were very low. Many patients that came to register could not afford the cost for treatment and some simply died due to the delay in raising money for treatment.
“We hope that in 2018, there would be enough cash flow in the system so that people can afford their medical bills and even those not sick would be able to go to the hospitals for some routine check-ups, and treatment where necessary.
“Some challenges confronting private doctors are the inability to afford all the needed equipment due to exorbitant cost, and in a situation where one is able to afford these equipment, patients are not able to afford cost of treatment. Also, the epileptic power supply by Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) is not encouraging at all.
“We believe that if the Rivers State Government really wants to boost its Internal Revenue Generation (IRG), it needs to look particularly into the problem of PHED and ensure that there is always constant power supply everywhere in Rivers State, and not just some segments of the state,” he added.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana