Managing Subsidy-Related Depression -By Patrick Iwelunmor

It is no longer news that the Federal Government of Nigeria has stopped the subsidization of petroleum. One of the direct and immediate implications of this development has been the increase in the pump price of PMS which has also triggered increases in the prices of food and transportation.

For a country that has pegged minimum wage at thirty thousand naira, it would definitely be extremely difficult for citizens to cope financially. This is more so in the midst of raging inflation and the reckless fall of the nation’s currency – the naira in both the international and local markets.

An average Nigerian worker is already an endangered species, because going by his take home pay, nothing honorable is expected to happen in his life. A salary that barely lasts one week is an economic time bomb that would surely lead to the demolition of wellbeing and self-esteem. Grappling with financial difficulty in austere times is one of the gateways to depression.

Many families have been destroyed by this very important survival factor. Marriages are crumbling due to the inability of husbands to provide the needs of the entire family. A vicious cycle of depression is gaining momentum in Nigeria because sufferers of the condition do not have the financial wherewithal to seek help from psychologists and psychiatrists.
Economic hardship has been linked with depressive thoughts and symptoms as a direct reflection of stress through adverse material and health conditions associated with economic hardship (Lovallo, 2005; Pearlin, 1989). Pearlin goes further to argue that depression is one of the most obvious reflections of stress.

Stress in itself could be a product of many factors including but not limited to financial hardship, marital crisis, health conditions, loss of employment, debt and other forms of deprivation. Interestingly, all the aforementioned factors can be triggered by economic hardship created by government policies such as the recent removal of subsidy on petroleum products by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
There are however strategies that can be put in place to dispel the dark and inclement financial and economic clouds I hovering over the lives of Nigerian workers both in the public and private sectors. These strategies would go a long way in alleviating all forms of stress and psychological agonies linked to the effects of subsidy removal.

For those who are already battling depression, consulting psychologists and or psychiatrists remains the best move. This is apparently because issues pertaining to mental health should not be toyed with; they are very delicate and must not be treated with home medication.
For our peculiar situation in Nigeria, one of the best strategies for tackling subsidy-related depression is for Nigerian workers to dialogue with their employers just as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had recently done by engaging the federal government. During the roundtable, several propositions were made on the part of labour while the federal government also made promises that heightened the hopes of civil servants.

Labour had proposed a minimum wage of two hundred thousand naira monthly. Even though government may not accede to that wage demand, there are high hopes that the federal government is committed to bettering the lot of civil servants in terms of their wages. In fact, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu proposing a N500b palliative fund-pool, Nigerians can rest, assured of the government’s sincerity towards alleviating their sufferings, post-subsidy removal.

Another strategy could be reducing official workdays as seen in some states like Edo. Governor Godwin Obaseki took the step in order to reduce the additional financial burden subsidy removal would place on workers in the state. By so doing, the governor has systematically killed many birds with one stone.
With lessons learnt from COVID 19 restrictions, employers of labour should note that people can work from home these days and still deliver efficiently in their roles, especially with the innovation available in the digital space. Rather than towing the inglorious path of laying off staff, employers can reduce the number of workdays and still achieve their targets.

Another way employers can help their employers cushion the adverse effects of subsidy removal on their individual economies is to either increase their salaries or offer them special transportation allowances that would ease the financial stress they would have been grappling with. Such measures will no doubt have an effect on their mental wellbeing by removing all forms of agonizing and stressful thoughts and lamentations which are all linked to the onset of depression.

Most importantly, keeping a positive mental attitude and constantly reminding onself that challenges are meant to be overcome through hopeful thinking and prayer can also go a long way in stabilizing the mind and keeping it free from worries capable of dampening the human spirit.

Patrick Iwelunmor is editor of Pharmanews, Nigeria’s leading health journal.