Former Central Bank governor and former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, driven by emotion, wept profusely at the sight of a baby dying in the alms of the mother. The story, as narrated by the highly respected former Emir, has it that the poor mother, had, earlier, walked into the palace to beg for N1,800 (less than $5) to purchase drugs for the ailing baby. The Emir lamented the worsening and sad inequality in the land. And, how much was this? It was less than five dollars. This is what happens everyday in this country. Children die because their parents cannot afford five dollars, that a mother will watch her child die because she does not have five dollars. My first reaction was, why did the mother not take the baby to the London hospital our President attends, to tell them that she and the baby were Nigerian citizens, like baba.
The PI&D versus Nigeria case drew up a revelation, from an aggrieved officer of this government, accusing a retired Justice of sabotage, after he, the retired Justice, was paid a severance allowance of $2.8b (I still believe that there was an error in the currency). No matter the currency though, it’s hard to understand what the retired Justice is expected to do with such a volume of money, it smacks of obscenity. During the public controversy on the true take-home pay of a Nigerian Senator, which Nigerians put between N15 and N50m per month, former governor of Anambra State and Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, was reported to have said: if you are complaining about Senator’s pay, wait till you see those of the President, Ministers and the Governors, a statement that in any culture, is pregnant with meaning. This President, among others said, the other day that he will bring down the costs of governance (whatever that means).
Sometime ago, the President also promised to bring one hundred million Nigerians out of poverty (whatever that means too). Analysts have since that presidential promises, been engaged in brainstorming, as to the true meaning and possible modus-operandi of the goal. Even at that, Mr. President’s speech gave some hope as he said, during the 2019 Democracy day: This task is by no means attainable, China has done it. India has done it. Indonesia has done it. That speech, taken ordinarily exudes commitment of a person who has a grasp of the subject matter.
When one considers the situation in our country with what it was in the military days, it would be understood that we have nothing to cheer, at all. This country gave hope for the citizens, all of which got dashed with the military incursion in governance. One coup after the other, the country was sinking further into a state of disrepair, as nations that hitherto looked up to us overtook us all-they are using education (functional ones) to lift their people and nations up. All that were promoted, those sad years, were mundane sentiments, capable only of threatening our unity-religiousity and ethnicity!
Most people out of poverty, in our kind of situation, would involve extensive funding of education, that is made accessible to all. An American President, it was, who said: if education is expensive, try illiteracy. Trader-moni, alone, good as it may be, cannot be the way to life of one hundred million people out of poverty. There is need to invest heavily in welfare schemes. A serious government, following the controversies, which trailed the President’s medical tourism, would have, as matter of emergency developed at least one hospital in every zone of the country into a world standard! We fold our arms, waiting for another government official to fall sick, ferry him or her to London and start another round of talk-talk almost six decades after the University of Ibadan, opened its doors to the first set of medical trainees!
As the Emir rightly noted, the level of inequality has reached a precarious level. No single infrastructure is there to mitigate the problems of, or even give a modicum of hope, to the ordinary Nigerian. The trillions spent on power, year in year out have succeeded in bringing darkness to the people, while those who mismanaged the funds still allocate public funds to procure generators for their families’ use.
Inequality and unfairness, not so much of poverty, have driven almost all to where we are today.
Nigerians are hungry and angry.
