The Poverty in Nigeria And its Implication
The Poverty in Nigeria And its Implication
I have written this article not as a person that has read literatures bothering on poverty situation in Nigeria no, but as a person who lives inside the poverty in Nigeria and experiences it daily. I have travelled down most of the states in Nigeria and it's very annoying that the story is all the same wherever you go to, with a little disparity and variance to show. People are very hungry, though they may appear to look good inwardly in their dresses, but down the lane, they are all hungry looking for what to eat.
It is also annoying that this poverty is more sever in the rural communities where the majority of the people reside. Though the measurement differs but the bottom line is that there is absolute and chronic poverty in Nigeria.
Poverty as I understand is a condition where an individual or individuals do not have enough food to eat or do not have food to eat all. These are other factors that supplement poverty conceptualization.
(a) Poor drinking water
(b) Poor sanitation
(c) Mal-nutrition
(d) No shelter
(e) High infant mortality rate
(f) Low life expectancy
(g) Absent of energy supply
(h) Low consumption
(i) Lack of opportunities to education
(j) Lack of participation in decision making in the society etc
Though the above factors have been identified as complements of poverty, the prime concern here is destitution because this is what is facing Nigeria state now and everybody especially the poor are the vulnerable and this has lots of implication in the state as the first Law of a man is survival. Anybody who knows Nigeria state very well will agree with me that the poverty level in the state is beyond the concept of poverty. In Nigeria, what we have is below poverty level and unacceptable destitution.
I have watched many Nigerians laboring day in day out not because they want to make money but because they are looking for food to eat. In my village Akpanya, Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state, I saw able bodied men and women working in the farm under the scorching harsh sun. I approached them and asked; please can I be privileged to know how much you will collect at the end of the day for this job? And they all replied Oga sir, as soon as it is 6:00 pm we will be paid hundred naira (N100.00) each and we will all go home. Being a curious person, I asked again then why are you suffering all this just because of (N100.00)? They replied in chorus, Oga the money is not the issue, as you can see, we have been fed morning and afternoon, and when we go home and take our bath, we will come for our dinner, the money can go but we must eat so long as we work in this farm land for our Oga. This is a graphic example of how rural dwellers survive on daily basis in Nigeria.
Being a youth corps member in Gumel, Jigawa state, I discovered that those who always mention poverty do not understand how dangerous poverty is in Nigeria, they just say it. I was privileged to understand what poverty really mean in Gumel, Jigawa State.
On the day of our endurance trek, our camp commandant captain S K Umar chose villages for us to visit. On our arrival in one of the villages, some corps members started cascading tears because of what we saw. The children and adults we saw in the village were all begging for arms from us. They needed to eat food as some of them have not eaten for the past weeks. Some that were so lucky had taken "zobo" and "kunu" before our arrival. Out of pity, Ijeoma one of the corps members auctioned her black berry phone and shared the money among these children who swore never to allow us have peace, demanding that we should help them to at least eat food. One thing that made me cascade tears was when a 6 year old girl said when I was chatting with them that she must follow me home, her mum tried to held her back, and she started crying seriously. Then I employed the service of interpreter who asked her in Hausa language why she wants to follow me and she replied I want to be like you, please take me home. I became highly dejected and crestfallen over this development, and for me to live the venue, I had to give her some money and took some pictures with her and her peers, and promised her that I will come and take her along with me the following day. Unfortunately, the pictures got spoilt in the hands of a photographer who snapped us, that would have been a memorable picture for me in life.
The three villages we visited, the story was the same, the inhabitants of these villages live in squalor, flies have turned out to be their own type of meat as they were seen not to bother whether the flies gets into their mouth or not, on the whole flies was "kpomor" in making for them.
There we saw some children and adults who could not talk again but can manage to gaze at us. The ribs in their skeletons can be counted from outside because hunger has finish them up. That was the very first time I saw "kwashiorkor" patients in the real term of it. I must tell you that these people are already in hell why they struggled to be alive and refused to give up the ghost.
An old woman we encountered during our endurance trek, revealed to us that many had died because of the inherent hunger in the land, and the female children were given out for marriage as early as possible because if you keep them, there is no food to feed them, thus, they would be forced to get married. To these people, education is not in their agenda, one of them said; I hope there is education in heaven, when we get there by the grace of Allah we will get it.
But my believe that poverty is only find in abundance in the Northern part of Nigeria was proven wrong when I went to Osun state, the rural areas I visited, in which Ijebu jessa, Oriade LGA was one of them, the story was the same. There are parts of these rural areas, the motor that goes there goes, goes there every seven days and this is because there are no roads leading to these rural areas. Even the pickup van that goes does that for the sole purpose of lifting plantain and bananas to sell to the urban centers. The tourists' centers I saw in these rural areas were lots of virgin forests that need to be cut down so that the dwellers of these rural areas can have the privilege of seeing the sun during the day.
In Ondo State, the story is similar, to that of Osun state, there is poverty everywhere in the state.
In Enugu State, the story is the same, if you want to prove me wrong or right, go to Nsukka zone of the state and take a sample of Obollo, Obukpa, Okpuje, Itchi, Unadu, Okutu, Nrobu just to mention but few victims of the rural areas who have become very tired of the poverty in the land and have resigned their fate to God to do what pleases him with it.
The poverty in Abuja the capital of Nigeria (the giant of Africa)
Abuja the federal capital territory has alarming rate of poverty. The habitants of Abuja are swimming in poverty just as that of rural areas. There is lots of poverty working on the streets of Abuja. The people eat in cave, sleep in dustbin, some sleep under the bridge, and drink from infested water and roaming the streets.
The federal capital Abuja has lots of satellite towns, most of the satellite towns are just 10 kilometers away from the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). Ones you are out of Abuja, central area, what you see are hunger and starvation in all the satellite towns. In these areas, the basic amenities for human use is no longer being concentrated on, this is because it has become obvious that the government cannot provide them. What is of major challenge and concerned to these people is food, let them eat and remain alive.
If one can drive just 10 kilometers from Abuja central area to these satellite towns where you will meet shanty towns, where the lives of people living in these towns are miserable, then what will be the fate of those who live 300 to 400 kilometers away from Abuja?
When one takes a work on the streets of Abuja, you see lots of homeless young men who are down hungry, frustrated and are victims of the society and are very tired and ready to give up.
In these satellite towns, you will see lots of families living in one single room, in most cases you see 7 to 10 persons living in a single room. In a small compound you will see 100 to 150 persons to two toilets and two bathroom facilities. The face me and I face you building dilapidated and the wooden doors and windows fallen out.
Five percent of persons living in Abuja live in an uncompleted building, the most annoying thing is that in the night, the big mosquitoes from sewage disposal found everywhere will suck out the blood of these people who do not have food to eat and live them with malaria.
When you take a walk along the streets of Abuja in the night, you will feel bad because, there you will see lots of homeless young persons roaming the streets, those that are tired sleeping under the available bridges, motor packs, veranda in shops, quos etc.
Unfortunately, those who have suffered very well in the rural areas, and thought that they will have opportunity for better improvements in their lives and decided to go to Abuja, things became even more worst as they were in the rural areas which they left for Abuja.
Apparently, it is very difficult to draw the poverty line among the people living in Abuja and those in the rural areas. This is because those that live in the satellite towns of Abuja have no disparity to those who live in the rural areas as all are exposed to the same living condition.
Two percent of the political class and their cronies, relatives and associates who live in the Abuja Municipal are those that have stolen the people's money through corrupt means. This goes to show that for one to be rich in Nigeria, the political class has made it look very obvious that you do not need hard work but opportunity to steal public money and also be celebrated like that of BODE GEORGE
In a whole, the poverty level in Nigeria is just alarming, and if something is not done quick and fast, the state may disintegrate in the shortest possible time as the people are the victims of the state, and as victims of the state, they have no regret when the state disintegrates.
General studies, such as Federal Office of Statistics (2003), Awoseyila (1999), Central Bank of Nigeria CBN/ World Bank (1999) have shown that while the number of poor in the rural areas have consistently increased, those of non poor continues to rise over time. In fact, the study by the CBN/ World Bank (1999) place Nigeria with human development index ranking of 137, and 141 out of 175 counties with a real GDP per capita. The ranking even placed Nigeria below some African countries such as, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, just to mention but few.
This shows that poverty has become a major problem in Nigeria. But of great concerned is, why this poverty and famine in Nigeria? The giant of Africa has her people dying of poverty, the country that has all the resources that can fed her people is facing abject and chronic poverty, a country that has the best intellectuals that can match with any other in the world is in the cross road and it seems as if solution on how to feed her people has eluded her, a county with over 3 million different worship centers and eventually everybody claims to be so religious, and the state is in the state of squalor, then the question is who perpetrates the crime against the sate by stealing the state resources if all of us are so holy and religious as we claim and appear on worship days. Does the solution lies in God, may be, but we should know we are not the only people created by GOD then ours should not be different.
I also know that what Nigeria state is going through is worst than hurricane and earth quake, and no doubt this came about as a result of leadership failure in all facet of life in Nigeria, religious leaders inclusive. Every action by those in leadership in Nigeria violates all the lessons learnt from ethics and morality. That Nigeria is in poverty and famine as she is today is an indictment of her leaders in all facet of life. What Nigeria state needs is visionary leaders in all facet of life that can ignite the movement of change and transformation and give Nigeria and her people at least food to eat.
Nigeria state had made attempts to solve the challenges and problems of poverty through the following means.
(1) Poverty alleviation programme.
(2) National primary health scheme
(3) National agricultural development land authority
(4) National agency for health literacy
(5) The people's bank
(6) National economic empowerment development strategies
(7) Millennium development goals
(8) National directorate of employment
(9) Better life/family support programme
(10) Low cost housing programme
(11) Federal urban mass transit agency
(12) Nigeria agricultural co-operative bank
(13) Family economic advancement programme.
(14) Petroleum trust fund etc.
Unequivocally, these steps were put in place to tackle poverty ravaging Nigerian state; unfortunately, these efforts had not helped Nigeria state as those put to manage this have ended up sharing the money since they believe the money was their own share of national cake.
This intense poverty in Nigeria has so many implications which are not good for the state. They are
Security implication
Nigeria state has blamed the crisis in Plateau, Bauchi, Borno, and Kaduna state on religious crisis. But nobody seems to understand that the primary cause of these crises can be anchored on poverty and starvation. The "BOKKO HARAM" had alleged shortly when they struck in 2010 that, they are not happy with the government because despite the promises made by the politicians the people's suffering are growing geometrically on the daily basis. Thus, they will continue to fight the government till the corruption inherent in government and governance in Nigeria stops. The government officials ignored this as if it does not matter.
How about the crime that is been committed every day by the people to have ends meet, armed robbery, kidnapping, internet fraud etc are on the increase.
The Niger-Delta crisis is another one that has proven to Nigeria state that her leaders that the poverty in the state is a big security risk in the state. However, the issue of kidnapping that has become common in Nigeria today can also be traced to the increased level of poverty in Nigeria. "Man must first of all eat and drink before he can pursue art or philosophy".
Any state that cannot feed her people is constantly in security threat as the citizens of that state must engage in deviant and recalcitrant acts to have food to eat as "survival is the first LAW of every man"
Political implication
In a modern and a civilized society, the prime concern of everybody is to have free and fair election, whereas in Nigeria, the challenge facing the people is on how to break out of poverty. However, this shows that the preaching of stopping political thuggery in the body on Nigeria politics cannot come to an end since the people are hungry. Funny enough the Nigerian politicians know very well that a hungry man has no principle, and they are the major beneficiaries of poverty in the land. They can manipulate the youths by given them pea nuts to snatch ballot boxes, assassinate the opponents, mobilize them for political protests, buy magi and salt for the people during election and they will in turn monopolize their conscience and they will vote for them.
It is of no intellectual contestation that so long as poverty in Nigeria is on the increase, the campaign for credible election and one man one vote is a myth and a mirage. There is no poor man that cannot be manipulated as a hungry man has no principle. The youths engage in thuggery, assassination, kidnapping, militancy, prostitution, and other social vices not because they do not have consciencebut because they have to engage in "COPING STRATEGY" so that they can eat as the poverty will consume them if they do not do otherwise.
Just as I have always maintained that a hungry man has no principle, when you get down to the rural areas, during election, one hundred thousand naira (N100.000.00) is big enough to buy the whole people and they will vote for you. You can as well sponsor political tugs among the youths by giving them five to ten thousand naira each. And even some few individuals that have tried to bring political change and ideology were seen to have compromised when they were given political appointments, and all these are possible because the people are poor and hungry. And the politicians know this and they also know that ones the poverty ravaging the people is solved, the manipulation of the people will not be as easy as it used to be by the politicians and the so call men of God.
On the whole, the political thuggery, arson, sponsored protests, assassins inherent in Nigeria's body of politics can be anchored on poverty ravaging the state and this has a big political implication in the body on Nigerian politics.
Social implication
The inherent class inequality created by the political class in Nigeria is alarming. In Nigeria state, there is nothing like the middle class. This has created contradiction and class struggle among the two classes, the rich and the poor. The poor wanting to come out of poverty by fighting the rich in any possible means they can, as we have seen in the Niger-Delta Region. And the rich using the instruments of state mechanisms and apparatus to disposes the poor and put them in perpetual servitude so that they can pledge perpetual loyalty. This class struggle between the rich and the poor will inevitably degenerate into anarchy and chaos where the state will be disintegrated as the poor will have nothing to lose if the state disintegrates but the chain of captivity in their hands that was put by the rich particularly the political class.
However, prostitution is one of the social vices in Nigeria society, the young ladies and young men are into prostitution just to make ends meet. Just as I have argued before and am still arguing that poverty breeds prostitution and those who patronize them are the rich class in the state. The poor man who has no money to drink "garri" cannot think of patronizing prostitutes which in most case the cost of their service is very high and is out of the reach of the poor. The implication of this is that HIV/AIDS keep spreading and more people are been infected on daily basis and the state keep recording death casualties occurring as a result of this.
Another thing that can be traced to this implication is the involvement in drugs, most people who are highly frustrated because of the poverty level in Nigeria, in most cases resort to alcohol and drugs as alternative to cushion the effects of the predicament they find themselves as a result of poverty I Nigeria.
Child trafficking and child labour no doubt are all as a result of the poverty in Nigeria state. The people can easily be lured into child trafficking and child labour because they are on desperate effort to break out of poverty.
Also we have had reported cases of slavery (sold children) in Nigeria in recent times, and when interviewed, the culprits gave poverty and hunger as reasons justifying their action.
Apparently, the social implications of poverty in Nigeria are abounding, but the cursory look given to it here will be substantial to justify the claim of the article.
Religious implication
The level of poverty has led to the emergence of many churches all over the places, everybody looking for instant miracle to break away from poverty and starvation in the land. The pastors have known this and the preaching of financial break through has dominated all the churches. Churches are supposed to be a holy place of worship, where lessons of ethics and morality will be learnt, in Nigeria the case is different as everybody is looking for where solution of how to break away from poverty will come from , thus if you preach so much on ethics and morality, people look at you as you do not know what their problems are, on the contrary, when you preach financial break through people will rush to your church and in turn you will have congregation and you know in Nigeria context more congregation more money, then the men of God that could not afford to lose their members will be compelled to preach financial break through otherwise he will be left all alone in his church.
On the contrary however, many people who are nothing but religious fraudsters parade themselves in Nigeria state as "men of God" and keep deceiving the peoplethat they can get instant miracles andbreak away from poverty even when there are no light, industrialization, employment and political will among the politicians to bring development in Nigeria state.
The churches are growing in geometrical progression in Nigeria whereas things are getting worst daily. Ethics and morality have been thrown to the dust as everybody is on the dogged fight on how to break out of poverty either by any means possible.
The National Priority facing Nigeria state is on how to feed her people and stop the level of poverty on the land. Nigeria state cannot get social and political stability so long as the people are hungry and a hungry man is prone to breaking the law of the land in his attempt to cope.
The Nigeria state and her leaders must know that any society that cannot feed her people runs the risk of revolution, and America knows this and that is why she does not joke with her Agricultural sector. The people are hungry and tired, the people are victims of the society not beneficiaries of the society, and thus the people will have no regret when the society disintegrates.
So long as Nigeria state and her citizens continue to wallow in pains, starvation, destitution and penury there will be deviants, non conformists, delinquents and recalcitrant in abundance. The people must device a means of feeding and making their lives at least worthy of living in whatever means possible whether good or bad. This is because "man must first of all eat and drinks before he can pursue arts or philosophy and at the same time, SURVIVAL IS THE FIRST LAW OF EVERY MAN"
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