{"id":79228,"date":"2021-03-21T15:37:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-21T14:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=79228"},"modified":"2021-03-21T15:37:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T14:37:43","slug":"the-nigerian-oil-rich-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/the-nigerian-oil-rich-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nigerian oil-rich poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
By Tochukwu Ezukanma<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\nHistory has demonstrated that democracy is a fount of political
\nstability, social justice, rule of law, principled distribution of
\nwealth and over all societal progress. It has improved the standards of
\npolitical morality, elevated societal ethics and refined the value
\nsystem in many countries of the world. Lamentably, in the topsy-turvy
\nworld of our beloved country, Nigeria, democracy has not been attended
\nwith any of these laudable outcomes. It has been fraught with social
\ninjustice, lawlessness, inequity, poverty, repression of free speech,
\nand most disturbingly, insecurity and the demeaning of human lives.<\/p>\n

Most Nigerians are not politically fastidious; our concerns are limited
\nto the mundane and pedestrian. We long for the basic essentials of life:
\njobs, food on the table, education for children, electricity, water,
\nsecurity from criminal predators, and protection from the inhumanities
\nof governing officials and agents of government. Unfortunately, after
\nmore than twenty years of democracy, our basic expectations of democracy
\ncontinue to elude us.<\/p>\n

In their hypocrisy, our rulers posture as democrats and sentinels of the
\npublic good, but are, in essence, tyrannical and voracious feudal lords.
\nShelter in their cocoons, they live in islands of affluence and
\nextravagance in an ocean of poverty, gloom and misery. Their thievery
\nand profligacy make it impossible for most Nigerians to share in the
\ngeneral prosperity of the country. So, while the political elite and
\ntheir cronies maintain life-styles that amaze even the rich and the
\nfamous of the wealthiest countries of the world, a frightening
\nproportion of Nigerians are trapped in extreme poverty.<\/p>\n

A onetime United States of American Secretary of State, Warren
\nChristopher, once called Nigeria \u201cthe poorest oil-rich nation in the
\nworld\u201d. What an oxymoron \u2013 oil-rich poverty? It was an appropriate
\ncharacterization of Nigeria because despite her oil wealth, she ranks
\nwith the poorest and war-torn countries of the world in life expectancy,
\nchild mortality, and other social indexes. Life is a cruel grind for
\ncountless Nigerians; so many are consumed by the drudgery for daily
\nexistence. Many families can barely eat one square meal a day. Many
\nsurvive as scavengers, rummaging through trash dumps for edibles,
\nreusable items and sellable scraps; and as street hawkers, thronging the
\nstreets hoping to eke out a living by selling water, soft drinks,
\nfruits, etc to motorists and pedestrians.<\/p>\n

Many Nigerians, even in urban areas, do not have access to clean
\ndrinkable water. Consequently, dirt borne diseases, like malaria and
\nTyphoid fever, are very prevalent; people suffer and die from these
\nreadily preventable and treatable diseases. Many, especially, in urban
\nareas, are homeless: living in open air and under the bridges. Some of
\nthe supposedly lucky ones that can afford housing inhabit decrepit and
\ndilapidated houses, just hovels and pigsties. In them, people are
\ncrowded, sometimes, up to 10 persons in one room in dusty, filthy,
\nfestering, trash strewn neighborhoods, with gutters clogged with filth
\nand debris, and streets pock-marked with pot holes.<\/p>\n

While we generally train our focus and criticisms on the federal
\ngovernment, the state governors are just as corrupt, irresponsible and
\ndictatorial. Without financially independence, state legislatures lack
\nthe independence and intrepidity of a serious parliament; they are
\nrubber stamp parliaments. The governors are essentially provincial
\ndespots; their powers are uninhibited. Each governor appropriates from
\nstate coffers, at least, five hundred million naira every month, as
\nsecurity vote. The security vote is unaccounted for; it is spent
\nstrictly at the discretion of the governor. In their avarice and
\nwastefulness, some state governors refuse to pay state employees for
\nmonths, sometimes, for more than twelve months. And those that demand a
\npartial payment of their backlog salaries are severely punished.<\/p>\n

It has been written that, \u201cMoney is like muck, not good unless it is
\nspread\u201d. As such, \u201cthe best antidote for political upheaval is
\nequitable distribution of wealth\u201d. Corollary, the most potent trigger
\nof political turmoil is inequitable distribution of wealth. The social
\ninjustice and income disparity in Nigeria will inevitably lead to
\npolitical turmoil. In our present political passivity and docility, we
\nseem to have forgotten that we have, in the past, risen up, in protest,
\nagainst exploitative and oppressive powers. Long ago, we successfully
\nrallied against a colonial power and wrest the country from its grip.
\nMore recently, we rose up in protest against the repudiation of the
\ncollective will of the people \u2013 the annulment of the June 12 election
\n– by gun-toting generals.<\/p>\n

Nigerians need to break the vicious grip of our evil rulers, and bring
\nto an end their looting and tearing down the country and deliberate
\nimpoverishment of the Nigerian masses. To do these, we must unite in
\nagitation against the iniquitous cabal that rules this country. It is
\ncollective, courageous, sustained and strategically directed agitation
\nthat will break its ruthless grip on the country and force it to reform
\nits ways.<\/p>\n

The killing of peaceful, flag waving, national anthem-singing protesters
\nwas to intimidate Nigerians into passivity. However, Nigerians must
\nmuster the guts and gumption to start another more elaborate, better
\norganized and protracted protest against this government. After all, has
\nthe cudgel of the International Criminal Court (ICC) not fallen on many
\ndictators that wantonly murdered the innocent? Secondly, has history not
\ndemonstrated that those that wanted to maintain their power, with guns
\nand bayonets in defiance of the legitimate aspirations of the people
\nhave always kissed the dust?<\/p>\n

Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tochukwu Ezukanma History has demonstrated that democracy is a fount of political stability, social justice, rule of law, principled distribution of wealth and over all societal progress. 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