By Prince Charles Dickson
The original title of this musing is How do you stop manufacturing poverty in Nigeria, I got the kicker from conversations with HRM Sanusi in his take on relationships with China and our leadership Humpty Dumpty with a crazy idle population. I, however, will not exactly tow that line, and this is not about China but also about China.
So, I will tell us a true story in a Chinese manner of a man who wants to be boss, but cannot be, he trains, struggles, and tries to do everything but all to no avail. He lives the illusion that someday everything will be okay, be alright; in local parlance one day either Maga pays, or he will get into power, or someone whom he knows who knows someone, his kinsman or faithsman, churchguy, or mosquedude will get into power.
Until then, in today’s Nigeria
he must like Emeka Keem Jamal content himself training, and learning Kung Fu
skills to do the following with only just two kids (only two) and that’s almost
impossible, we are fertile and hardly have just two kids.
Here is his training schedule;
FOR BREAKFAST
1. Bread N600
2 Akara N300
3. Ordinary water with Lipton
without Milk N200
Total N1,100
A Month N1,100×30=N33,000
OR
Making of PAP
1. Akamu N300
2. Akara or Kuli N200
3. Sugar N150
4. Charcoal N100
TOTAL N750
A Month N750×30=N22,500
FOR
LUNCH
1. Spaghetti one and a half
N675
2. Oil N250
3. Charcoal N100
4. Maggie N100
5. Onion, Pepper N100
TOTAL N1,225
A Month N1,225 × 30
= N36,750
FOR
DINNER
If he wishes to eat EBA
1. Gari N600
2. Maggie N100
3. Oil N150
4. Okro N50
5. Pepper N100
6. Charcoal N100
TOTAL N1100
A Month N1100 × 30
= N33,000
In this schedule, let me add
quickly that there are no fast and quick rules, for example, there are no rules
about three square meals, I am not sure with my arithmetic knowledge how three
is even a square. I can tell though that none of the above cuts it as a meal,
at best they are food (make something dey belly).
And speaking of three square or
circle meals, kids will eat as long as there is food so leave the matter, my
dear reading friend.
If you consider spending N93250
Monthly with the exclusion of FISH Or MEAT to feed his Family of just two kids,
you will then ask who foots the bills for:
1. Rent
2. Electricity
3. Medicals
4. Detergents (Omo or Soap)
5. School Fees
6. Clothing
7. Transportation fare to Work
Place etc.
I have kept these necessities
at an intentional number, leaving out relatives, relaxation, societal
obligations et al. This man tries to beat the boss, he tries every day to take
revenge but society only knows to manufacture poverty.
This is the complex and
multifaceted challenge that keeps our nation bound, it requires concerted
efforts from various stakeholders, including government, civil society,
businesses, and individuals.
Until we are serious in
defining what for example qualifies for Quality Education, prioritize
investments in education to improve literacy rates and provide young people
with the skills and knowledge they need to secure better employment
opportunities, or drive the economy themselves, we will continue to have loads
of Emeka Keem Jamal who struggle from womb to tomb.
It is not the government’s job
to create Jobs, but it’s a primary responsibility to through economic
diversification encourage entrepreneurship and support the growth of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across various sectors. This can be achieved
through access to capital, training, and market linkages. Sadly our current
policies simply facilitate mass creation of poverty as the same SMEs are killed
daily.
In our agricultural spaces, we have continued to mouth transformation, but the truth is that even if we invest in modernizing agriculture by providing farmers with access to improved seeds, technology, irrigation, and market opportunities which in turn can significantly boost rural incomes, bandits and kidnappers have vowed we will not eat and threatens our food security.
The infrastructural development
we see in China is simply mind-blowing, next to none, I see Chinese railways in
China and see Chinese railways in Nigeria, and one is forced to ask—who do us?
Government after government, access to basic infrastructure such as roads,
electricity, water, and sanitation only looks like the magically Ibadan-based
magician of yesteryears Professor Peller. Without these basics, we shorten
quality of life, and we are unable to also create an enabling environment for
businesses to thrive.
Our Social Safety Nets are
scams, when we are not feeding school children who are at home during COVID-19,
we are inventing magic numbers for conditional funds transfer, rather than
implementing effective social safety net programs that target the most
vulnerable populations, providing them with cash transfers, food subsidies,
healthcare, and other essential services, we are removing almost every form of
subsidy available to them.
As I get to the last part of my
take on this contentious issue of the Nigerian state, I choose to end with
cautious optimism, so here lies a leeway if we care; poverty kills, therefore
let us start with health, we can strengthen our healthcare system to ensure
that all citizens have access to quality and affordable healthcare services.
This includes improving primary healthcare facilities and addressing healthcare
disparities between urban and rural areas. A healthy citizenry is a healthy
nation.
We must redefine or choose to
understand what Good Governance is, and set up anti-corruption measures,
implement policies and practices that promote transparency, accountability, and
the rule of law beyond rhetoric and political brinksmanship. This can help
reduce corruption, which often exacerbates the production line of poverty
incorporated.
When we discuss governance,
there is often the propensity in the nigeriasphere to see only Abuja as the
beginning and end of it all, so we leave rural development, if we must stem the
ravaging poverty, there should be a focus on the development of rural areas by
investing in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and agricultural
productivity. This can help stem rural-to-urban migration and create economic
opportunities in rural communities.
Our Financial Inclusion does
not promote access to financial services, including banking, microfinance, and
insurance, to empower individuals and businesses with the tools they need to
manage and grow their finances. We must empower our women, and support
initiatives that promote gender equality, including access to education,
healthcare, and economic opportunities. Empowered women are more likely to
invest in their families’ well-being.
A nation that declares holidays at will is not driven by data, to move out of the dangerous slide, we must invest in data collection, analysis, and monitoring systems to track progress and inform evidence-based policy decisions. Not the current groping in the dark!
It’s important to note that
these strategies should be implemented in a coordinated and holistic manner,
taking into account the unique challenges and opportunities present in
different regions of Nigeria. Additionally, active participation and engagement
from citizens at all levels of society are crucial for sustainable poverty
reduction. We must kill poverty, we must be intentional about it, Nigeria
deserves more, we are capable but do we want to is an important question—May
Nigeria win
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