Help that is not money…

IT is most expedient now to start talking about these issues. Perhaps we will suddenly be re-awakened from stupor, the sleep of death. And these concerns the helplessness money has become in our society today.  There is the account of a woman who needed help to deliver her baby after a gruesome nine months of pregnancy. She required an ideally simple procedure of a cesarean section. The doctor who had this help to give refused her without the help of money. But before money could arrive, her situation got worse and then to the worst.  When the money finally came, the help that was needed was no longer necessary; money could not give the helping hand.

Another baby that was delivered quite successfully, after a few months of existence, was diagnosed to have a hole in the heart. This baby likewise needed the help of a doctor for a rather complex surgery to fill the hole in the heart, so he could live and develop normally. But still, the doctor needed the ‘help’ of a lot of money. Money’s help was solicited, and before money could arrive, the baby had developed some complications. And the initial help that was needed became unnecessary money.

Junior was enrolled in a private nursery and primary school. After a few years, his father lost his job, his mother could not keep up with the money needed to keep him in the school. Junior was therefore withdrawn from the school and enrolled in a public school. In the public school, Junior was not getting the attention normally he got in the private school. This was due mainly to the fact all the teachers were seeking alternative means of getting the help of money since salaries were scarcely paid. Junior’s father lost his means of seeking money. His mother’s platform was not formidable enough to get enough of the help of money, Junior is also at the mercy of teachers seeking the help of money anyhow.  Now, his education is threatened without the help of money.  Brother Justin is a devout Christian. always in church and a volunteer worker within the church. He needed the help of money to be able to secure his one-room apartment. He sought, therefore, the assistance of his church. But recently, brother Justin had been having some challenges in the payment of his tithe. When his records were checked customarily, the church declined to assist. Brother Justin, though regular in church, worked so hard and without pay in the church, yet was adjudged not faithful enough for defaulting just sparingly in the payment of his tithe; money being the obvious standard. He sought the help of the church to get the help of money and got none.

In the suburb of Zungeru, little Usman was sent by his parents to a local Islamic monastery to gain Arabic and Islamic knowledge. This form of education was divinely and also expectedly entirely free. But the cleric needing the help of money to keep himself and the monastery going sends little Usman and others like him out to the streets, to seek and get the help of money. In the long-run, little Usman instead of actualising the wishes of his parents became a beggar (Almajiri), exposed to the wiles of the streets and yet without getting the help of money. This was the case of young Chukwudi from the suburb of Mbaise. His parents could not afford to send him to school. They even had to struggle to get the help of money for the basic amenities of subsis~ence. They engaged themselves with young Chukwudi in some level of small-scale farming, but still could not fetch enough of the help of money for their basic necessities and amenities of life and living. It was decided that young Chukwudi should follow His mother’s cousin to the city to seek the help of money. It was agreed that chukwudi will be under apprenticeship with his uncle for about five years; while his uncle will set him up for business afterwards. The initial idea by his parents was for him to go to the city to try and emancipate his family from poverty.

A couple of years into his apprenticeship, the toughness of life got hold of his father, who died from the strain of trying too hard to get the help of money. His father’s death piled more pressure on Chukwudi. The thought of fast-tracking his efforts came to him. He subsequently got initiated into the crime world and became an armed robber. Chukwudi could not afford to see his mother suffer the same fate as his father. Unfortunately for Chukwudl, he got shot in one of their operations and died. He died trying so hard and determinedly to get the help of money.  Humphrey is a police officer and like the average Nigerian had to the desperation to seek and get the help of money. He indulged in gratification for the help of money. Humphrey at this time wanted to get his son admitted into one of the federal universities. His son, having fallen short of the stipulated grade (cut-off mark) for admission into the school, for his course of choice was denied admission. But the instinct in Humphrey tells him he could push for his son’s admission into the school. He was there-about asked to bring a sum of money by the source willing to assist him. Humphrey then set out determinedly to seek the help of money. He mounted a road-block with accomplice officers, and the customary arrest and settlement start.

A man among those arrested for the inability to produce particulars on demand pleaded for the benefit of a doubt and on self-recognition. He tried to explain how he forgot to take the particulars along. Humphrey being the leader of the group insisted, he either plays ball or they delay him like the others. After a long delay, the man had to pay to free himself, so he could make an important appointment.  In the end, Humphrey got more money than he bargained for. On the next day getting to the school, his source thus took him along to meet his boss who would give the final approval. And quite so shockingly, the man turned out to be the man he cruelly dealt with the previous day. The man, without mincing, words turned down their request. He stressed further that Humphrey’s son should be encouraged to study harder to make the grade. After all the desperation and determination to seek and get the help of money, he got the money but not the help.

For every action we take in the desperation to ‘seek and get the help of money, there is a ripple effect of those actions reflected in the contagious and systemic spread of helplessness and hopelessness that pervades our polity.  The help that we need is not money and the money that we seek is not helpful. The help of money still takes precedence with the ‘government. The high cost of food items in recent times has been a major concern among the populace. This has subsequently led to high-level hunger among the people. Meanwhile, the government in its bid to create another platform for seeking and getting the help of money; decided to prioritize its diversification program. No wonder, the first set of yams exported to the USA was roundly and loudly celebrated by the government.

• Adedimeji is a public affairs analyst