Nigeria so far

It’s been a while since we began the journey of a sovereign state which has placed us on a structurally schemed template on how our national system will be governed, how our leadership will be decided and most importantly, how our lives will be guided. Be it politically, economically or constitutionally. We are, indeed, bounded with patriotism and gratefulness to salute the heroes past, who fought barely with their own lives all in the name of making Nigeria’s years of extreme poverty, a story told, a story fought. Dutifully, we can’t afford to let the labour of these great men to be in the vain. The job is not an easy one. They have done us well.

In some months to come, we shall laudably celebrate the diamond jubilee of our own country ‘the giant of Africa’ across the globe. However, for every celebration, there must be a purpose and of course the need for it. Congratulations, my fellow compatriots, we have got a celebration. It’s national. It’s worldwide, but is there need to celebrate? Moreover, it is diamond  jubilee; it’s enviable, laudable and worthwhile. If I won’t be too complex in my talk, I know my readers would have loved to ask me this question: is our purpose advantageous or otherwise? To it, they will add: is it worth dancing for, or mourning for?

Obviously, the answer is here. It’s mournful. Our lives are laced with extreme poverty. It’s the source of our national insecurity, unemployment and poor system of education. Not unexpectedly, that the contemporary issues ricocheting the national editorials is the consequence of extreme poverty battling the nation so far. Perhaps, no man is willing to massacre his own clansmen, his religious fellows if not out of desperate means of survival. This is called the working poverty. Life is harder for the poor. They are desperate and ready to do anything regardless of danger. They want to eat the nation raw. No one dares to sleep with the two eyes closed. The place we call home is no safer to live. This is how we have got to live our lives.

Measures have been taken, conversations have been had and resolutions have been passed on how to annihilate extreme poverty in the face of Nigerians but no amount of these measures is enough to quench the rising flame of poverty in our country.

In spite of the acclaimed and undeniable testimony of natural resources, vast arable land, massive wealth, a huge population to support commerce, a well-developed economy, and plenty of natural resources such as oil, the level of poverty remains incomprehensible and unacceptable. However, critical examinations have shown that poverty may have been overestimated due to the lack of information on the extremely huge informal sector of the economy estimated at around 60% more, of the current GDP figures. As of 2018, population growth rate higher than economic growth rate, leading to a slow rise in poverty. Meanwhile, there is heavy dependence on oil.

No matter how much we give it hard to call off the years of extreme poverty, it will sustainably and continuously have its head up several times. It will not die. unless something urgent and hard headed is done to rein this barrier. Unless we stop to define poverty as being unable to meet “basic needs” alone (such as physical: food, health care, education, shelter, etc. and nonphysical: participation, identity, etc). Until we begin to see the years of extreme poverty as an agent and instigator to the national insecurity, kidnapping, bloodletting, unemployment, poor system of education. Till then, we don’t have a place in world economy.

Adeyemi, Abdulganeey Abiola,

Ilorin.