Poverty is mostly seen as a disease, a poor man is usually likened to that of a leper, no one wants to associate with them and everyone judge’s them even when
they’re seen from a few yards away, their only crime is being hungry. I sometimes wonder why such a crime comes with grave punishments. Nigeria is a country of the poor, I wondered what went wrong, but with a population of above 200 million people not like there has been any sort of census for over a decade now, so we simply plan our budgets based on assumptions. It is indeed laughable that more than half of the population are living in abject poverty, but there is an anomaly, it is important to note that Nigeria is the most populous black nation on earth and also the country with the second-largest economy in Africa the richest man in Africa is a Nigerian and also a number of the richest people in Africa are also Nigerians, so now I am sure you’re beginning to understand the anomaly of why and how we became a country full of poor and hungry people (how can you believe a rich country with rich individuals but still have a large number of poor people?). Nigeria is a rich country, wealthy in natural resources and also as a result of our large population we can boast of a wealthy human resource, but we grew complacent and only focused on our natural resources, Oil generating the most revenue required to fund our expensive budgets, but instead of investing in developing our human resources and also the society, our dear ruling class and elites instead invested in their own pockets a great gamble. The richer they grew, the poorer the masses became, agriculture which was supposed to be at the front runners of our development became almost extinct, with most of the middle class and lower class, aspiring to eat from the national cake, and maybe win a lottery to great white-collar jobs or foreign visas, where the land seemed green enough. But by the time it dawned on us that food was equally if not more important than money it was too late, we had become either too intellectual to farm, or too rich to till the ground. We are a country that survives mainly on imports, and I often asked if there was anything Nigeria had a monopoly of exporting to other countries, contributing our quota to the world’s supply chain but I couldn’t find any, it’s shameful, to say the least. Food prices soar, for every little crisis or festive season, people overworking themselves, just to be able to afford a decent meal, but it isn’t enough, even what is considered waste food in other countries is a full course meal in my country because we simply failed to invest in agriculture, we were busy focusing on frivolities that have made us greedy to the very important things that made a society grow failing to make good use of the income generated from ‘oil”, even while oil boomed, the political class built houses abroad and threw lavish parties at the expense of the poor masses and deteriorating society, there is an old Yoruba adage that says “ if you remove hunger from poverty, it is no longer poverty”.
A lot of Nigerians are hungry, and hunger leads to a whole lot of societal defects, including crime. Only a very small number of Nigerians can comfortably afford a three-square meal, as individuals or as a family. The hunger crisis increases every single day while the middle class is also fast degrading. Our agricultural reserves are being over-exploited, to feed the growing population with no plans to replace the exploited barns, but we are simply going out acting like all is well, when it obvious that nothing is well, while sitting comfortably on a boiling pot of anarchy, soon to explode, catalysed by hunger. I remember reading the news a few years ago about how a 15-year-old lady was turned into an assassin by a group of cultists and was paid 10,000 nairas for every person she killed and I thought to myself, so a human life in Nigeria is worth 10,000 naira which is less than 30 dollars that is poverty, I found it unfortunate, to say the least, and then I go on social media and there is something called “Giveaway” where-by people are told to do different things just for cash gifts mostly done by celebrities or people with social media influence. And then during elections, the poor are weaponized with a little sum of cash and few cups of rice, tagged at the courtesy of the politician. Philanthropy in Nigeria has been reduced to quenching the hunger of the poor and using it for your selfish benefits, after all, they are poor, and can’t think rightly. Little wonder why we can’t be technologically advanced, “Can a hungry man be innovative?” technologically advanced countries are simply advanced because most of their citizens aren’t hungry and that is why Nigerians can succeed outside Nigeria because they’ve been able to solve hunger, most of our Nigerian students are hungry simply, that’s why they simply do all sorts of jobs to survive while studying including crime, not to make any excuses for them, but then hunger has a way of tuning the mind to do the most ridiculous things.
When the coronavirus pandemic came to the shores of Nigeria, and while we flirted with the idea of social distancing, self-isolation and lockdown, I argued against all the terminologies because I had one thing in mind, “hunger” we are fond of championing policies and ideas that seemed to work in first and second world countries, forgetting about our realities, which I find unfortunate, because these models won’t necessarily work in Nigeria and they are similar to mythical policies only tried in the paper, Nigeria isn’t sustainable to accommodate a lockdown for a very long period, and while the government claims it had plans to cater for the poor, it is laughable because the basic question is do they even have any records of the poor? it is only wishful to think that the government that didn’t cater for you when there wasn’t any crisis would now suddenly remember you, it is important to also note that most Nigerians are daily income earners which translate to them, not eating if they don’t go out any day. I met a woman some days ago who couldn’t afford to buy a loaf of bread and candles because of an increase in 50 naira, I wondered “50 naira” yes it sounded strange to me because I was privileged enough to afford it, but that is the reality of several people, even during the lockdown some Nigerians still went out risking heavy fines and jail term, just to look for daily bread for themselves and families. Reality is so near when you’re poor. So, I simply ask, “can you blame the poor?” my answer is “No”, but should something be done? “Yes”. I will outline just a few points of some of the things I feel can be done to eradicate hunger from Nigeria. Firstly, id advice the government to invest heavily in agriculture, with new policies that would favour both the farmer and the consumers, also this would strengthen the economy by increasing our exports and reducing our importation of some basic farm produce. Secondly, there should be a pricing regulatory agency that helps curbs the greed of some farmers and sellers who intentionally inflate the price of foodstuffs at any given time, there should be uniformity in the price of foodstuffs, to make them cheaper. Thirdly, individuals should also pick interest in agriculture, at least every family should have a small farm in their homes, that way, they can easily get some of the food they require without having to purchase them from markets. And lastly, the idea of food banks should be implemented to help the needy, in times of crises like this current COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, that way the poor are not left out, shouldn’t be a government effort alone, organizations and individuals can also assist to make it effective.
In conclusion, hunger is a national problem, and it affects every one of us, your wealth or power doesn’t isolate you, because when the poor run out of what to eat, they’d eat the rich, starting from the middle class, so, while we all put our hands together to fight the virus, let us also work together to eradicate hunger. You can’t simply hate the poor and hungry because all they want is also to have a seat at the table, they are tired of eating crumbs don’t you think?
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