It is not too difficult to get a patriotic citizenry but it is difficult to ask a people to be patriotic in a country that further impoverishes the poor. Nigeria legitimately impoverishes the poor, unfortunately so.
All of us are bearing the brunt of poor judgement by policy makers when they chase shadows and address the symptoms of a big problem, the cause of which they usually ignore.
I attended a webinar organised by my state government last week and I challenged a decision of my state government to have concentrated the establishment of model schools in a particular location. These model schools were funded with resources that belong to all citizens of the state.
The Commissioner for Education justified the decision when she said that the establishment of these model schools in particular locations, at the expense of other parts of the state, is demand driven. She was right, her reason was justifiable but I did not have the opportunity to tell the Honourable Commissioner that in advanced climes, planning is futuristic and not reactive.
My state government chose to address the effect of a problem and not the cause. The question is why do we have influx of people to urban centres in Nigeria? It is because development is concentrated in the urban areas at the expense of the rural areas. Any wonder why the poor remains poor?
In my country, the poor is made to pay for the ostentatious living of the rich, unfortunately so. Our economy is nosediving because of poor planning but the rich always have their ways. No matter how expensive goods and services are, the rich will buy their way and pass the burden to the poor.
My country will use proceeds of crude oil from our common wealth to buy dollar for a holiday maker in Europe or America as Personal Travel Allowance at privileged exchange rate to go and spend to grow the GDP of another country. Whereas the greater majority who choose to spend their holidays in their villages where they will enrich the economy of their village with commercial patronage get nothing.
Only a privileged few have international passport, not to talk of visa. The poor cannot afford education tourism abroad to qualify for the purchase of foreign currency at the official rate for school fees. The poor does not even have a personal physician in Nigeria not to talk of accessing foreign exchange at the official price to pay for medical fees abroad.
The poor in my country cannot afford the ostentatious imported goods that keep pushing up our demand for foreign exchange to no end. Still, the poor in my country is made to buy a loaf of bread at double the price, just to stay alive, because dollar exchange rate has pushed up the price of flour. Any wonder the poor remains poor in Nigeria?
The social amenities that are meant to be provided with our common wealth are left to rot. While the poor gropes to survive in the midst of failing amenities, the rich buys his comfort at any price in the same market that does not discriminate between the rich and the poor.
The common man is made to pay his tax from source in my home country. He is unable to negotiate because what is available to him is the net after deduction. The rich chooses what to pay when he is curried by the tax officials who get their cut when they strike deals and recover, with thanks, what the state could have lost.
It is tough in my country to get a citizenry who think of what they can do for their country and not what their country can do for them. Is anybody wondering why corruption remains a hydra-headed monster in the most populous black race? It is almost a crime to be a common man in Nigeria. My country has criminalised poverty.
Nigeria will be great again when we have a society where the rich does not have anyone to oppress with his wealth. The solution is in our hands.
©️Akin Oluwadare Jnr
18 October 2021
