This poverty is artificial

- written by Kabiru Tsakuwa -
 
The other time, former American President Mr. Bill Clinton visited Nigeria and stated that: ‘Nigeria has no business being poor’, he obviously must have considers factors that predisposes a nation to extreme poverty which incidentally are not in Nigeria’s character like: natural disasters, and lack of adequate resources; dearth of skilled-man power and insuffient arable land for agriculture to arrived at that SWEEPING conclusion. That was why recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (N.B.S.) about steep rise in absolute poverty in the country was to say the least, stale news.

This poverty conundrum which is mercilessly strangulating the hardworking and resilient people of Nigeria has been the result of endemic corruptions and adoption of bad economic policies by the federal government which surrendered sheepishly to the Breton wood dictates. And since 1985, many unworkable economic policies and programmes, manufactured in Washington D.C. were being experimented without mercy, and for that, beginning with the infamous structural adjustment programme (S.A.P.), down to the present deregulation palaver; the road to poverty maximization had been well paved.

To me therefore, the statistics does not report something new to warrant the ongoing media hype as all that leaders has done so far; aggravate  poverty among the generality of Nigerians.  Consider the following:  Whereas other less endowed African countries are reducing tariffs charged on utilities, Nigerian government under Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is busy increasing. And whereas those so-called less endowed countries are seriously fighting corruptions and building new refineries to cater for their needs, Nigeria shamelessly keep importing fuel despite being world no 6 oil exporter!

Recently, Ghana and Niger republics were said to have increased salary by 20% for all cadres of workers with immediate effect, whereas Nigeria could not even implement the new salary package more than a year after official pronouncement. And having considered the agitations against fuel subsidy removal, president Attah Mills of Ghana was reported to have quickly abandoned the idea altogether. In contrast, Nigeria not only increased fuel prices against popular wishes, it went ahead and increased tax on all taxable income and is about to increase tariff on electricity to the tune of 88% without qualms. All these aside double-digit hyper-inflation which keeps rising by the day!
Indeed, how could poverty reduce without adequate investment in agriculture, enough energy to power industries, and provide quality education, and good healthcare? I believed, for us to have attained 70% National poverty average in an environment blessed with virtually everything on earth; there must be local and international conspiracies of monumental and sadistic proportion.

As at today, all federal assets have been mortgaged to some few well connected marauders in the name of privatizations, while the nation’s wealth had been concentrated in fewer hands, leaving vast majority in absolute penury. Toll gates on major highways are coming back.

Salaries are not being paid as at when due. Government no longer pays for services to the people. Everything is subject to the whims and caprices of the market forces. Conditions are becoming more and more critical for doing business, which was why many small scale enterprises keep folding up, while blue chip companies are relocating to foreign countries in drove.

Clearly, this poverty conundrum is man made. It was the result of conscious and deliberate maneuvers by a rudderless leadership and capitalistic forces whose target has always been how to rip the resources of third world countries via generation of crisis of inestimable proportion.  And of course that does not require rocket science to unravel as concrete evidences abound everywhere.

Currently, Nigeria’s unemployment rate of 41.6% is about the highest in the world, more than the 25% average rate for North Africa and the Middle East which have been shaken by civil unrest spearheaded by unemployed youths. So, in a situation whereby citizens have to cater for what is otherwise government responsibilities, like provision of water, electricity, security, educations, health, and transportation, and greater preoccupation of leaders both at local, state and federal level remain how to steal the country blind, thereby leaving the art of responsible governance in the doldrums; attaining 70% national poverty average in the country should not be an unexpected and unusual accomplishment.

Therefore, unless something miraculous happen through divine intervention to tame the ugly tide, the remaining 60million Nigerians currently said to be living above 1dollar per day would most likely join the poverty bandwagon  and that may signal the end of that potentially great ‘geographical entity ‘known and refer to as Nigeria!!  God forbid, Ameen.

Kabiru Tsakuwa wrote in from Gidan Kirkine, Tsakuwa, D/Kudu LGA, Kano, Tsakuwa2000@yahoo.com