Afe Babalola

Chingiz Aitmatov wrote an anecdote in his book titled, The Day lasts more than a Hundred Years, thus:

Stalin called together his closest comrades-in-arms. “I understand you’re wondering how I govern the people so that every last one of them … thinks of me as a living god. Now I’ll teach you the right attitude toward the people.” And he ordered a chicken brought in. He plucked it live, in front of them all, down to the last feather, down to the red flesh, until only the comb was left on its head. “And now watch,” he said, and let the chicken go.

It could have gone off where it wished, but it went nowhere. It was too hot in the sun and too cold in the shade. The poor bird could only press itself against Stalin’s boots. And then he tossed it a crumb of grain, and the bird followed him wherever he went. Otherwise, it would have fallen over from hunger. “That,” he told his pupils, “is how you govern our people.”

If the anecdote is interpreted in the political clime for which it was intended, it means that the populace will still be loyal to a government that impoverishes it as long as the government can give crumbs under the pretext of helping the populace.

Nigeria’s tale of wealth to lack

Nigeria is a nation blessed with vast natural resources. Nigeria has about 44 different mineral resources in commercial quantities and human resources.

Nigeria is the most populous black nation with a population of approximately 226 million people) and a vast arable land. Nigeria has roughly 36.9 million hectares of land which are suitable for agriculture.

Between 1962 and 1968, Nigeria’s main foreign exchange earner was agriculture. The country was the highest exporter of palm oil globally. It made available 47% of all groundnuts consumed globally, making it the largest exporter of groundnuts. Nigeria produced 18% of global production of cocoa making it the second largest exporter of cocoa globally. Nigeria also supplied 65% of the tomatoes consumed in West Africa, which is the highest in the continent. Nigeria exported rubber and cotton also in commercial quantities. At that time Nigeria’s Naira was stronger than the United States Dollar and Nigeria was debt-free. At that time, Nigeria was one of the most promising agricultural producers in the world and had the potentials to be one of the richest countries in the world.

About 50 years later, Nigeria is regarded as one of the poorest countries in the world with above 100 million people living below poverty line. It is one of the countries that heavily depends on importation and barely exports anything anymore. It is neck-deep in international debt, spending more than it earns. Nigeria has very minimal manufacturing companies and a weak currency. In Nigeria, most social amenities are self-provided in most parts of the country. Security is declining and more people are driven from farms because of insecurity. The rate of emigration in Nigeria is all-time high because the citizenry has lost faith in the country.

How did such a rich country become this poor?

Insecurity, poor economic policy and corruption

Nigeria owes its ill fate to three major factors – Insecurity, poor economic policy and corruption.

Insecurity

It is a notorious fact that many Nigerians abandoned farming for white collar jobs in recent time. Nigeria has lost many of the remaining farmers to herder-farmer clashes, kidnappings, banditry and all other incidences of national insecurity.

According to a Vanguard news dated August 30, 2021, Nigeria had lost 8,343 farmers to the herder-farmer clashes from 2005-2021. Aljazeera reported that between September 2001 and May 2004, more than 53, 000 people have died from herdsmen related clashes. Whether these figures were under-reported or over-estimated, many farmers have abandoned farming because of insecurity.

Economic policy

Recently, the Federal Government removed subsidy from petroleum. The World Bank projected that the removal of subsidy and the attendant increase in petroleum prices would increase the number of Nigerians who live below poverty line by 7.1 million, bringing the total to 100.9 million people.

The removal of petrol subsidy has therefore caused an increase in prices of basic commodities in Nigeria. The removal has also affected 61% of businesses which directly use petroleum, apart from others who use petrol-dependent means of transportation. The World Bank projected that with the increase in the fuel prices in Nigeria, the poor will lose N5,700 per month. If the World Bank could make such projections at the point of removal of subsidy, why was the government unable to appreciate the impact of the removal of subsidy on its own economy?

Since the removal of the subsidy, Nigeria has been plunged into a tsunami of rising cost of living, declining purchasing power of the Naira, insecurity that had discouraged productivity and farming, increasing price and hike in the availability of petroleum products, lack of support for local industries and many more.

The foregoing have resulted in widespread hunger. Consequently, the average Nigerians now live below the poverty line. Nigeria has witnessed two strikes alone in this year, with the threat of more. The reason is hunger.

There are reports that states and the Federal Government imported and are distributing rice and other palliatives to its citizens. These were foodstuffs that Nigerians could easily afford before. The projected palliative scheme involved sharing rice, beans and garri to Nigerians. These palliatives were not seed monies to help the agricultural, transportation and business sectors.

The constitutional duty of government

It is not the duty of government to distribute rice and beans to the citizens. The duty of government is to provide conducive environment for citizens to work and earn a living.

Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that: “It is hereby, accordingly, declared that: the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”.

The reality however is that the policy of states and federal governments has denied Nigerians ‘security and welfare’. Tales of kidnapping are frequent news in several parts of Nigeria. Many citizens have been deprived of their livelihood because of the high ransom they have to pay to set their loved ones free. Many have lost their lives to kidnappers.

In the same vein, living has become unbearable for many Nigerians because of government policies that have crippled the economy. Rather than reversing such adverse policies, the states and federal governments have engaged in the distribution of food items including rice and beans. This is not the duty of government.

The duty of government is to put in place measures that will enable the people to produce food to feed themselves and also export the left over.

Conclusion

I have found sadly that the anecdote of Chingiz Aitmatov mirrors what is happening in Nigeria. This article is not a statement on the irredeemable state of Nigeria. Rather, it is a call to reverse the trend. It is not the responsibility of the Federal Government to distribute food. Rather, it is the responsibility of the government to prevent incidences that will turn Nigerians to destitutes needing food donations from the government.

When Lord Macauley of British Parliament visited Africa in 1835, he discovered that the concepts of hunger and begging were totally alien to the inhabitants of the continent. He said in his address to the British Parliament on February 2, 1835 that:

‘I have travelled across the length and breadth of Africa and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient educational system, her culture, for if the African thinks that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation’.

We can achieve that again in Nigeria if there is strict obedience and compliance with the provisions of Section 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution by the federal and state governments.

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