S.O.S ALIEME

A lot of things are happening in Nigeria. The activities of sycophants and liars are affecting the development of the country.  The problem that Nigeria is facing economically should be tackled and addressed seriously by Nigerians and should not be downplayed by praise singers.  The economic situation in Nigeria should not be politicized in the sense that those who criticized President Tinubu before he came into power are those singing his praises presently.  It is a dangerous omen to say that all is well with the country when actually things are moving from bad to worse.

All the facets of human endeavour are down economically.  Let us look at the different sectors of the economy; which of these can someone point to that has improved economically? Take for instance education, security, electricity, medical facilities, roads, marketing, fuel, food among others.  Can someone tell the people that education has improved when classrooms are dilapidated, tuition fees have increased astronomically, parents are finding it more difficult to afford the cost of sponsoring their children to schools, despite the increase in the number of universities, and prospective students are finding it difficult to gain admission into universities courtesy of WAEC blunders and JAMB irregularities? Accomplices to evil!

Security is totally a no go area.  Kidnappers are on the rampage. Almost all states do report one kidnapping scene or the other.  What about insurgences by the deadly Boko Haram?  Even when people go to Church to worship especially the Catholic Church, the fear of Boko haram is the beginning of wisdom. What has been the sin of the Catholic Church all over the world and especially in Nigeria that it has to be the subject of attack by assassins?  If I may ask “what sin have Nigerian Priests committed that most times they are being targeted?”  Is it a sin to be a Priest in Nigeria? Nigeria is a secular state according to the constitution but it appears security issues are getting worse by the day. 

As a secular state it means you have the right to choose the religion that best appeals to you. Who will save us from these wanton killings? When we were young, we were made to understand that the safest occupation or vocation to choose is the Priesthood. But it is like this is no longer true because Nigerian Catholic Priests are now subjected to wanton killings by unidentified bandits. These killings signaled that no one is safe in a country where the government continues to deceive the people that all is well. Accomplices to evil! 

What of Electricity supply? Nigeria cannot boast of 24 hours electricity supply. Do you blame the Discos, when an accountant is made the Minister of Power? What do you expect? A round peg inside the square hole. The constant provision of electricity can solve a bundle of our problems. It is a human right violation for a country not to provide her people stabilized electricity. Oil companies flare gas everyday coupled with an amazing reserve of natural gas. Then, why do we lack electricity? How will a country rich in oil and gas still face the problem of providing electricity to her people? Accomplices to evil!

A country where the President flies out at the slightest sickness to get medical attention in another man’s country. If the President of the country you are visiting did the same thing as what you are doing in Nigeria, will you have a place to visit for medical attention? Accomplices to evil! Everybody knows that things have fallen apart in our food production as we are not producing enough to feed our citizens.  The inability of Nigeria to produce enough led to the importation of over 80% of the country’s food need. We are a consumable nation with foreign taste thereby wasting our meagre foreign reserves on food importation when we can produce them in our arable land. It is imperative to ask the government to tell the nation the number of farms they have visited since assuming office in a bid to interact with local farmers. Government representatives should have visited farms and see if our local farmers are doing well and would have known there is a problem in the Agricultural sector. Government representatives should have visited the markets and see how exorbitant our foodstuffs are and out of reach of the common man. We don’t have to import foods if we are producing enough and prices of these commodities will not be this high. 

In the sixties and seventies, Nigeria used to be self-sufficient in some of the leading cash crops like cocoa, oil palm, rubber, groundnuts, among others, but now we are no more, instead, we import some of these products into the country. Nigeria is far from food sufficiency. Food shortage and hunger have resulted in the incidence of malnutrition among citizens. Food problems have forced some Nigerians to engage in social vices, which are having a negative impact on the nation. These social vices include ethnic-religious conflicts, armed robbery, prostitution, child-trafficking, corruption, kidnapping etc. A hungry man is an easy target for selfish members of the bourgeoisie who would buy their services for a price to foment anarchy within the society. Accomplices to evil!

The challenges of unemployment, rural migration, excessive dependence on oil and poor living standard of Nigerians is as a result of agricultural negligence which Nigeria has suffered over the years. The availability of timely and affordable credit delivery to this sector has been minimal over the years which makes it difficult for the citizens to practice farming.

In today’s Nigeria, one of the major problems of food production is poverty. On the other hand, one of the simplest and doubtless truths that you can easily know about Nigeria is the fact that over 75 percent of our rural dwellers are full time farmers. Another doubtless truth you can also discover is that, Nigeria’s present inability to solve her own problem of food and agriculture, is not as a result of her people’s laziness; or the matter of the nation being naturally unblessed. Nigerians in general are really hard working and industrious. A very great variety of delicious species of organic food, fruits, and vegetable and cash crops abound in the country. But to me Nigerians are not really lacking food, what they really lack is the money to buy the food and the money to produce the food; even the money to procure small piece of land to grow the food. But some praise singers are saying everything is well with the people. Accomplices to evil!

God Bless Nigeria!!!