By Fr Pat, Amobi Chukwuma
A lot of ugly and strange things are happening in these days of hardship and acute hunger in Nigeria. A certain young man full of energy, on Friday morning, 27 September 2024, climbed a 33KV electric high tension mast located in a market area in Mayo-Belwa Local Government Area of Adamawa State. From the top, he shouted that he would not come down until President Bola Tinubu resigns.
He sat on the apex of the mast in between high tension wires the whole day and throughout the next day being Saturday. Because elders do not sit at home for a pregnant she-goat to give birth tittered on a rope, the police whose duty is to protect lives and properties were on the spot. The Police Command used the people of the locality to persuade him to come down in the language he understood. Eventually, he came down on Saturday night, being September 28, 2024.
The Police Force there and then arrested him and vowed to charge him to court for attempted suicide. Is it not frustration that led him to take such a risk? A man in his right senses would not attempt such. The remote cause of his risky action is the unbearable hardship in the country. He needs to be pitied than charged to court.
Few days ago, a certain hungry Nigerian man had a sweet dream. The current hunger in the country has disfigured him into a skeleton. He is married with five skinny children. The wife has gone out of shape due to hunger. In the dream, the hungry man saw himself enjoying a double plate of pounded yam and egusi soup cooked with vital chicken parts. In addition, two bottles of cold beer were sweating profusely on his sumptuous dining table.
As he swallowing the delicious meal and washing it gradually down the oesophagus with the cold beer, his wife woke him up suddenly by tapping him on the shoulder shouting, “Papa Uche, it is daybreak! Get up and let’s pray for divine providence today.” Surprisingly, the hungry husband got up and was licking his fingers. Seeing this awkward behaviour, the wife asked him, “What does this mean? Are you a baby licking his fingers at odd time? Lazy man, go and look for what we shall eat today.”
The hungry and angry husband sighed thrice. Without calculation, he gave his inquisitive wife two hot slaps on both cheeks. The wife screamed before slumping. After regaining herself, the angry husband commanded, “Mama Uche, you must send me back to my sweet dreams so that I can finish the delicious meal I was enjoying before you woke me up. If not, you pack and go forth from my house. What a nonsensical nonsense you committed this early morning!” The courageous wife replied, “You are joking. Eating and drinking in dream are bad omen.” Out of frustration, the hungry and angry husband slapped her again for such an insult.
The wife was raged and hit him back. Instantly, a fierce fight ensued between the hungry couple. With power coming from nowhere, the enraged wife carried him shoulder high and threw him down like a log of wood on tiled floor and began to pump him like flat tyres. The mesmerized husband pitifully shouted, “I am dying!” The wife boasted, “Die and let me bury you!” Their four children got up and rushed towards the estranged parents to separate the fight. The charged husband and father of four was panting like a lizard that fell down from iroko tree. He quietly walked out of his house and has never come back till today. Who knows if he has committed suicide? Frustration can kill.
The present economic hardship and hunger in Nigeria have done irreparable harm in many families. In his Independence Speech to mark Nigeria’s 64th Anniversary, President Tinubu began by saying, “I am deeply aware of the struggles many of you face in these challenging times. Our administration knows that many of you struggle with rising living costs and the search for meaningful employment.
I want to assure you that your voices are heard. As your President, I assure you that we are committed to finding sustainable solutions to alleviate the suffering of our citizens. Once again, I plead for your patience as the reforms we are implementing show positive signs, and we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.” The taste of the pudding is in the eating.
Action speaks louder than words. Many hungry and frustrated Nigerians saw his speech as mockery and empty. Instantly, I experimented President Tinubu’s optimism by glancing through the tunnel at the back of my rectory. I saw total darkness from the beginning to the end of the tunnel. There was no atom of light. I was totally disappointed. Perhaps the tunnel at Aso Rock is different from other tunnels nationwide.
Nigerians expected the President to address the myriad of problems besieging the masses concretely one after the other. What is he actually doing to alleviate the acute hunger in the land? The word a hungry person hears is food on his table here and now. Telling him there will be food is a provocation. Before preaching to a hungry man, you ought to give him something to eat. Due to the acute hunger in this country, the congregants in the church nowadays sleep off during worship.
They only wake up when they perceive the aroma of food or hear the dropping of bottle lids. Many no longer come to church because manner no longer falls from heaven. Some say that they would come back to the church when the God of vengeance appears to punish our leaders who are starving us to the point of death. Our leaders are bubbling with life and vitality while the masses are dying of acute hunger.
The monthly salaries and allowances of those in the corridors of power are scandalous. Indeed, Monkey dey work while baboon dey chop. Nonetheless, no condition is permanent. Death is the common denominator of the wealthy leaders and the poor masses.
In the Independence Broadcast, we longed to hear a reduction in the pump price of petrol. If it were done, the prices of essential commodities would come down drastically. Hungry and frustrated Nigerians would have heaved a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, as I was writing this, I was shocked to hear from the radio that Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has arbitrary increased again the pump price of premium spirit (petrol) to N1,030 per litre. This is just pouring fuel into raging fire.
Emotionally, my pen fell out of my fingers and I screamed, “A sick man has been given poisonous injection! The result is instant death!” He will not rest in peace but in pieces. Long time policy will surely kill a hungry man before it materializes. Only short term policy can save him. If a hunter spends so much time aiming at an animal, it will surely escape. Aiming and shooting within a limited time gives good result.
What concrete action is the Federal Government taking to secure the lives of innocent Nigerians being kidnapped and killed like fowls by terrorists, bandits and kidnappers all over the country? By now, she would have declared emergency on security. Till date, no security summit has been summoned. Often, the bandits, terrorists and kidnappers have superior guns than the Police and Army.
None State Actors appear more powerful than State Actors. Our leaders in the three Arms of Government are protected by heavy security men and move about in bullet-proofed vehicles while the masses go unprotected. Indeed, George O’Well states it clearly in his literature Book called Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
After 64 years of Independence, we are still wallowing in acute darkness. Acute power failure is the order of the day in most places. As a result, many companies have relocated to the countries where constant power supply is assured. The countries Nigeria supplies electricity are more illumined. Some time ago, I travelled to Ghana and spent one week. Throughout that week, electricity was constant.
When Mr. Peter Obi assumed power as the Executive Governor of then dilapidated Anambra State, he asked this vital question: “Are we the cause or are we cursed?” As time went by, he discovered that we were the cause. From thence, he began to transform the State as the Light of the Nation. Our country Nigeria is not counted among the Comity of Nations because of bad leadership. When will the expected Messiah come?
