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I arrived at the above topic after a deep thought about how Nigerians go about their lives under the regime whose greatest achievement is the hunger it spread to every nook and cranny in the land. President Tinubu is very proud of that and could not wait to be praised.
If one’s living conditions on earth determine their afterlife, many Nigerians would find it difficult to make it to Heaven under Tinubu’s unjust and ungodly regime. Many are already in hell. The good news is that Tinubu’s hell is not God’s Hell. Yet, making it to Heaven might be difficult if extra measures are not taken. Many Nigerians, if not most, are turning their back to God (consciously or unconsciously) to squarely face the challenge of hunger under Tinubu presidency.
Nigerian rulers have made ghettoization of the masses the focal point of their policies. There is hardly a policy, especially under this current regime, that is not conceived to pull the masses out of their narrow breathing space in order to push them deeper into the abyss of despondency. As if the abyss were not deep enough, Tinubu keeps digging as though to ensure that no one escapes.
Tinubu’s hunger induced policies have degraded many Nigerians below the level of their domestic animals. Hens are naturally protective of their chicks; so are goats of their kids. This basic parental care is missing among many Nigerian parents today due to the existential hardship.
Mothers are said to be more protective of their children. In Nigeria today, mothers sell their children just for food. Fathers run away and abandon their children in care of their mothers who in turn become married prostitutes—all because of food.
Diligence isn’t a virtue anymore under a regime that prioritizes looting of public fund to satisfy its hedonistic lifestyle while it continues to encourage the masses to endure hardship and make sacrifice. To be diligent and upright in search of food in this torturous regime is to resign to poverty with no end in sight. Nigerians have thus resorted to all kinds of abominable acts to make ends meet.
Boko Haram got many thoughtless northern youths out of school through indoctrination. Tinubu did worse than Boko Haram on this. He got hungry Nigerians—in large number—out of school due to his ironfisted policies that were deliberately or hastily formulated not to have human face. To some students who had abandoned their studies due to government engineered financial difficulty, NELFUND intervention is like medicine after death. The damage has been done.
While the long awaited NELFUND might address some of the challenges, temporarily (if adequately funded and well implemented) it is too early to clap with the two hands knowing full well that policies are not meant to benefit common Nigerians under this regime. It is a regime that is determined to crush lofty dreams; not to actualize them.
The ongoing hunger/hardship protest which is a clarion call to end bad governance really set Tinubu government on tenterhooks. This is palpable. However, it does not dilute its resolve to steam life out of Nigerian masses in the policy cauldron of the IMF/World Bank and their policy dictates which our rulers must faithfully implement. This is evident from the empty speech he delivered on Sunday which was expected to calm some nerves. Rather, it intensified and redirected the protest demand from “End Bad Governance” to “End Bad Government.” It even led to a call for military intervention in some quarters.
My concern in all of this is how to make Heaven. Civil servants would need to take bribe before doing their jobs in order to feed their families. Teachers have to compromise their integrity and throw all ethics into the air to maintain their jobs if they still want to be respected as parents by their children. Traders have to lie and inflate prices of commodities to remain in business. Politicians must loot, as usual, to remain relevant.
Bachelors are afraid to marry just as spinsters are roaming the street in search of non-existing husbands due to frightening economic reality. The moral fibre of our society is being torn apart. The saying in local parlance “body no be firewood” is employed as justification for moral degradation. Several acts of immorality which I find too abominable to type on this page are resorted to as temporary substitutes for marriage. These ugly acts are unfortunately becoming parmanent feature of our social life.
House wives voluntarily serve up the forbidden fruit for as little as a plate of food. Food has become the only reason why Nigerians exist. And most people do not care about where and how to get it; no matter how despicable. The ongoing protest was like a once in a lifetime opportunity for some youths to prove their looting prowess. They are, by recent looting, sending a strong message to our politicians that looting cannot be monopolized by them. Every Nigerian is looking for every opportunity to cheat their fellow Nigerians; not because they like to cheat but because they have to eat.
The youth who pleaded for food through the “End Bad Governance” protest were fed with bullets by Tinubu regime. The man wouldn’t have been Nigerian president if he had been shot dead in several protests he had led or co-led in the past—especially when it was not haram, unlawful, or treasonable to protest.
If the keys to the gates of Heaven were consciousness of God, integrity, mutual love, and moral rectitude, they are lost—due to hunger—in the regime of Tinubu. The burden of debt has turned many of us to liars and has destroyed many homes.
My dear President Tinubu, Nigerians are religious people. Rethink your policy approach. Your policies are turning Nigerians against their Creator. There is an extent to which Nigerians can tolerate your policies and even you. Be advised.
Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com
