6-10-2024.

The politicians live (comfortably too), the workers exist (with insufficient stipends, which they are, anyway) and the rest of us manage to just live (due to the unbearable economic hardship in the country), in a nation that should have no business whatsoever with hardship for ALL its citizens.

Nigeria is a country so abundantly blessed by God with many highly required mineral resources, which are but illegally mined (with the aid of the murderous bandits) and taken out of the country by some unpatriotic rulers the country is unfortunately saddled with, for sale.

This is of course, not saying that Nigeria is not blessed with sincere business moguls like the Dangotes, the BUAs, the Adenugas, the Ezes, the Elumelus, the Mangals and their like, as well as the many business people doing successfully in the country. That is not saying or even insinuating so, but they are in the minority, compared to the so called leaders and other top politicians, that constitute some of the stupendously ‘rich’ in the country.

The top politicians at the federal or state levels, especially at the National Assembly (NASS) or at the states Assemblies, collect huge amounts of money in the name of monthly salaries and allowances.

This is NOT including the so called constituency projects allowance, most of which are completely not implemented, or the few places that they were implemented, were done for the purpose of pronouncing that they have been done, but not for any utility purpose.

The huge but undeserved and uncalled for salaries collected by the lawmakers at the two tiers range from N21 million, to N19 for the federal lawmakers, to between N10 million to N4 million for the states lawmakers. Many of the so called lawmakers are merely bench warmers, waiting for the end of every month to collect their humongous salaries and allowances.

As for the President, the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, ministers and their likes at the federal level, and their junior counterparts at the states levels, only God Knows the staggering amounts that they smile with to the bank every month end. Even themselves cannot tell how much it is they take home every month because of its sheer size.

On the other hand, the workers at both levels will each have to be content with the stupendous sum of N70,000 each month. The amount is not even enough to buy a bag of rice, foreign or local and barely enough to buy 9 tubers of yams in Lagos state. Then there is the small matter of other eatables, particularly in a house with those (small children) who will take even the NOTHING that is not available at home.

But even at N70,000 per month, many states claimed not to be in the financial position to fund this monthly obligation, but there is enough for them to illegally take from the Commonwealth for their own ends. But the ordinary worker must go to work, failure of which would lead to a query by his superiors or even a sack, if any of the superiors have an axe to grind with the helpless worker.

The rest of the people, minus the business moguls or the just successful business people, are left to their own fate, though still have to go to the same shops, markets or supermarkets (where such aberrations still exist) with the workers and some of the lawmakers. The rest are ‘too important’ to the country to ‘risk’ doing such jobs by themselves. There are officially paid house helps in numbers to do the chores.

But those of the none government or any other kind of work, engage in other forms of unedifying activities such as begging or crimes. There are some others who sacrifice their fellow country people, including in some cases, one or both of their parents, for ritual purposes, simply for the reasons of also making it, so as to live life in the ‘fast lane’.

Still, others engage in the smuggle in or out of the country (as is often the case) in order to make easy but quick money to enable them lead a false life of ‘successful’ business people who have been ‘made’ it, in this society of ours that does not question sources of wealth. We tend to celebrate, and in some cases, even worship those who have ‘made’ it.

A few even commit suicide, some of whom complain of the inability to cope with the harsh conditions of everyday life, before taking their own lives.

All these are happening in the land where there is plenty of good things to go round for everyone, even though not equally, but lacking in the spirit of being  ‘our brother’s keeper’, and sister’s too. But so called leaders in its every corner, many of whom are busy enriching themselves from the public till.

May God save the country and its citizens from the clutches of want, poverty, hunger and anger.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.