Pain
is anything that causes emotional distress. It is any condition that torments
the victims. Pain comes in various degrees. It could be financial pain,
emotional pain as well as physical pain. Whatever the form of pain, it elicits
emotional torment.
Socio-political
and socio-economic state of a nation largely determine the living condition of
its people. While Nigeria is boasting of influx of foreign investment, as well
as comfortable GDP, experiences show that Nigerians are going through various
levels of pain.
As
I write this, students in the public universities are at home. Thanks to
indefinite strike embarked upon by their lecturers under the aegis of Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Some of them may be losing a session or a
semester by this hiccup. Their parents share in this pain because it becomes
double expenses for them. The Lecturers are protesting among other things the
poor funding and neglect of the education sector.
Statistics
show that 23% of the population is unemployed. This means that 36,800,000 of
the 160,000,000 population are out of job. There is no unemployment benefit for
them so they have no tangible income. Some of them are graduates of higher institutions,
which some people have said are unemployable.
Residents
in the northern part of the country are literally under siege following the
insurgency led by the Islamic militant group, Boko Haram. The whole nation
shares in this particular pain because victims of their destructions and deaths
cut across the country. Apart from the indigenous northerners, Igbos living in
the north has been directly affected by deaths of their loved ones. The situation
has almost crippled the economy of the north and the military has been moved to
the most troubled zones to execute state of emergency declared to check the
insurgency.
Besides
these form of pains, all Nigerians wake up every day to hear of one act of
corruption or the other. Though this has become pervasive and systemic, it is
said to have its root in the civil service. The corporate world is grappling
with it, and the judiciary is not better-off on the rut occasioned by
corruption.
People
serving in political positions, either elected or appointed are seen as the
richest in the country and politics is said to have become the most lucrative ‘profession’.
Not because their basic earnings are so high, but because the allowances when
fully computed rank them among the highest earned in the world. It is also
because it easily gives people access to contracts which they sublet to other
people and earn money in return. Others are said to agree with contractors to
receive certain percentage of the contract sum as a pre-condition for contract
award.
Another
very hurting scenario is that people commit crime and punishable offences and
continue to walk the streets freely. They are not prosecuted and when they do,
it is not concluded; when they get concluded, verdict is ridiculous and appears
to be encouraging wrong doing.
It
is painful watching security operatives break law and order. They display
incompetence, especially the Police and extort money from road users. Our
Policemen beat traffic, drive against traffic and flagrantly commit offences
they are expected to check.
Now
several millions of people in Nigeria are living in penury. It is estimated
that up to 60-70% of the population live below poverty line. What more when
government pays N18, 000 minimum wage, the salary itself is degrading. The pay
encourages corruption because it can barely be enough. That however is not an
excuse.
Those
who earn appreciable income are not left out in this pain. They are left to
become individual local governments in many respects. Those who are really high
net-worth individuals have to build their own houses, buy heavy generating sets
to power the house, employ security guards, provide water through drilling
bore-hole and in some cases, construct road leading to their house. They virtually
do for themselves what the government should do for them.
Those
at the middle class also do the same by paying for these services. The irony is
that these levels of individuals would have already had their taxes deducted at
source by their employers, yet they do not get the benefits of tax paid.
Poor
electricity supply is increasing cost of doing business in the country, causing
businesses to close down and others to relocate to nearby countries. Roads are
bad and transportation system is poorly managed. No public water supply, no
public housing supply. Available ones are beyond the reach of interested
individuals due to high cost and low earnings. It is worthy to remember that in
the midst of these pains, the nation is richly blessed.
These
pains ought to motivate the people to action. There should be a change as a
result of the pain. Pains of the nature described above have led to protests
and revolutions elsewhere. When a nation is in pain, the people groan; when the
people groan, they rise to action. Somebody must rise and make the sacrifice it
demands to save the nation from this pain. I propose intellectual revolution to
avert more insurgencies.
Talks
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