DARK DAYS ON THE HORIZON

FRIDAY SERMON BY ALHAJI IBRAHIM BABATUNDE – JOSE.
23rd February, 2024.

These are very perilous times indeed. The chickens are coming home to roost. All the shenanigans of the political scoundrels at the helm of our affairs have revealed a hollow sham and the people have come to the realization that they are holding the short end of the stick. Their heads have been shaved in their absence. With no food to eat, starvation looms and a people’s revolt, far worse than the End-Sars is imminent. It is ‘darkness visible.

‘It is darkness visible, when the people are uncertain about their future, when their security is threatened, and their daily bread is not guaranteed. It is darkness visible, when our whole political future lies in the hands of kamikaze leaders who have stolen our patrimony. It is darkness visible, when the future of our children and our children’s children is increasingly bleak. It is darkness visible when people are hungry and there is no food to eat.

It is darkness visible when there is food, but the price is beyond the purchasing power of the people. It is darkness visible when the price of a bag of rice is three times the national minimum wage. It is darkness visible when mothers start selling their children to feed other children. It is darkness visible when the leaders have no solutions to the existential problems of the people. It is darkness visible when the social atmosphere is pregnant with the pong of impending revolution.

Today, our nation is on the precipice. There is naked poverty and hunger in the land, children out of school, parents without roofs over their heads and our sick without medical care resorting to quacks and’ Ajase Poki-Poki’.

According to the World Bank, 40.1% of the total population is classified as poor. This means that, on average, 4 out of 10 individuals in Nigeria have real per capita expenditures below 137,430 Naira per year. This translates to over 82.9 million Nigerians who are considered poor by national standards.

The challenges faced by Nigerians include sluggish growth, low human capital, labor market weaknesses, and exposure to shocks. Many Nigerians, especially in the north, also lack education and access to basic infrastructure such as electricity, safe drinking water, and improved sanitation. Despite hard work, most workers are engaged in small-scale household farm and non-farm enterprises, with only 17% of Nigerian workers holding wage jobs that can effectively lift people out of poverty.

Climate and conflict shocks disproportionately affect Nigeria’s poor, and their effects have been compounded by poorly articulated economic policies. Yet, government support for households remains scant. Households have resorted to dangerous coping strategies, including reducing education and scaling back food consumption, which could have negative long-term consequences for their human capital.

These issues affect some parts of Nigeria more than others, and addressing them requires deep, long-term reforms to foster and sustain pro-poor growth. According to Owei Lakemfa, _‘The current economic woes of the country are rooted in the mindless policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. The APC’s economic policy is inflation-genocide with the nuclear capability to wipe out the lower classes, and replace them at the bottom of society, with the hitherto middle class.’_

Much needs to be done to help lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, including boosting health and education, bolstering productive jobs, and expanding social protection. Implementing pro-poor initiatives will require unlocking fiscal space and reforming the regimes of subsidies, alongside countervailing measures to protect the poor as reforms are effected.

Worst of all, people are hungry, impoverished and penurious. The current economic situation has exacerbated the condition of the forgotten poor masses. They are the unaccounted for; forsaken by society, hewers of wood and drawers of water; ‘the wretched of the earth’. They seek a living, not from the leftover but from the waste dumps and dustbin of life. They are dirty, unkempt; spiritually and physically naked. They are perpetually sick and diseased. Without means of livelihood and unemployable, sometimes even as common labourers. The dredge of society, who merely exist but are not living, standing on the periphery of death. They live and die in obscurity: Many are not even deserving of decent burial but dumped in unmarked graves or left to decompose in sewers and ‘evil forests’; meat for the clarions and vultures.

To all intents and purposes, they do not care if God exists. How can they worship a God who has forsaken them and thrown them to the whims and caprices of their uncaring leaders. The concept of a benevolent God is alien to them. What manner of preaching can you make to people who are perpetually in hunger, want and deprivation? What scripture can fill their empty stomach?

Their lives are not captured by statistical data being peddled by economic agencies. They are not worth the pen and ink we use in chalking up these data on poverty. Of what meaning is the dollar a day to people who cannot comprehend a Naira a day? They are not part of the national economy. They are victims and collateral damage of a corrupt, unkind, and evil society.

Poverty is a ruthless and relentless enemy with an arsenal of weapons: infant mortality, hunger, disease, illiteracy and child labour, among other things. The list of obstacles the poor must overcome seems endless, insurmountable, and insuperable.

But we have reached the end of the road, The hungry poor are teetering on the brink of revolution and have started to protest from Niger to Ogun, Oyo to Borno and all over the country. The rivulets of protests will soon become a roaring river of revolt if care is not taken.

Facts highlight the devastating effect poverty has on its victims, especially the most vulnerable. How does health impact poverty? Does a lack of education cause poverty, or does poverty create a lack of access to education? And can poor health impact education, too? It gets complicated. Cause and effect can be difficult to pin down. All these challenges are intertwined.

Poverty and health are strongly linked. Health problems can plunge people into poverty or keep them from escaping it, and those in poverty are more likely to suffer disease because of lack of treatment.

Everyone knows that education is important, but its role in giving kids a ticket out of poverty is huge! But who gives education to the children of the ‘poor’?

Not enough food. Not enough of the right vitamins and minerals to be healthy. What is the meaning of vitamins to the wretched poor that have nothing to eat and no hope of any food on the table? They do not even have a table to put food on. The how, what, when and where of food disparity is a difficult nut to crack – and even more so when dealing with poverty and want.

In the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria ranked 109th out of the 125 countries: With a score of 28.3, Nigeria has a level of hunger that is serious.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa; with more than 206 million people. Hunger is one of the major issues that affect the citizens. 40% (82 million people) of the citizens live below the International Poverty Line, whilst another 25% are vulnerable.

There are millions of people in Nigeria struggling to meet basic needs. The United Nations estimates 25 million people in Nigeria — or about 15% of the total population — are food insecure. Analysts say regional instability, climate change and inflation are the major triggers of food insecurity in Nigeria. Farming in the security challenged areas has become a hazardous and dangerous proposition. Hence, food shortages.

This year, Nigeria is expected to see about 26.5 million people grappling with high levels of food insecurity, as disclosed by the Government and its partners during the unveiling of the October 2023 Cadre Harmonisé analysis on food insecurity.

What is the main cause of food insecurity in Nigeria? Some of the major factors identified to be contributing to food insecurity in Nigeria include poverty, climate change, conflict and insecurity, increasing population, poor policy implementation, inefficient agricultural practices, post-harvest losses and low budgetary allocation to agriculture, among others.

How can we solve hunger in Nigeria? Food prices continue to increase because of inflation and insecurity. With 25 million Nigerians at high risk of hunger, the Nigerian government must encourage private investments in the agricultural sector by providing incentives that apply to both primary and secondary food producers.

Social safety net programs, such as cash transfers and food subsidies, can also help to alleviate poverty and improve food security for vulnerable populations, that is where such cash palliatives are not embezzled, and the current distribution of palliatives are not hoarded by greedy leaders at all levels. Agriculture is the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, and improving agricultural productivity can help to increase food production and reduce food insecurity. But these cannot take care of the immediate climate of hunger. People need food aid now!

Rising food costs push Nigeria’s inflation rate to 28.9% (National Bureau of Statistics). The NBS report also said the food inflation rate in December 2023 was 33.93 percent.

Between 2020 and 2022, on average 21.3 percent of the population in Nigeria experienced hunger. Today the percentage is higher. People in severe hunger would go for entire days without food, due to lack of money or other resources.

Can our leaders provide the answers? No Sir! These are people who cannot make projections into the future. All they think about is the NOW, self-aggrandizement, and feathering their nest. The future is therefore bleak not only for the poor, but also for the not so poor.

Under this uncertain climate, Armageddon beckons and revolts of unpredictable proportions would soon be underway. We do not need a Nostradamus to tell us that we are in deep trouble. Wahala has already started. When the come comes to become, the poor will start eating the rich and not so rich.

But we could still wriggle out of the impending danger if certain measures are taken immediately, writes Owei Lakemfa, (journalist and union leader emeritus): _“Drastic downward review of fuel prices which is the main cause of hyperinflation and grinding poverty. A major reason why food inflation is at 33 per cent is because the cost of transporting it is far higher than the cost of production._

_“The second immediate step is to rescue the Naira as no import-dependent consumer nation can throw its currency into shark-infested seas without providing it with even a life jacket. The third, is to stop the mindless taxation of the populace, including the endless upward adjustment of the Customs rates for imports which has added to hyperinflation._

_“Declare an emergency on insecurity that has forced many farmers off the farms. Fifth, the establishment of State and Community Police should be at the stage of implementation not contemplation.”_ And I agree with Owei.

But do they have the will and political sagacity to implement these suggestions? Videbimus. We shall see.

Ihdinas Siratal Mustaqim – Guide us on the Straight Path (Quran 1:6)

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend