When the poor have nothing more to eat, they eat the rich

By Bala Ibrahim.

Nothing illustrates the dreadful and dire consequences of our situation, the misdirected situation of Nigeria, particularly those of us living in northern Nigeria, than the above quotation from the French political philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

I picked the quote from an article sent to me by a friend, and I know the quote was made popular during the French revolution. It was meant to be a warning to the rich, who would build their wealth at the expense of everyone else, drawing their attention to the fact that, should things continue that way, the poor will unite in arms to take their heads off (God forbid). It may not necessarily be to eat in the literal form of cannibalism, but it would be an anguish, propelled by anger.

We haven’t gotten there yet in Nigeria, but with the utterances and actions of some youth, that are matching particularly on the streets of northern Nigeria, in protest, the road to that junction is clearly signposted. The phrase may easily be used as a metaphor for class conflict, or the sociological demand for wealth redistribution, which is also a frightening wake up call, or better still, a warning to those with ears, that when push get’s to shove, those “without” would rally round against those “with”. And they would exploit them to the fullest, suffocate them, or even wipe them off completely. A kind of cut out, God forbid!

The dictionary describes society as the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. The word ordered is strategic here on purpose, and must be so respected, because a simple distortion of order can bring lawlessness. And late chief Gani Fawehenmi, SAM, SAN, used to say, “In a state of lawlessness, it is illegal to be law abiding”. That means, at the societal level, high poverty rates can be a damper on economic growth that could activate, or trigger problems like crime, unemployment, moral decay, poor education, and poor public health. It is the duty of the Government to put social welfare programs in place, with a view to helping in lifting individuals, families, and communities out of poverty. That way, drugs, crime, and other dangers to the society would be curtailed. Most importantly, the anguish of hunger would not be allowed to escalate to the anger of committing crime.

Today is day 7 of the protest in Nigeria. The potency is subsiding, but only in some places. In some areas, contrary to the promise made by the planners, that it would be peaceful, looking at the increasing list of states that are increasingly increasing the hours of curfew, I doubt if we are on the same page, with regards the real meaning of peaceful. Perhaps, they are using a different dictionary with a different definition for the adjective, peaceful. Mine says, peaceful stands for a situation that is free from disturbance. Calm, tranquil. I pray the protest subsides to that level of calmness and tranquillity everywhere. Ameen.

The article from the friend, a patriotic friend, gave me a good read last night, and it touched me to the point of emotion. The well scripted write up is an overview of the lamentable situation of northern Nigeria in particular, and the near sorry state it found itself today, pursuant to the neglect of education and proper child upbringing. The north may pride itself for Islamic education, but with the increase in moral decay, questions are now being asked, about the exact extent of implementation, and strict adherence to the original Islamic curriculum. We seem to be getting it wrong and the need has arisen, for all hands to return to the deck, with a view to pinpointing the particular point of pollution.

Yes, the northern culture, customs, and rules of social behaviour of the north have gone adrift. What we have in terms of etiquette in the north today, runs in conflict with the original ambition of the Sardauna of Sokoto, the late Premier of northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, may Allah forgive his sins, ameen.

As a society, the north is bleeding and bleeding badly, because of the paucity of morality, occasioned by a planted poverty, that is now in partnership with the people. In an article, captioned, Northern Nigeria: Dreams of founding fathers shattered, a public analyst, Malam Surajo Abubakar, lamented that the north has produced the likes of Ahmadu Bello, Sir Tafawa Balewa, Ishaya Audu, Sunday Awoniyi, all of the blessed memories, but the north is still suffering serious backwardness. He said, diseases, poverty and sustained underdevelopment have been the issue of discussion because of the deliberate distortion of the real vision of the founders of the north.

“The north entered gradual deterioration mode shortly after these visionaries breathed their last. Those who succeeded them truncated the blueprint of northern greatness to personal greatness and since then, the region has continued to bleed dangerously. Late Sardauna birthed a vision, he went round northern villages poaching young people to be mentored. The likes of General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, General Yakubu Gowon, General Zakari Maimalari, Hassan Usman Katsina, Muhammadu Buhari, Mamman Vatsa, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Ibrahim Taiwo, Joe Garba amongst host of others, were young northerners Ahamdu Bello influenced into the Army, as part of his dream to have a prosperous north. These people rose to triumph in their aspirations; some becoming decision-makers in this country”.

Malam Surajo Abubakar continued, thus: “They didn’t only thrive in the north, they became pivotal references in Nigeria. Did these Sardauna boys replicate the Sardauna dream by recreating themselves in others? Your guess is as good as mine. They abandoned everything the man preached and built in preference for individual pursuits, and the north became a ruin”.

The situation of the north today, after the barbarism of Boko haram in the north east, the brigandage of banditry in the north west, and now the plunder of the protests in the north central, is disquieting, distressing and disturbingly disgusting. The north is in the near state of utter hopelessness.

Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the government has planned to come with a commitment to helping young Nigerians find jobs. The program aims to help 5 million people in the next five years exit the pavilion of poverty and is open to everyone, regardless of region or religion. By the plan of the President, it would go beyond rhetoric. It’s a chance to change lives and improve communities for the long term.

May Allah make it possible for the President to implement the program to the full, and turn it into the chance to change and unshackle the poor from the persecution of poverty. If not, when the poor have nothing more to eat, they would eat the rich. God forbid.