With
a population that is more than 180 million Nigeria is projected to hit a possible
figure of 450 million people by 2050 becoming the third largest population after
India and China. The fear of people still living under the canon of poverty
will virtually increase.It will grow worse than ever before as people shall find
it extremely difficult to eat because of the level of economic hardship
unresolved by the pro-rich government.
While
this should attract a serious attention,politicians in government are unable to
implement social economic policies to arrest the rise of hunger, creating anger
and frustration as the case will be. Many poor homes as presently constituted
would hardly see food to eat.. As it is currently ongoing in Nigeria, where a
lot of people can’t afford to eat nutritious meal per day; in a country where
cost of living has tripled in the last 20 years.
Despite the claim by Nigeria Bureau of Statistic (NBS)stating that the inflation rate dropped from 16.10 per cent in June to 16.05 per cent in July this year (2017),food prices are high and unaffordable including inaccessible for many people.For example, a cup of rice sold for N160/N180 then is now N320. Beans N180/N200 isN360; a pack of Macaroni N100 is now N200. Furthermore, a paint of Garry sold for N300 has launched itself to N700/N800 because of inflation tearing down the economy to disarray.
Virtually all food and domestic items down to tooth-pick and match-box have added price.And many Nigerians are living inside casket that waits to be buried because of the economic policies put forward by the government and the capitalist system it runs. This is exactly what the economy is for many people.
And since the launch of
Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) under
the watch of Obasanjo and Babaginda respectively in 70’s and 80’s; the
agricultural sector hasn’t been the same. It has gone worse for many Nigerians
who can’t afford to feed in this current inflation rocking the economy miserably.
Realistically,
hunger is growing.The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its report published
in Daily Post Newspaper on Tuesday 18 July, 2017 said statistically prices of
yam, tomatoes, others skyrocketed in June.
According
to the report,virtually all prices of food were increased at different rate and
percentage, which for many people is “inaccessible” and “unaffordable” for them
in a country where the minimum wage for average skill workers per annum is $600
compare to what counterpart in most European nations and America earn per
annual. However, this is not to mean that cost of living in many European nations,
America where also poverty is haunting them as the present system dictate is
relatively better for the poor.
In
fact, for many working class families in the ghetto, cities or town in Europe,
America, Asia etc are living through the gate of hell. This is in a society
where government through its private run economy is always with machete at the throat
of people with tax and anti-poor policies, chasing them with cut in social
welfare for the rich to be feed well; while the poor remain stuck in the mold
of hunger and poverty like in Nigeria.
Monticello in
Kentucky with a population of 6, 141 people is an example It was said the town was
rated the fourth worst town having about 14.6% unemployment rate with 33.9% of
its population living below poverty line, unable to feed well and possibly
denied basic social welfare because of the U.S government policy.
Virtually all
major towns and cities like Hazard where poor people live go through the same
living condition. Beside this and because of the growing size of hunger
connected to food crisis caused by government pro-rich policy. Action Against
Hunger said more than 2.1 billion people of world population live on less than
the nickel of $3.10 per day.Also, 767 million people in Africa presently live
below $1.90 per day. (actionagainsthunger.org\poverty every
year)
This
is an alarming report by Action Against Hunger (AAH) unveiling the fact of world
poverty and hunger rocking humanity caused by capitalism where like in the US using
the example of Kentucky; people still don’t have access to good homes, water,
food etc. in an economy rated the biggest in the world.
China also is one main
attention where people hardly survive the economic hardship in spite of the
claim that it is the 2nd biggest economy in the world. But from the social
reality and class that exists in China, government does hold down better condition
against people to live. In fact, about 600 million people in China live either
$1 or $2 per day. The same goes in Nigeria, which is even less where more than 80
million Nigerians live below a $1, relating it to the present economic
realities.
As
far the system of inequality does reign, poverty will continue to increase and
living condition for millions of people shall get worse for families, who find
it hard to afford one ticket meal a day talking about two. That’s why it
becomes a system problem responsible for the hunger crisis. And with the enormous resources of the
country and the generation of crude oil sales in the past ten years; cost of
living gets terrible for people. Government officials on their part continue to
run jamboree with public resources. Capitalism is nothing but monster after the
heart of people.
The
ugly side of hunger continues wrapping people to the grave without memory left
to talk about them. In Daily Trust Nigeria publication of December 4, 2016
reported that 5.1 million Nigerians may die of hunger in 2017. For any person,
this is a shocking report in whichever way we want to look at it. As present
situation dictates, flowing from the stream of crises, piling like heap of
dirt, the percentage would have increased in-addition to the growing rate of
hunger revealing the state of people wallowing in poverty and how the State has
failed to curb this crisis.
Perhaps,
the government that manages public resources in the name of investment, where
big bosses and fat cat eat all the roasted fishes put the economy in disarray. The
economic string is on a loose end. The government hasn’t been able to address
the rise of hunger which is also connected to food crises.For example, in most
slums in Nigeria,children between the ages of 5 to 8 years old from working
class homes in the country hardly eat nutritious meal. Majority of them are
malnourished. They suffer from one form of deformation or another due to the absences
of adequate provision of social welfare by the government in resolving hunger.
Because
of this an ugly incident occurred on 23 August, 2017, where a pot of rice was stolen
in one of the usual project buildings in the slum of Lagos. This is one in the
many terrible daily reports published in the Daily Newspapers of how people are
force to steal food to eat because of social deprivation. The indication of
what this clearly demonstrates is that the numbers of such case will virtually
increase compare to the present situation around us. In fact, it will get worse
and unbearable for people.
Hunger
shall become a contagious disease if nothing is done by the government to
implement pro-masses policies to address this crisis..More and more children may
die especially in the North of Nigeria as a report unveils. The claim of
government combating insurgency with billions of dollars invested to execute a
war created by them while people go hungry becomes an end result of failure in
this administration.
Therefore,
undermining the reports given about the current insurgency in the North of Nigeria
where about 40 per cent of children are suffering malnutrition. Many women who
breastfeed their babies hardly do it because of the war in their community.
Majority of them as it is currently constituted in reports and perspective have
equally said many people will equally suffer the same if nothing is done to
arrest tombstone crisis. That is why socialism remains the alternative to head
out the ravaging rate of hunger in Nigeria and the world at large.
And
for those in the affairs of government like the Nigerian politicians whose
living condition is far better than millions of Nigerians. They prefer to
continue the war on terrorism in the North, which has contributed to food
crisis. This further explains the terrible nature of what the system of profit
first economy represent. And for the U. S, the Nigerian government should
continue on the path of combating terrorism to protect its interest where about
45% of the Nigerian budget goes for the execution of war on terrorism.
And
for food crisis and mass hunger to be adequately tackled
which a lot of people feared coming down heavily on them is for the government to
provide the basic needs. One way to curb hunger and food crisis is for public
officials to industrialise the agricultural sector under a nationalise policy
under the watch of workers and the poor, where the prices of food shall be affordable and accessible for families standing on the scale of poverty.
Through
this, people are employed to work in big farms and industry on living wage, not
the way government has been contracting public amenities to themselves but to
implement policies through a socialist program that will eradicate hunger and industrialise the economy to
end food crisis.
By
Fidel Davynovich
Comments
Post a Comment