We thank God that we were able to navigate through the year 2024 despite all the odds and travails that were associated with it. It will certainly be an understatement to say that though Nigeria did not go to war as other countries did but the people actually faced the war of hunger which made it so hard for them to survive.

Towards the end of the year 2024, families faced the war of hunger and when philanthropists in their own little way decided to reduce the tension by sharing food and gift items to the poor, it turned out to be something else.  We are all living witnesses to the event that happened in Ibadan where over 35 children lost their lives and many were injured and fell critically ill in hospitals over stampede in the struggle for survival to be able to get a fair share of what the non-governmental organisations planned in putting smiles on the faces of the poor masses especially the poorest of the poorest.  Similar incidences happened all over the country of which Ibadan was not an exception.

Just few weeks to the end of the year 2024, the National Commission for Communication came up with another unpalatable news that the cost of communication through calls, messages, and the likes will be jerked up by as much as 40%.  It is another ‘gorilla war’ that the people will face in 2025.  It means that as a poor individual you will not be able to put a call through to helpers for assistance.  The government has gone as far as taking over all the activities that would have made life easier for Nigerians except the AIR that we breathe. I want to categorically state that, had it been that the government has the power to seize the air that we breathe in Nigeria, they could have done so with immediate alacrity.  That could have been the end of the world for the poor masses. But God in his infinite wisdom did not give any individual, organisation or government the power to do such a thing.  We thank God for his magnanimity, otherwise we could have been singing a different song in Nigeria: A country where air is being sold to her citizens for breathing purposes.

In this type of situation, who do we blame? People have been complaining bitterly that the poor can no longer breathe but the government has been insensitive to the yearnings of the downtrodden.  All these economic woes started with the previous administration which left behind a dozen of problems for Nigerians to swallow. As they were leaving, a congo of garri had hit 400 naira while rice and beans were hovering between 1000 and 1500 naira. The people could still manage to hold up. Then came the present administration, with the I-too-know policies that finally nailed the coffin built by the out-gone government, who also was the biggest beneficiary of the political sagacity. Fiam! Garri today is 1200 naira per congo in Ibadan. Rice is 3500 naira. Beans now between 4500 and 5000 per congo is completely out of reach of the common man. Ororo (vegetable oil) is now costlier than oxygen. Accommodation in Nigeria has now skyrocketed, meat and fish are now only imagined in meals, all thanks to the high inflationary rates occasioned by the arbitrary fuel subsidy removal. The result of this is that even citizens who have a source of income can hardly afford the basic things of life today as hunger has become a common phenomenon in Nigeria. Do we blame the poorest of the poor who now looked up to the philanthropists for their survival? This unpopular policy of subsidy removal by the current administration has brought nothing but hunger and untold hardship on the people. Little wonder any time there is an announcement on radio for freebies, especially food, it will be hard to contain the crowd.  The growing hardship is not peculiar to Ibadan alone. From Calabar to Kano and from Lagos to Maiduguri and to Abuja the story is the same.

Recently, when the people of Nigeria came out to demand for food through the “End Hunger Protest”, what was the outcome? The government practically muted their voices and called their bluffs and raised the hunger gear to another level. Elsewhere, no government would sit back and watch life snuffed out of its citizens due to lack.

In those nations that care, governments provide free foods and clothing for the poorest of the poor. The less privileged could easily walk into designated places and pick up food and other essential items for free. In some cases, meal tickets are dished out to the hungry. This is because such caring nations realize that what makes life is not those bogus policies that will rather strangulate than bring succour to the people. They understand that governance is about ensuring the basic needs of the people are met while empathy is the hallmark of leadership. It is for the insensitivity of those of you in the Nigerian government that individuals and NGOs like that of Olori Naomi Silekunola, the Catholic Church out of empathy, would want to step in to fill in the gap where those in power have failed.

A nation of insensitive rulers from top to bottom has no justification to point accusing fingers to organisers of events meant to bring succour to the poor. Leaders who violate the same laws that they swear to protect have no moral grounds to pass judgements. Since so many young Nigerians became casualties of the careless recruitment process of the Nigeria Immigration Service that resulted in a stampede years back, who has even been prosecuted on account of that despite the series of probes into the sad event?

Directly or indirectly these unfortunate incidents in Nigeria are connected to the leadership since the policies shape the fortune of the country. The same things the government is calling for its probe are the same things the administration is guilty of. The first is negligence. When Nigerians ask for food you turned them down and left them to their fate, despite voting massively for you. That is negligence of duty. Also, by pushing for policies with ‘long term effects’ with little or no consideration for those quick fixes that will help the people meet their immediate yearnings, the government’s deliberate actions have further impoverished Nigerians and turned them to beggars in their fatherland.

While I agree with the call for probe, because it is imperative to determine whether negligence or deliberate actions contributed to the incident, government must also endeavour to remove the log in its eyes first. The Nigerian children who are regarded as the future generation of Nigeria should not be allowed to waste away because of our present negligence and deliberate actions.

God Bless Nigeria!!!