By Francis Ewherido
The COVID-19 Pandemic has left our governments at all levels embarrassingly exposed. The effects of decades of bad governance are staring us in the face. Nigeria has no institutionalised social security and safety nets for the aged, infants, the unemployed, disabled and other vulnerable groups. Even basic infrastructure that can make it easier for able-bodied and willing Nigerians to earn a decent living are not there or in short supply. The socioeconomic and political environment is generally hostile to economic pursuits.
Now we have been hit by a global epidemic and we are in tatters. I must admit that it was initially chaotic for every country (England, Spain, Italy, America and other developed countries), but the advanced countries are getting it right gradually on all fronts. There are basically two issues involved: having the right policies and medical facilities to tackle the virus, and putting measures in place to ensure that the people you told to stay at home do not starve at the minimum. Nigeria has done fairly well with the former, but the latter has been disastrous.
The Lagos State Government has fared best. In terms of medical facilities and preparedness, Lagos is way ahead of other states, but welfare package for the people, especially the vulnerable, has been an issue. For example, two loaves of bread for a whole street is shockingly inadequate. It is not surprising, though unjustifiable, that street urchins and other criminal elements unleashed mayhem on some parts of Lagos. But it is wrong. You do not go about maiming innocent citizens because you claim to be hungry. Some of those you are attacking are also hungry, but chose to be in their homes and lick their wounds. Just this morning (Wednesday, 15th April 2020), I read that the state government intends to feed 100,000 street boys every day and also make cash transfer to 250,000 indigent youths. Let us see how this pans out.
Back home in Delta State, I do not have details of what the state government is doing, but it is certainly not enough; it is not trickling to the grassroot level to the point of alleviating people’s pain. Just this morning (Wednesday, 15th April 2020), I read about riots in Sapele as a result of the extension of the stay at home order by the state government. The Delta State Government needs to quickly come up with relief for Deltans. There is way too much poverty and unemployment, especially among the youths. Majority of our people live from day to day. There is no way they can survive at home for a month. I am fully in support of the stay at home, but government should quickly come up with a welfare programme, devoid of political affiliation, for poor and vulnerable Deltans.
Thankfully, some individuals and groups are also lending support to their people. The President General of Urhobo Progress Union Worldwide, Olorogun Moses Taiga, donated food items to his Olomu clan. The Ovie of Effurun-Otor, HRM Johnson Duku, my maternal hometown, is organising the elites of Effurun-Otor to support the less privileged in his domain. There are many more of such commendable private gestures going on. Also, the Senator representing Delta Central, who also happens to be the Deputy President of the Senate, HE Ovie Omo-Agege, is giving 17,000 old and vulnerable constituents N5,000 each. I saw some of the videos of the recipients. Their celebrations tell their story. I also like the transparency I personally witnessed. The sum of N5,000 is pittance to some of us, but to these vulnerable people, it might just be the critical difference between a full and empty stomach for a while, good health and ill-health, and life and death.
But the videos also brought a painful reality. I saw a level of poverty that should not be seen among people from a region that has contributed hundreds of billions of dollars, not just naira, to the national treasury. And it is not only the Urhobos who are in this miserable existence. It is so with the Isokos, the Ndokwas, the itsekiris and other ethnic groups in the region. My anger started boiling against the Nigerian Nation for being so unfair to my people as I watched the videos, then something struck me. For almost 20 years now, states in the Niger Delta have been receiving 13 per cent derivation funds from the national coffers. What have we done with the billions of naira? And then there is the Niger Delta Development Commission that was set up almost 20 years ago to fast track development in the region. Where is the commensurate development to the allocation it has received? The commensurate development is neither there in physical form nor human form. He who could not be faithful with little, what will happen when he is entrusted with much more? Na so spit dry comot my mouth. Our Niger Delta leaders no try at all. It is a shame.
Notwithstanding, the Niger Delta deserves a better deal from the Nigerian federation. We have to demand and get a better deal. But the Niger Delta cannot continue on this present path that leads to nowhere. A wrong road cannot never lead you to your destination. We are on a wrong road. I am not talking party politics now. I am talking of a path that leads to the growth and development of our people; a path that will lead to the development of our environment and sustainability of the ecosystem. Let us leave politics aside and tell ourselves the home truth. We have underachieved. For instance, outside government, there is very little opportunity out there. That is why people want to remain in government forever at all cost. From commissioner they become special assistant to a commissioner. It will continue until they become office boy (even if they are 60 years) in the office of the commissioner.
All the companies that helped to sustain a vibrant middle class in Warri-Effurun axis are all gone. The middle class have either relocated or melted to lower status. The middle-class left is very negligible. Warri-Effurun is like a waste land. In the same Warri-Effurun axis in those days, a multi-national company used to remit about N408m to the Delta State government every month as PAYE, according to a former staff of the company. They have all left. Going home these days has become a mental torture. I know the way we were. How to bring back our Warri-Effurun and other parts of Delta from a subhuman to a human state of existence is what should occupy our minds.
Many of the youths who saw or heard about the glory of Warri-Effurun think along this line, but for some others, their daily bread is what is important. It does not matter from where or who it comes from. What you read on social media are: “if you see Chief Jipiti, greet am for me. E surprise me this Easter.” “Orukuruku na man.” It does not matter whether it is the same Chief Jipiti, who collected mobilisation for the road project of his (youth) hometown and abandoned it. It does not matter that part of the money Orukuruku gave to him was the money he collected to equip the cottage hospital in his (youth) village. The hospital is now overgrown with weeds and reptiles, instead of patients, are now the occupants. And these people are their role models. They are aspiring to be like them someday. Issorite, let us see if you will even have carcass left to rape by the time it gets to your turn.
We need to demolish our current inhuman structures and replace them with structures that have humanity as their heart beat. Until then, we shall continue to sink deeper into quagmires.