Abuja's stampede. photo from Punch

“ What kind of a country do we have, is the country cursed with its leaders not to succeed or provide good governance, or is the country position to suffer from its independence. The rich get richer, the poor continue to descend to its lowest ebb, like slaves who have no hope of freedom”

By Mark Orgu, News/Comments

Nigerians were lamenting the arrest of a foremost  human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi over his book  titled , ‘Nigeria and its Criminal justice system’ where the author alleged of corrupt practices against Chief Afe Babalola, whom many refers as orator of the law.  This brought about legal fireworks against two parties; The Conservative Lawyers and opposers of Farotimi,  the Radical lawyers and activists for Farotimi. Opinions were then divided especially on the jurisdiction and legality of arresting  Farotimi out of Lagos,  and if he can be tried in Ekiti state . On this, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Chidi Odinkalu had bluntly said:

‘Even if the Magistrate had jurisdiction, which he does not, the crime alleged is punishable with two years in prison. Under section 4(5) of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, this is classed as a “misdemeanor” at best, that is to say “an offence punishable by imprisonment for not less than six months, but less than three years.” These are bailable on liberal terms. Offences punishable by more than three years in prison are called “felonies”. Those are regarded as serious offences. The order of remand in this case seemed willful, with a whiff of the pre-determined about it.”

Well, Some lawyers had  also countered Odinkalu’s position too citing their sections, which is not important to me in this piece.

Yes, there is no doubt that Farotimi’s arrest, and earlier denial of bail by the Court  caught the attention of the global community, and Farotimi even became more widely popular, even as some were skeptical that the allegations he revealed in his books against the judiciary were not new to Nigerians. Although,  some have cited retired Supreme Court Justices who after retirement indicted the judiciary of systemic corruption, thereby bringing back the memory of how the former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson described Nigeria, as a ‘fantastically corrupt nation’. This was further damaged by the report of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project  (SERAP), who in 2019 ranked the police, judiciary, education, health sector as the most corrupt institutions  in Nigeria.

While all eyes were on Chief Afe Babalola and Farotimi’s defamation case and the iceberg in the system, the news of more than 35  children filtered the air  that they went to scamble for food at the Islamic High School, Ibadan were crushed in their very eyes to early grave.

What was their sins, nothing? Their sins was that, a nation that was supposed to build better standard of living conditions, turned them to potentially opportunist beggars as  against the spirit of prosperity for all, written boldly in the badly made 1999 constitution as amended. “ And to provide for a constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people”

The truth is that, if Nigeria continue in this trajectory, the coming 2025 will be another hell.

Sadly, It was  a stampede of hunger and hopelessness of today, tomorrow, and the next, and the next…The children  died in pains, not in vain while trying to catch good will. Let their blood be the lamb for redemption of the Nigerian state. It would be further disaster if our  elected and appointed leaders do not wake up from their slumber and mortalise these children who died in anguish  because of failed leadership and un-sanitalised system, where history is always repeating itself.

Anyway, as the story goes,  It was reported that a group  known as women in Need of Guidance and Support (WING) had expected to host 5,000 children under the age of 13 at the free event in that Islamic High School, where they could win prizes like scholarships, which is not a bad idea.

Well, as usual, regularly  tributes from politicians  started   pouring in.  Mr. Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party Presidential candidate, has described the situation in his X handle, as very disturbing while casting blame more on the failure of leadership:

“While I will not cast blame but instead appreciate the organizers of these respective events for their kind gestures in providing palliatives and support to society, especially the poor, these tragedies reflect the systemic failures that plague our society,” he wrote. The desperate quest for survival in these harsh economic times has driven our people to extremes in their search for food, often at the cost of their lives”

“How do we explain that in a nation blessed with abundant resources, our people are dying of hunger in such numbers? How is it possible that we cannot feed our citizens despite the vast, fertile lands our nation is endowed with? My heart bleeds. One can only imagine the pain their families are enduring at this moment. My heart goes out to them.”

On his part, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, wondered how a country like Nigeria has degenerated into a land of hunger, whereas, it was supposed to be a land of hope. In his X handled, he said:

“How do we tell nearly three dozen parents and wards that the children they saw off with excitement to a holiday funfair in Ibadan will not be returning home, not even late for Christmas? I am heartbroken, like millions of our citizens, over the tragedy that befell children who only wanted to have some fun after the rigours of the school term had come to an end. My thoughts and prayers are with the families who may have had their beautiful flowers plucked from them so early in the day.

I pray that Almighty God provides comfort to all affected families and friends and heals the injured. My deepest condolences also go to the government and people of Oyo State. May the beautiful souls of the deceased rest in peace”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Femi Falana, while reacting to the shameful situation said on Sunday (Today):

“There is also a sociological dimension to this national shame of episodic loss of  lives in stampedes triggered by mass hunger in the land, “This should not be ignored. It is  the unpardonable lack of respect for the  dignity of the poor on the part of  the members of the middle and upper classes involved in charity.”

“Since the individuals whose criminal negligence led to the avoidable tragedies are members of the ruling class the federal government and state governments have not gone beyond sending condolence messages to the survivors and the family members of the casualties.

“Therefore, the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond has resolved to mobilise lawyers to institute civil suits to ensure that the survivors and family members of the casualties are adequately compensated”

What kind of a country do we have, is the country cursed with its leaders not to succeed or provide good governance, or is the country position to suffer from its independence. The rich get richer, the poor continue to descend to its lowest ebb, like slaves who have no hope of freedom.

While Nigerians were still mourning the children same last week, Channels TV reported that at least ten persons died and many others were injured during the distribution of food items to vulnerable and elderly individuals at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja. Three persons were also confirmed dead and several others were wounded in a philanthropic drive in Okija, Anambra State.

The question again, is, how did we get to  this mocking level of the citizens,  is what no one can vividly  tell-that a country God has blessed with both human resources and capital is the capital headquarters of the world, it is indeed, an irony of a nation.

So, I am beginning to suspect that there is something cynical about Nigeria, designated for perpetual darkness and caging of the poor. How can one explain that citizens of a country now eat the crops that falls on  the ground, a God given resources that ordinarily, no Nigeria should taste poverty but the greed, ambition and materialism of a few leaders from inception has made it so. It is unfortunate.

The policy of the government no doubt has further crippled hope of most Nigerians.  options then left is for the strongminded to japa to any country of dream fulfilment.

One would have expected that, economic policy of any government should gear towards elevating citizens out of  poverty while creating economic prosperity and opportunities for all. That was what Mao Tse-Tung did during the era of China’s revolution in 1945-the battle between the higher class, middle class, and lower class. Mao fought the bourgoises to no fault. His actions were focused on human driven purposes and transformation as part of his  address on economy transformation recorded in a book titled, ‘Selected readings from the work of Mao Tse-Tung’:

We want to carry on large-scale construction, but our country is still very poor-herein lies a contraction. One way of resolving it is to make a sustained effort to practice strict economy in every field. During the san fan (or three ant’s) movement in 1952, we fought against corruption. In 1955 we advocated the practice of economy with great success, our emphasis then being on combating the unduly high standards for non-productive projects in industrial production. But at that time economy was not yet applied  in earnest  as a guiding principle in all branches of the national economy  or in government offices, army units, schools, and people’s organization in general . this year we are calling for economy and  the elimination of waste in every sphere throughout  the country We still lack experience in the work of construction. During the last few years, great successes have been achieved, but there has also been  waste . We must build up a number of large-scale modern enterprises step by step to form the mainstay of our industry, without which we shall not be able to turn our country into a strong modern industrial power within the coming decades.

“But the majority of our enterprises should not be built on such a scale; we should set up more small and medium enterprises and make full use of the industrial base left over from the old society, so as to effect the greatest economy and do more with less money”

The point here is that, government at all level most begin to rethink their economic principles, and do away with the International monetary fund (IMF) advise and focus more on traditional centre policy’ that can guarantee food security and  employment . Government should remove bottlenecks on potential investors especially on tax, and ensure security improve drastically, including better dispensation of justice.  Party politics/selfishness must be separated from good governance and delivery.

President Tinubu therefore should ensure total control of his government and filter out under performing appointees while continuing to seek collaboration abroad and reducing borrowing and unnecessary waste of government funds.

Orgu, is an author, public and social affairs commentator, and also the Editor, Afrikanwatch, writes from Lagos, 

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