It is not an exaggeration to say today that the provision and the availability of a square meal for many families in Nigeria today is a...
It is not an exaggeration to say today that the provision and the availability of a square meal for many families in Nigeria today is a rare occurrence and mostly unthinkable and if it happens, may attract testimonies in the church, mosque or shrine as the case may be.
Hunger is chiding all and sundry in the land only sparing the ruling class. Poverty is really ravaging. The millennium development and sustainable development’s goals of availability of food for all has been subjected to mockery.
I sense an aggressive return in a no distant time, of the kwashiorkor sickness that heralded the civil war era especially in the then south Eastern states, as a result of lack of food and good nutrition.
Today I read on the social media a directive by the Government of Akwa Ibom State that sellers of staple food items should reduce their high, exotic and exploitative prices fixed on the products in the market or face sanction.
I really appreciate the effort of the government for firstly coming to terms with the reality that the prices of the stable food is extremely exorbitant today as some stable foods like garri is currently being sold at about one hundred naira per cup. This exorbitant price of most commodities has affected most families to the extent that they cannot afford their purchase any longer and starvation becomes unavoidable and imperative.
This make me wish daily for the return of the good old days when as a little boy I used to buy eighteen cups of garri for one hundred naira. Yet, my mother will still complain, chiding me that I have allowed myself to have been cheated of two cups. that certainly appears as a mere and vain wish which will likely yield no positive result in the nearest future, thus, We must Stand up and face the present reality.
Having commended effort of government for not showing schizophrenic attributes in this regard to the staring fact that there is serious hunger and famine in the land such as could be compared to the biblical Egyptian days of famine that forced the Israelites to migrate to Egypt, the government should be mindful of the economic principle or the market forces of demand and supply which is the ultimate determinant of market prices of goods in her course of addressing the cause of the public hysteria.
Many conscientious efforts should be made in this regard by the government to ameliorate the hardship of the people by donating and/or subsidising stable foods through its various ministries like Agriculture or Welfare.
Martin Luther King is credited to have said: “we must learn to live together as brothers or we perish together as fools”.
If this advice is interpreted in line with the present state of hardship and hunger, wisdom will demand that the victims of hunger should be given attention if we have a sincere desire to preserve our present population in view of the upcoming census.
Historical analysis of event and causes of crime lay credence to an existence of a relationship between proportionality of crime rate and hunger.
Nigeria is a democratic state with a democratic principle of one man one vote which has been acclaimed meaningless except same is being accompanied by the principle of one man one bread.
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