WHAT IS THE TRUE VALUE OF HARD-WORK
A young 13 year old girl carries a basin on fresh
groundnut on her head. The total value is just
about 900 Naira. She goes from street to street
covering about 15 to 20 miles across the streets
of Abuja, in the event she sells everything which
is not likely, her total profit is just 300 Naira after
12 hour labor. Is that the true value of her work?
A mother, carrying a new born baby barely 3
months old on her back and a basin of boiled
corn and pear whose total value is just about
1000 Naira, moving from street to street
covering about 20 miles a day, and hot scorching
sunlight on the new born, for a paltry profit below
500 Naira or below after 12 hours labor. Is that
small profit the true value of her work?
The last time I visited calabar, at about 7.30pm, I
was taking a walk very close to the cultural
center down to Unical, a group of boys robbed a
nine year old boy who was selling mineral drinks
of all what he sold for the day and ran into the
nearby slums. It happened so fast before me as
I worked by, Even though I later reimbursed the
young kid what was stolen from him, but his
entire evening after school was spent in the
streets of calabar trying to sell a create of Coca-
Cola, the total value of this child's labor and
associated profit not up to 500 Naira. Child labor
and slavery not from choice, but the parents
need to send him to the streets to make ends
meet
In our local villages, young boys and girls spend
nights in the forest in search of afang or Ukazi
leaf, they sleep in make shifts huts in the forest,
amidst wild life at great risk, just to raise enough
money to pay fees or buy school materials.
Sometimes this entire fees is misappropriated by
some big man in a big office.
An elected politician wakes up, he is Chauffeur
driven to Senate, Reps or House of Assembly
chambers, some of them initiate bills, some go
there to sleep and crack jokes, at end of day
they get to the comfort of their homes, operating
under a mandate from the groundnut seller, the
corn seller, the afang seller and the poor.
The politician takes home some millions of Naira,
travels overseas for vacation and shopping, send
his kids to foreign schools, visits his constituents
amidst sirens in pump and extravagance. His
work hours is limited, but full of vacations at the
expense of the poor who provided him the
mandate.
The rich and powerful, for purposes of
convenience I call them the ruling class. In my
judgement they are the problem with Nigeria.
The poor are not really jealous of the rich, but
they will continue to advocate, that which
belongs to them should be given to them.
But this is where I have a problem with the rich
and powerful. Not only do they live in
extravagance at the detriment of the poor, they
also extend their power and control to take the
little given to the poor.
Let me give you an example. The world bank
haven noticed the degree of poverty among
Africa's vulnerable poor, decided to extend
grants amounting to millions of dollars to help
unskilled Nigerians like the corn seller, the afang
seller and the groundnut sellers.
The plan is to provide new skills to the poor and
support them with some cash to start small
businesses. In most cases, this money never
gets to the poor. The very rich and powerful in
most cases, they corner these funds through
various fraudulent administrative overheads, so
much that what is left to go to the poor is so
little and insignificant.
When I say unnecessary overheads what do I
mean? Let's say 20 million Naira is assigned to a
project to help the poor, those elites who control
this funds will tell you they need to organize
workshops, travels, hotels, meetings and all sort
of unnecessary cost so much so that little or
nothing is left to go to the poor.
These overhead cost is so extravagant that in
most cases the international donors have no
option than to withdraw their money. Earlier in
May this year, one of the international donors
whose funds were used to prevent malaria and
HIV cancelled their programs in Nigeria. Who
suffers at the end? The poor!
So how can the poor and vulnerable ever break
out of the cycle of poverty when those given the
mandate to improve their lives are part of the
problem?
The aspect that really gets me worked up is the
fact that it is the very poor who will rise to
defend the rich calling them my townsman when
they are apprehended for prosecution.
It is heartbreaking to note, that ethnicity brings
out the innate foolishness in us as a people. We
are contented to pick the crumbs from the table
of the rich rather than attempting to become the
rich. No nation that has developed has ever
taken this part of ignorance.
I will not give up on the Nigerian project, neither
do I want you to, but let us be wise and request
more from our leaders rather than fan ethnic
sentiments and promote inefficiency at the
detriment of the common good.
At the end of the day what actually is the value
of hard work and who has the right to determine
what work is considered skilled labor and
unskilled labor? If the gains of democracy is not
good enough to put a smile on the face of the
poor, then we need to redefine our democracy.
The poor cannot continue to live at the mercy of
the rich, it's not about ethnicity, it's not my
townsman, it's not about my zone , it's not about
our turn, it's about getting Nigeria to work.
Hunger does not speak a language, my people
it's time we demand our rights.

The looting class should not over push their luck too far.