I am a social worker and in the course of my work we see deplorable state people live in you think you have seen it all but sometimes you see some situations that are just unimaginable and absolutely pathetic. Nothing i have seen in the three years of my work prepared me for what i saw yesterday.
I was coming home from work yesterday evening and i saw a woman with a young child about 2yrs old, probably the same age with my Nephew. Because of the appearance of the woman and her child i doubted her sanity but i summoned courage to stop because the child was throwing up uncontrollably and shivering, it rained throughout yesterday and the child had only one threadbare shirt on. She threw up all over the mother and when she finished the mother did not wash her up so i asked to wash her up she told me she did not have money to buy N5 pure water. I went across the road and bought water for her, she cleaned the child up and herself and i told asked her how long the child had been sick, she told me for some days but she could not afford to get medical treatment because she roasts maize close to my house but Task Force had seized all her maize some days ago, so she was absolutely stranded.
The long and short of it is that we got the child treatment and everything but i could not sleep.
This child is a citizen of Nigeria, her mother did not decide to steal,beg or prostitute, she is trying to earn a honest living to take care of her child, for God sake FCDA, even if we want to keep Abuja clean lets do so with a human face, every week the Tax Force drives people from the street and they still come back because they have no other means of survival, it is either that or they resort to crime or surrender their lives and that of their children to starvation. If we want to clean up Abuja, let us get a place for them to do their business a small affordable market not all those stores that they can not even dream of owning.
I don't care about the politics of Demolition and co all i acre about is the lives of these people and that child. My Nephew is the same age with that child and we give him so much love and protection yet another parent cannot afford N5 pure water to wash her child's vomit. This child deserves good education, health issurance and good food. Her mother is trying to give her that and we still food is being taken out of their mouth.
The aim of this post is not to blame Government but to find ways to get help for this people not financial but we need to get this message out because am sure there are lots of other children even worse than her

These are some of the silent victims of corruption. They are usually ignored and forgotten and it is a shame.

Unfortunately, we believe in capitalism which to me means nothing but the survival of the fittest.

Can we do anything about this? Yes but very little. Often times I think of setting up homes where extremely poor people can be fed, clothed, housed for free but reality always stares me in the face - how many people can you help with millions in this condition?

Today banks are setting up new branches everywhere while displacing families in the process even when ATMs have basically decongested the banking halls.

You may read an article on this issue at http://www.afamnnaji.com/blog_view.php?myview_id=37

Double talk - the same people will criticise the government when Abuja becomes a slum and an eyesore - hypocrites Nigerians.

I think it is better to stop looking at the govt and see how we the citizen could help, it is obvoius that the govt will not help, we have all failed teh children, and you the case worker in nigeria should be able to direct such mother to a place in nigeria where she can get some help.

but how can government wake up and demolish people's homes and businesses at a whim without offering them any alternatives.
is that fair?

social work and all these other institutions that should aid the downtrodden is a big joke.
They are as good as our police force.
Have they finished sharing all the international aid money that come in from the west?
The average government or para government employee does absolutely nothing.
Besides school runs,bribery and selling clothings in the workplace,what else do they do?
The whole system needs to implode because Nigeria as it is is nothing but a big joke.

osisi, that is the kinda of animals we have as govt, so sad, i know a man that has houses and they were both demolished.

do all this people have to migrate TO Abuja BY FORCE? WHY CANT THEY GO BACK TO THEIR VILLAGES AND BE HAPPY AND NOT BE SUBJECTED TO THIS IN HUMANE TREATMENT? i AM IN SUPPOORT OF KEEPING Abuja clean, WE CAN NOT CONTINUE TO LIVE AND ACT LIKE ANIMALS IN Nigeria. the LAWS IS THE LAW REGARDLESS IF YOU AGREE WITH IT OR NOT.

MAMAJAMA= lack of brain as usual.

It's a very sad story.

I hope things get better for this lady and her baby.
Life is a struggle, but we must always understand that God doesn't give more than you can handle. It is a matter of time, this lady will be fine.

No condition is permanent.

Definitely, we must discover a better strategy to send message out there; our standard of living in Nigeria must improve immediately.
Nigeria is a wealthy country; Nigerians deserve better.

@aisha2: I truly admire the way you comported yourself during the occurrence, you're special.

So touching. Naija is indeed developing. We must do something fast.

so if all the people i Nigeria suddenly wake up one day and install stalls along the whole place flouting government planning regulations, it is fair? it is fair for people to break the law, but it is unfair for the government to want people to adhere to the law?

Common y'all hypocrites.

@labiyemmy:

so if all the people i Nigeria suddenly wake up one day and install stalls along the whole place flouting government planning regulations, it is fair? it is fair for people to break the law, but it is unfair for the government to want people to adhere to the law?

Common y'all hypocrites.

Mamajama:

do all this people have to migrate TO Abuja BY FORCE? WHY CANT THEY GO BACK TO THEIR VILLAGES AND BE HAPPY AND NOT BE SUBJECTED TO THIS IN HUMANE TREATMENT? i AM IN SUPPOORT OF KEEPING Abuja clean, WE CAN NOT CONTINUE TO LIVE AND ACT LIKE ANIMALS IN Nigeria. the LAWS IS THE LAW REGARDLESS IF YOU AGREE WITH IT OR NOT.

Am also in support of keep Abuja Clean. All I am saying is that every week we keep driving these people away and detroying their goods but each day they come back. Should we not be looking for alternatives?
This woman and her child would surely get help, i will not rest until I do that, my plea here is for the others who are struggling to make a living. They could decide to steal but they chose to make a honest living and they cannot afford the prices of the shopping plazas we have for rent. Should there not be a shopping centre for small bussinesses like this one?
It would be another issue if such shops are available and people still sell on the street. Lets keep Abuja clean but let us be human about this.
Mamajama, beleive me the level of humulation and indignity these people go through, if they had a better alternative in their villages they would have gone back. Remeber that Abuja and Nigeria belong to You, Me and all of them. It is not the peoperty of a few well to do individuals.

@labiyemmy:

so if all the people i Nigeria suddenly wake up one day and install stalls along the whole place flouting government planning regulations, it is fair? it is fair for people to break the law, but it is unfair for the government to want people to adhere to the law?

Common y'all hypocrites.

Mamajama:

do all this people have to migrate TO Abuja BY FORCE? WHY CANT THEY GO BACK TO THEIR VILLAGES AND BE HAPPY AND NOT BE SUBJECTED TO THIS IN HUMANE TREATMENT? i AM IN SUPPOORT OF KEEPING Abuja clean, WE CAN NOT CONTINUE TO LIVE AND ACT LIKE ANIMALS IN Nigeria. the LAWS IS THE LAW REGARDLESS IF YOU AGREE WITH IT OR NOT.

Am also in support of keep Abuja Clean. All I am saying is that every week we keep driving these people away and detroying their goods but each day they come back. Should we not be looking for alternatives?
This woman and her child would surely get help, i will not rest until I do that, my plea here is for the others who are struggling to make a living. They could decide to steal but they chose to make a honest living and they cannot afford the prices of the shopping plazas we have for rent. Should there not be a shopping centre for small bussinesses like this one?
It would be another issue if such shops are available and people still sell on the street. Lets keep Abuja clean but let us be human about this.
Mamajama, beleive me the level of humulation and indignity these people go through, if they had a better alternative in their villages they would have gone back. Remeber that Abuja and Nigeria belong to You, Me and all of them. It is not the peoperty of a few well to do individuals.

+osisi:

but how can government wake up and demolish people's homes and businesses at a whim without offering them any alternatives.
is that fair?

social work and all these other institutions that should aid the downtrodden is a big joke.
They are as good as our police force.
Have they finished sharing all the international aid money that come in from the west?
The average government or para government employee does absolutely nothing.
Besides school runs,bribery and selling clothings in the workplace,what else do they do?
The whole system needs to implode because Nigeria as it is is nothing but a big joke.

What is your Basis for making such allegations? Have you ever come for assesment in any work site and seen that Social Workers or any credible NGO are squandering international Aid money?
Thats not fair, please let us be careful and speak with facts. For any fund we recieve we are assesed and if it is discovered that the fund is wrongly used, funding stops. So it is wrong of you to sit in far away USA and conclude that am not working for my salary and brand me a thief.

the point remains - people should obey the law at all times.

The issue here, I think, is that Nigeria must find a way of takig care of her little ones. There are far too many Nigerian children exposed to unbearable poverty in the midst of plenty. I remember, many years ago, I went to an area of Jos and looked through the window of a classroom in an elementary school. In that classroom, three-quarters of the roof was gone, no desks and chairs and the pupils were sitting on bare floor. This is not peculiar to Jos alone, such conditions abound all over the nation. I simply reflected back to my elementary school days and felt like crying for those kids. I attended a government school and that time the government knew their responsibilities and they carried them out diligently.

We are daily confronted with tear-inducing situations where we see kid bus conductors, kids hawking pure water and other wares dashing between vehicles in traffic hold-ups, kids struggling to clean-up wind screens albeit unsolicitedly inside sunshine and rainfall. The question is "what does the future hold for these kids?" They also want to go to schools and be like their mates elsewhere. Some brilliant and colourful destinies are being wasted here. Nigeria, in my opinion, would remain a failed state as long as she can not/refuse to take care of these less priviledged down-trodden kids that suffer poverty that they know nothing about. What manner of giant are we if our pupils suffer such lack and degradation! Irrespective of how we make Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Enugu et al look like, irrespective of how much dollars we have in foreign reserves, this country remains a failed state.

@ Aisha2, you are simply an angel, may your milk of human kindness never run dry and may the Lord reward you for your efforts at making the lives of others better. I recall, this is the second topic you have posted in recent times and they both touched my heart deeply. 10Q

@Desgiezd

Nigeria is a failed state - what r u still doing there and what have you done to contribute to make it better?

Please let us know.

desgiezd:

Nigeria, in my opinion, would remain a failed state as long as she can not/refuse to take care of these less priviledged down-trodden kids that suffer poverty that they know nothing about. What manner of giant are we if our pupils suffer such lack and degradation! Irrespective of how we make Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Enugu et al look like, irrespective of how much dollars we have in foreign reserves, this country remains a failed state.

@ Labiyemmy, read the above quote very well. I started that statement by saying "in my opinion" and that remains strictly my opinion. Nigeria is still a failed state if she can not take care of her future leaders. If you are comfortable, that does not mean that every Nigerian is. All the things that you have, like education, and take for granted are the things other poor Nigerians would spend almost a lifetime to get. Let us have some human feelings for ourselves, please.

@labiyemmy:

so if all the people i Nigeria suddenly wake up one day and install stalls along the whole place flouting government planning regulations, it is fair? it is fair for people to break the law, but it is unfair for the government to want people to adhere to the law?

Common y'all hypocrites.

The same government that inact laws are always the first to violate them in nigeria and nothing is always done about it but when the poor man violates the law it becomes and issue and he is been ripped of his little possesions and everything he ever hopes of achieving. I personally am of the view that the nigerian government has no moral obligation to prohibit any of the nigerian citizen unless they them selves stick and abide by the laid down rules of the land.

The speaker of the house of reps is spending millions on house renovation while millions are homeles and are living in abject poverty, where is the sense in that? remember that those people that left their villages and came to abuja did so because they didnt have any other choice,some of them were forced out because they could'nt afford to by fertilizer to enhance better crop yield and the government isnt willing to subsidize the price for them hence they had to come close to those in power in abuja so that they can get from the crumbs that falls off their eating tables, some left because of insecurity and  incessant cummunual clashes here and there because they government can not guarantee their security. some left so that they too can enjoy the basic social services that the people in the urban areas are enjoying since they are unavialable to them in the rural areas, some left because of draught and and other natural catastophe hence they became very vulnerable and had to come close to those in power. If  we had a functioning government the level of poverty in nigeria would'nt have escalated and reached the level it is right now.

I don't want to write too much today but the government should'nt be be totally callous ,they should at least inforce decipline and punishment with some elements of mercy, why should a law enforcement officer carry a poor woman's source of livelyhood (maize  in this case) throw it away and beat her up in the process? will he do same to the speaker of the house of reps or an executive minister if he/she is found guilty of graft in any case? why wounld'nt they just allow the poor woman to pick  up he maize and take it some where else? the system is so bad and rotten to the extent that i see no hope in the near future. May God help us all, we are supposed to be our brothers/sisters keeper.

what r u still doing there and what have you done to contribute to make it better?

have you heared of 80/20 rule?

Only 20% of Nigerians is enough to make it better and sadly most of us do not belong to those 20%.

Those 20% are the RULERS in Abuja + each state house.

What did your OBJ did? what did your Anneih did? what did your Babanginda did.

Simple election 'ordinary nigerians(the 80%)' cannot have their say; and you talking of them changing Nigeria.

@ DUMB BOY BIGB1 Alias SHIT for brain. SO if all people start disobeying the lay because they want to make a living because they have kids, so we should just let them build their shops any where. Is the federal government not responsible for providing safety and smooth traffic for other citizens?

Boy stop drinking that BURUKUTU and start thinking like someone that has been to the airport before. The story is sad but ignorant of the law is not an excuse for us to empathise with this lady. My question to people is why do they have kids when they know they cant support or feed the kids in the 1st place?

we don't have social security or welfare system in Nigeria, and the senators and house of reps are to blame for not looking out for the people. Prime example. the lady might want to put her shop on the side of the road to be able to generate income to support her family. if that is an inconvenience to me as a Nigerian, do I have the right to call for action?

Lack of vision
Lack of indelible solutions
Lack of patience
Lack of perfection
Lack of real rules and regulations
Lack of  proactiveness
Lack of wholehearted leaders

We do not think profoundly enough before taking an action in Nigeria and this is one of the reasons why the life span of any implementations or attainments is very short.

We need to take our time, do our assignment accurately before executing a project.
We must clearly understand that every action has an opportunity cost and a responsible society or government will first precisely study the opportunity cost and establish a cogent solution before the implementation of the action.
It is very sad that our government doesn't see or do things this way; they execute first and then think about the execution few weeks later. What a bunch of crack heads!

Posted by Aisha2

If we want to clean up Abuja, let us get a place for them to do their business a small affordable market not all those stores that they can not even dream of owning.

Believe it or not, this same scenario took place in NY City (Harlem) few years ago. The only different between the 2 situation is the fact that Americans took time out to do their assignment before they finally implemented their plan.
Today, the road side vendors in Harlem have been relocated to an affordable and better location; Harlem is now cleaner and saver.

Nigeria as a country will remain retarded (just like MAMAJAMA) for many years to come if we do not start doing what is right instead of doing the right thing.

May God bless Nigeria.

Dude @BIGB1 what HARLEM are you talking about? Boy stop spreading or telling people dumb and flat out lies, we are in the states and We can truly tell you what Harlem looks like. as a black man, I guarantee you you cant walk the street of Harlem as a stranger and come out alive, boy go drink some more and keep looking ugly. Shit for brain. Harlem my ass. was Cabrini green not demolished and all the tenants evicted to pave way for a rural development? where this people compensated? DUFUS

labiyemmy

Well in a Nigeria of our dreams, we can hope that everyone obeys the rules

I must also alert you to the fact that all rule breaking are not similar in their effects
on the society where the rule breaking occurs.

Pocketing 5 billion dollars is significantly more pernicious than a couple of destitute
families assaulting your sense of hygiene.

The demolition of errant houses, or the carting away of these people is simply an
excercise in window dressing, sweeping our untouchables under the cupboard, while
these wicked men and women practice indirect murder, cause that is indeed what their
corruption has led to.

The beautiful ones have indeed been born, ufortunately they do not have enough water
to wash the sands that hide their sparkle.

So in essence if we should blame our leaders for subjecting the people to poverty., It all goes back to BABANGIDA regime. The regime that liberate and educate Nigerians that it's OK to steal and loot as long as you share with your comrades. If Only IBB had put the $12 Billion golf oil revenue to a good use will this widely spread poverty in Nigerian be rampant today? we must go back to the root and cause of the problem before we tackle the WAHALA.

Its pathetic the way Nigeria treats her citizens. Afam was right when he said it is one of the end results of corruption in high office. It is also the corruption of our society, where people no longer care for the wellfare of our fellow citizens.
Even though Labiyemmy and mamajama lack the sensibilities to articulate the thoughts well, they are undoubtedly speaking some truth.

Many of our poor people on the street can do a whole lot better if they stayed back in their villages. Aperson with no marketable skills has no businesses going to the cities to beg or scrung for a living. They cannot afford to rent living accomodations in our very expensive cities. They can do better farming, making gari of weaving mats in their villages. They can make more money and live dignified lives in their village than to subject themselves and their children to what amount to torture in the cities. The hustle and bustle of city lives lives no room for a person who is ill-equiped to cope.

This is not saying the government does not have an obligation towards the welfare of her citizens, especially the poor and handcapped. Moreso, when they have young ones to care for. The government needs to put on a human face in the care of her destitutes. The polity has been so corrupted that our leaders only think of how they can amass incredible filthy lucre. What does a man in his 70s for instance, need to loot the country for billions, not to talk of millions. Even if he has to live his life all over again, he cannot possibly spend all the money.
To ware house such stolen loot, when so many lack, is unconscionable. It is a sin which God frowns upon.

The worst thing is most of our looters profess to be men and women of God. After stealing public and building magnificent edifices to soothe their egos, the next thing they do id to build a mosque or chapel in their compounds. They then start to pretend to be next to Godliness. No matter gow they pretend and play for the world to see, God cannot be mocked. The prayers of such people cannot be answered says the Lord of Host.

You and I can do whatever we can to save and help people. Minister and witness to them. If you can spare some, give a little. Above all, do not be afraid to tell them the truth. Encourage people to go back to their villages and use some ingenuity to work for a living, not relying on handouts.

Mamajama:

@ DUMB BOY BIGB1 Alias SHIT for brain. SO if all people start disobeying the lay because they want to make a living because they have kids, so we should just let them build their shops any where. Is the federal government not responsible for providing safety and smooth traffic for other citizens?

Boy stop drinking that BURUKUTU and start thinking like someone that has been to the airport before. The story is sad but ignorant of the law is not an excuse for us to empathise with this lady. My question to people is why do they have kids when they know they can't support or feed the kids in the 1st place?

we don't have social security or welfare system in Nigeria, and the senators and house of reps are to blame for not looking out for the people. Prime example. the lady might want to put her shop on the side of the road to be able to generate income to support her family. if that is an inconvenience to me as a Nigerian, do I have the right to call for action?

I realise  that in a public forum like this,are people of different, intellectual levels.
If  you're a full adult with sound mental capacity and your most intelligent response to a heart wrentching story like the one by the poster is that people move to their villages and a further response is to act as a motor park tout in ochanja market,you don't need to be in this discussion.
It's totally beyond you my dear!

Mamajama:

So in essence if we should blame our leaders for subjecting the people to poverty., It all goes back to BABANGIDA regime. The regime that liberate and educate Nigerians that it's OK to steal and loot as long as you share with your comrades. If Only IBB had put the $12 Billion golf oil revenue to a good use will this widely spread poverty in Nigerian be rampant today? we must go back to the root and cause of the problem before we tackle the WAHALA.

I ma surprised you can blame someone for looting Nigeria to comatose while absolving Obasanjo and his cohorts for the same crime!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aisha2:

What is your Basis for making such allegations? Have you ever come for assesment in any work site and seen that Social Workers or any credible NGO are squandering international Aid money?
Thats not fair, please let us be careful and speak with facts. For any fund we recieve we are assesed and if it is discovered that the fund is wrongly used, funding stops. So it is wrong of you to sit in far away USA and conclude that am not working for my salary and brand me a thief.

Aisha I apologise if you thought I called you a thief.
My anger is towards  a system where a social worker does no social work.
Social workers work with the government to provide the basic aid that the society's down trodden need including food and decent shelter and also work to get them rehabilitated into productive citizens.
They take kids from unfit mothers,investigate elderly abuse,work at rehabilitating these parents and reuniting the familes amongst other things.
They are a vital profession in any society
That is obviously not what you do.
And it is not your fault.
It is the fault of a system that has failed woefully in any and every aspect.

There is no accountability in Nigeria.
The aid money from Washington and other areas are accessed alright but we all know receipts can be falsified.
This is the order of the day
people are more interested in enriching themselves than anything else
Until the welfare of the soceity is paramount and the average man's needs can be met,social work just like our police force and education system remains a joke.
That is just my point.

Bankole01:

Its pathetic the way Nigeria treats her citizens. Afam was right when he said it is one of the end results of corruption in high office. It is also the corruption of our society, where people no longer care for the wellfare of our fellow citizens.
Even though Labiyemmy and mamajama lack the sensibilities to articulate the thoughts well, they are undoubtedly speaking some truth.

Many of our poor people on the street can do a whole lot better if they stayed back in their villages. Aperson with no marketable skills has no businesses going to the cities to beg or scrung for a living. They cannot afford to rent living accomodations in our very expensive cities. They can do better farming, making gari of weaving mats in their villages. They can make more money and live dignified lives in their village than to subject themselves and their children to what amount to torture in the cities. The hustle and bustle of city lives lives no room for a person who is ill-equiped to cope.[b][/b]

This is not saying the government does not have an obligation towards the welfare of her citizens, especially the poor and handcapped. Moreso, when they have young ones to care for. The government needs to put on a human face in the care of her destitutes. The polity has been so corrupted that our leaders only think of how they can amass incredible filthy lucre. What does a man in his 70s for instance, need to loot the country for billions, not to talk of millions. Even if he has to live his life all over again, he cannot possibly spend all the money.
To ware house such stolen loot, when so many lack, is unconscionable. It is a sin which God frowns upon.

The worst thing is most of our looters profess to be men and women of God. After stealing public and building magnificent edifices to soothe their egos, the next thing they do id to build a mosque or chapel in their compounds. They then start to pretend to be next to Godliness. No matter gow they pretend and play for the world to see, God cannot be mocked. The prayers of such people cannot be answered says the Lord of Host.

You and I can do whatever we can to save and help people. Minister and witness to them. If you can spare some, give a little. Above all, do not be afraid to tell them the truth. Encourage people to go back to their villages and use some ingenuity to work for a living, not relying on handouts.

My brother,no one grows up aspiring to be a beggar.
It's not that easy to say go to your villages and tap palm wine and weave mats.
Some of these folks were born and have grown up in cities.
Some have no homes or lands in their villages so where do they go?

Our anger should be directed towards a government that has failed it's people not on the failed citizens struggling to make an  honest living.
why should madam speaker spend millions of public funds to furnish her house some idiot sitting in an office commands that a woman and her son be driven out into the streets.
This is an outrage!

@osisi

It is the fate of charity in the world that much of the
effort will be inefficiently dissipated, regardless of where
the charity operates, first or third world. It occurs so frequently to
qualify as a truism.

Now it is especially tragic in the third world where the failure of aid
has even graver consequences.

But I will never question the moral uprightness of charity workers.
Unlike the cynical ones amongst us, they make sacrifices to a society
which more than often does not appreciate them.

In my opinion they should a priori get the benefit of doubt