Feeding the rich and starving the poor

NIGERIA is an irony of sorts. A paradox. It feeds the rich and starves the poor. Look around your neighbourhood: You are likely to see stinkingly rich individuals, living in swanky houses. Within the same neighbourhood are thousands rummaging through carbage bins looking for what to eat. In short, that’s who we are. The figures are out, in grim, contradictory prose. A recent report by South Africa-based AfrAsia Bank, in collaboration with New World Wealth, has revealed that Nigeria is home to no fewer than  9,100 high net worth individuals, each with a minimum net assets of one million dollar and a combined total wealth of approximately $207 billion. This was at December, 2020.                                                     

AfrAsia is a global market research group in Johannesbourg, South Africa. It defines total wealth as the “private wealth held by individuals in a city/country”. This includes their assets- property, cash,equities, business interests- less liabilities. It excludes government funds. Whether the dollar millionaires include deceitful riches is unclear.  But, here is the paradox: Nigeria is ranked 11th on wealth per capita. What does that tell you? It means that Nigeria’s wealth is less distributed among the population, meaning that a small percent of the population holds about 98 percent of the nation’s wealth. You see that?  That’s a ‘Catch 22’ situation.                                                              

For six consecutive years, statistics show that majority of Nigerians have become poorer under the present administration. Data from the International Monetary Fund(IMF) show over 20 percent rise in the number of undernourished people in the country. Government policies have benefited the rich than the poor. According to Daily Sun report of October 20, 2021, the Federal Government spent a hefty N1.35trn on fuel subsidy this year, and plans to spend another N1.35trn before July, 2022. Who benefits? Of course, the wealthy at the detriment of the poor.              

Also,  a recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) on Expenditure and Income Gross Domestic Product(GDP) showed that Nigerians spent N54.84trn on household consumption in the first half(January -June) of this year. The figure is higher than N48.22trn recorded in the same period in 2020.  For those who do not know, this is the amount spent on daily needs such as food, clothing, house rent, transport costs, healthcare and other miscellaneous services. Who bears the brunt of these costs?  Of course, it is the hapless poor who are at the receiving end of governments’ flip-flop policies. In the first half of 2021, households consumption accounted for the largest share of Nigeria’s real GDP at market prices.                 

The full import of the NBS report is that poor Nigerians are spending more on goods and services which have reduced their incomes, while the rich are fed with public funds. Even though headline inflation has been going down for some months now, prices of food items remain high. With Christmas festivities a month away, prices of essential food items are sure to go up. Already, cooking gas and prepaid meters have been increased by between 54 and 100 percent. Who suffers? The poor. Isn’t government supposed to have a human face?     

That’s why hope is fading in Nigeria. That’s what you see when the system is feeding the rich and starving the poor. Clearly our economy is largely consumption-based. It needs to become  production-driven for a sustainable growth and development to take place. With a government that generates and spends recklessly, and depends on import rather than export, the rich will continue to feed on the poor. The facts are disappointing. In the first half of 2021, Nigeria’s trade balance is in red: import stood at N13.8trn, while export was N7.99trn.  At a  difficult time like this, that’s when you see leadership at work, not leadership that follows  the low road, the easy path to task its people.                  

But that is exactly what we are seeing in the country at the moment.  Many state governments have already initiated ridiculous levies. It’s easy to fathom why they undertake this low road. We are surrounded by beasts and hawks that don’t spare the flock. They will do anything for their personal gains at the expense of the citizens. Don’t let them deceive you that it’s part of the solution to navigate hard times  and put the economy in fine fettle. All of this leads to some inexorable questions : When does a president or governor know that some decisions taken amount to high risks that come with dizzying consequences? Indeed, this is who our leaders really are, always inflicting pain on the people they are elected to serve.                   

Meanwhile, government remains hardened to calls to reduce cost of governance at all levels. Nigerian lawmakers collect hefty monthly salaries and sundry allowances. Nobody knows how much in tax they pay( if at all). State governors appropriate for themselves ‘Security Vote’  that is  never accounted for. They look on as the citizens wallow in extreme poverty. It delights them because it widens the inequality status between “them and us” . The common refrain seems to be : ‘Tax them till they die ‘. As long as governments across the country refuse to cut down wastages, check corruption, the humongous amounts paid to public officials and pushing the burden to the ordinary people who have always been at the short end of the stick, expect a rebound, a backlash and  horrifying consequences. Truthfully, we are at a tipping point.                                    

Why is Nigeria so unfortunate to have governments that care little about its citizens? Is Nigeria jinxed or cursed on the leadership scale? Why is it that what works for countries with less human and natural endowment seems not to work for Nigeria? Think about a man who was very humane when he was seeking public office, and when he was elected a government official suddenly becomes a tyrant afterwards. Why? Did Satan take over his mind? That’s what is happening in Africa, including Nigeria.                 

Look around, both at the centre and state levels, some of our leaders have metamorphosed into cruel dictators and the people have lost their civil liberties. As former President, Dr Goodluck  Jonathan noted in his memoir: “My Transition Hours”, “ democracy is not just about fulfilling all righteousness by treating the people to the ballot box that you bring out on Election Day. Democracy boils down to legitimacy and ensuring that the people have the necessary dividends. Elections must offer valid choices”.

I agree that there’s wisdom in the saying that when “you win a prize and get the crown, don’t go around destroying the person who previously held that prize”. It will certainly lose its value. It will serve this government well if it turns a new leaf and recognise that majority of Nigerians are suffering, are dying because of its inept, obnoxious policies. You may have fed the rich at the detriment of the poor, but money runs away from unstable countries. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.