When I was a kid, I can still remember situations when I refused to eat. It normally happened when I was annoyed.
Whenever that happened, my mother wouldn’t utter a word. She would have her meal, and for what I then thought was an overkill, she would begin singing,
Bamubamu la yo
Awa o mo p’ebi
Npo’mo enikankan
Bamubamu la yo.
She felt I knew she had a listening ear. Therefore, rejecting a meal she had taken a lot of trouble to prepare was similar to committing a capital offence.
I went into that story because I am concerned about the worsening impoverishment of the average Nigerian. The few rich are living it up at the expense of the teeming masses.
In a normal situation, it’s not a crime to be poor. It isn’t as long as one has human dignity. The fact is that in today’s Nigeria, the poor don’t have any dignity.
Is there potable water?
Are the roads okay?
What about health facilities?
Electric power?
Roads?
Jobs?
The saddest part is that the people have turned to religion. I happen to believe in the existence of God. But where the Nigerian situation is sad is that, in their confused state, many have ended up worshipping their fellow men instead of God.
There, too, they end up getting bruised and battered!
So, the society is disjointed. Since the government is doing its own thing, everyone is doing theirs, too.
When people are left to their own devices, your guess is as good as mine.
The gripping irony of the situation is that the solution is with the people. If they don’t care for their future, let them consider future generations.
In other words, let them ask questions about their leaders. That would help them make the right choices!
For now, I can say that in most cases, instead of caring, the government is singing,
Bamubamu l’ayo!
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