By SUNNY IKHIOYA

I never doubted the ability of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to bring prosperity to the nation. But my concern has always been: at what cost to the ordinary Nigerian. You do not need to search far to establish the fact that wherever Tinubu has governed, the common man has somehow been on the receiving end, including being impoverished. That was the case in Lagos and that  is what we are experiencing presently at the federal level. 

At a time, a governor in Lagos State came out to appeal to people who could not cope with the situation then to come for transport fares to take them back to their individual states and villages. That was the way it was then, and that is how it is presently in Lagos. Lagos is growing and expanding, with big budgets and improving infrastructure, but the poor are being removed from their lands and houses with no provisions for their proper rehabilitation. It is happening presently in Oworonshoki, Makoko and other areas considered as slum settlements in Lagos, with no mass provisions of housing for low income earners. It is survival of the fittest. The rich are getting richer, taking advantage of the situations caused by the government, while the poor get impoverished. 

The demolished areas would soon become the abode of the rich class after the poor have been successfully shepherd out, like it happened in Maroko, now called Lekki. While government will make huge profits from land/apartments sale and subsequent rents that will be due to them, the original owners of the land will become history. The cost of rent in Lagos has far outstripped the basic income of workers, but all that interests government is collecting revenue through more taxes. Yes, Lagos State is prospering, but the ideal form of government is the one that puts the peoples welfare on the front burner. Prosperity without a human face is simply wickedness. That is what we are beginning to experience at the federal level. The whole network of federal roads is broken down, and no serious concern is being given to them except excuses of one type or the other. The healthcare systems are in dilapidated conditions. In fact, as it is presently in Nigeria, if you are a poor man, you cannot afford to  be sick. At a basic salary of N70,000, there is no way you can meet up with the demands. From registration fees to consultations to testing and pharmacy, you do the maths. No wonder people are taking recourse to local solutions. 

The conditions in Warri Delta State are just as bad. With so much money going round amongst the privileged few, the poor are forced to be spectators. 

BEDC has stratified the people through their Band ABC classification. So, while a few can afford the exorbitant electricity rates and enjoying regular power supply, the poor are made to stay one to two weeks without power. No explanation for the cause of blackout, no apologies; life goes on, and when the time to distribute electricity bill comes, there will be light for them to disconnect those who have not paid. That is how it is now in Warri, and no one seems to care. A city of multi-dimensional money bags, siren blaring and disturbing the peace of the whole land. Ostentatious display of wealth in the midst of poverty in the land, nobody seems to care. For the ones hustling and doing their legitimate businesses, the problem is compounded by harassment of different types of government agents  – road union,  task forces, police and even VIOs; they still have not left the roads. It is so disheartening to see standards of living going down so rapidly that things we took for granted in the seventies have now become luxuries and out of the reach of the poor masses. Even when money from government trickles down in the form of palliatives, the recipients are usually those recommended by them. You must belong to a political party or be related to the influencer in one way or another. That is what poor leadership structuring brings to a people. 

As it is, the leadership is far removed from the happenings at the grassroots. No Nigeria politician of today will choose to travel by road to their respective destinations. So, how will they know what the masses are going through? They have been rehabilitating one stretch of the Ologbo-Benin expressway now for the past eight years, and still, the job is still moving at tortoise pace. That is, after hundreds of people have been killed by fire explosion caused by a tanker in the resulting go-slow. The Minister of Works visited the place and promised quick action. We are still where we were three years after that promise. 

The Benin-Warri road is just another classic example of the peacock governance we are practising in this country. A journey that used to take between 45 minutes or one hour now takes four to six hours. If you can do it in two hours, count yourself lucky. The road is as unpredictable as it can be. Some people have slept overnight on that road, yet governors of the two states- Edo and Delta- travel regularly on that route, siren blaring, yet they cannot see what the suffering masses are experiencing. 

The challenges facing us do not require rocket science to solve; if we can just take care of the basic things; power, transport, accommodation and healthcare, the situation will improve rapidly; and the easiest way to do this is to effectively decentralise governance. For example, I still do not see the rationale for operating a single power grid system for the whole country, such that when there is a disruption in Lokoja, it affects the whole country. I don’t understand why a local government cannot run a healthcare centre effectively; and why the state government can’t offer affordable housing to its citizens. I believe it is in the manner of our structuring and wealth distribution. 

It also says a lot about the structure of our federation. Why are we afraid of the much desired change? Why do we insist on doing things the old labourious ways that have not brought us any developments? President Tinubu promised so much, and we have seen the boldness he has used to push through some of his policies. But, so far, they are not benefitting the ordinary citizens, and they are not smiling about it. A system that allows the rich and privileged to flaunt their wealth in the midst of so much suffering must be addressed. The same applies to politicians and people in power. 

The challenges of the poor should take priority, and we can do this by cutting the excesses of government and using the revenue derived therefrom to tackle the problems of the poor. Nothing more, nothing less.

•Ikhioya wrote via: www.southsouthecho.com