By Chukwunonso Ekesiobi

These are indeed trying times for the country. Hitherto, the nation’s socio-economic indicators were bad enough for concern high youth employment, falling external reserves, dried excess crude savings, rising debt profile, poverty hotspot (extreme and multidimensional), misery and inequality, strikes by labour unions (and the threat of strikes), a high number of out-of-school children, inadequate power supply, food (in)security challenges, banditry and growing internal displacement of persons etc.

For sure, these details ought to be a broken record in the ears of an average Nigerian at the moment. With the arrival of the dreaded COVID-19 and its concomitant quandary, the situation could be worse than anticipated.

To fight the virus, countries have virtually shut down and residents advised to stay indoors as they battle to curb the spread and save lives. Global economic activities have also decelerated, dealing huge blows on production, job numbers, fiscal and monetary positions and international trade.

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The case of Nigeria is even more worrisome. It is akin to an Igbo expression that the country nọ n’ọkụ ụgụrụ wee pụọ, which directly translates that the country was on fire then came the harmattan season to aid the flames.

In other words, an economy that was still reeling from the aftermath of a debilitating recession has now been hit with a corona-induced shock. The international crude oil market – the mainstay of our petrodollar economy – that was facing a glut amid a falling-out among major oil producers (Russia and Saudi Arabia), has now been hit by a sharp drop in demand occasioned by economies that are hibernating in the wake of the new health pandemic.

With prices remaining around $30 – $35 per barrel and no sign of appreciating in the near future, the alarm bells have started to ring. The frail economy, with insufficient economic buffers, cannot withstand the consequence of two recessions in almost quick succession. It is, therefore, no surprise that the Economic Management team at Abuja are having a hard time racking their brains on how to revise the already approved 2020 Budget and its projections, as well as providing some succour to Nigerians. This is certainly no time to envy their erstwhile attractive portfolios.

The enforced (and necessary) sit-at-home directive to contain COVID-19 in Nigeria was inevitable. However, the effects are beginning to bite. The citizens of a country adjudged to be the poverty capital of the world were already in an on-going daily battle to provide for their basic needs.

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Those living on daily-paid jobs and others barely living from hand-to-mouth are suffocating in the grips of the lockdown, to the point where pockets of protests are beginning to surface by those who prefer to be killed by the virus than starve to death.

Who would blame them? With virtually little or no savings, there is no money available to stock their homes with foodstuffs and other essentials. Cries for help are getting louder and the government at all levels have to play catch-up.

The foregoing concerns establish the essence of this article: the rise in popularity and the dependence on ‘giveaways’ among Nigerians. These giveaways (mostly financial) are given for free to the public with different intentions but often for promotional purposes.

The emergence of online marketers, business communicators, bloggers, and general social media influencers has been instrumental in the growing acceptance and utilization of online marketing routes to integrate giveaways in marketing strategy.

Companies, institutions, high net worth individuals, political aspirants, and public sector outfits now utilize various forms of giveaways to better reach and engage their preferred audience. A keen social media user can attest to the growing popularity and diffusion of giveaways on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networking platforms.

Digging deeper, the conventional practice is to tie these offers to various themes like a holiday or seasonal event (Easter, Valentine, Mother’s Day, Christmas etc.), a contest (music, video, photo, short film, choreography challenges, referrals, tag-a-friend, repost, winner features, voting, trivia and caption contests etc.) or trade and exchange (cryptocurrencies, gift cards, valuables etc.). There is the possibility of combining any of the themes to achieve desired outcomes depending on the duration of the giveaway exercise.

Moreover, with hunger in the land and the lure for free stuff, giveaways have become a veritable avenue for every Tom, Dick and Harry who seek for attention and popularity in a society that adores social identity.

For instance, those who use verified social media accounts are perceived to be in a different league of their own from those yet to be verified. Even among the ‘verified-class’ there is the temptation to often emphasize and compare the number of followers, likes, comments, shares, tags, retweets etc.

The culmination is a perpetual and insatiable quest to grow online followership and appeal mainly through the instrumentality of giveaways. There are, undoubtedly, numerous giveaways that are genuinely motivated and quiet in their execution. Then there are clout chasers, drama ambassadors, narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths who amplify the visibility of their faux charity in order to accomplish a set out selfish end.

This giveaway trend is not unconnected to the political class who deliberately perpetuate economic hardship and loot the country’s commonwealth, only to allow the masses scramble and survive on crumbs. Every election cycle now witness a common ritual of giveaways in monetary and non-monetary forms.

Cash is transported in bullion vans and Ghana-must-go bags and distributed directly or through middlemen (party agents) to the economically battered electorate in exchange for their votes (in some cases the votes go to the highest bidder). Alternatively, the electorates are given food items, wrappers and other petty household items to sway their choice.

It is becoming more likely that any politician that does not conduct a convincing giveaway is ‘playing on the express’ and runs the risk of losing the election. During religious festivities the hungry gather at the residence of the same politicians for giveaways to celebrate the occasion. Little wonder the same political class introduced the concept of ‘Stomach Infrastructure’ in our political lexicon with practical demonstrations and justification.

From our funny experiences in the past with snakes and monkeys, it would not be a surprise to hear that animals are also running giveaways in the country in a bid to bleach their reputation.

The COVID-19 lockdown in the country has necessitated the distribution of cash by the federal government to the poorest and vulnerable in the society, while state governments are distributing various relief packages to households – all representing giveaways.

Other politicians and elites are giving back through similar donation of cash, food, water buckets, hand sanitizers and medical supplies. The cases of other countries that have initiated similar stimulus packages are often invoked in defence of the present move by the government.

However, the difference lies in the fact that majority in those countries survive on their own without government bailout in the absence of a major economic crisis. Unfortunately, Nigeria cannot boast of such position as the economy has been on life-support before the coming of this pandemic.

Also of similar importance are those who up till now were not categorised as poor but were very close to the poverty threshold. These persons with high vulnerability to poverty are more likely to enter the poverty group and be ignored in the cash distribution, since they were not captured ab initio before the corona-shock. In other words, the poverty data and/or its attendant complexities need to be revisited to include the expected newcomers to the existing list of the poor in the country.

Another Igbo adage says that ihe ọjọọ gbaa afọ ọ bụrụ omenala (when evil is a year old it becomes part of the culture). Hence, unscrupulous social media financial giveaways have become the norm, owing to the successful antecedents of political giveaways. Economic misery is therefore a key enabler of these dubious social media giveaways.

Unscrupulous individuals with unexplained wealth and desperate desire for relevance are aided by paid social media influencers to organize giveaways to grow their following. Others go ahead to make an outright purchase of an existing account with large followers. The sad result is that the swelling ravenous and opportunistic army of online followers now compel innocent an honest social media influencers and celebrities to regularly declare giveaways or get slammed as stingy or having ‘audio money’ if they do not.

On the contrary, those who regularly hand-out online freebies are now revered and elevated as societal role models without regard for the source of their wealth. Dare to convince these followers otherwise and you are asked who you epp? (help).

There is nothing wrong with online giveaways neither is there a good or bad way to execute it. What we should be mindful of is the tendency to abuse it. This is Nigeria after all – a country with the penchant to overdo things beyond the ordinary. Economic suffering overtime is eroding our core values of hard work, dignity and contentment. The cycle of giveaways and online begging is becoming a national embarrassment.

We used to say that mmadu na ebu onu ju nri which means one can be hungry and reject food to maintain their reputation. It has become necessary to revert to celebrating honesty and excellence by placing merit over mediocrity.

Similar to recorded scriptural events such as manna from heaven to feed the Israelites and the feeding of five thousand with bread and fish in the New Testament, giveaways have been and will continue to exist. The online version of giveaways is here to stay but should be well motivated in preservation of human dignity.

Despite the prevailing hunger and poverty, with their ability to disarm people of conscience, we should, as a people, desist from celebrating those with shady financial backing or ulterior motives. Giveaways can be structured to be less random and more institutionalised. The ultimately guarantees sustenance and better coverage to reach the real poor, who are mostly offline and cannot benefit from online giveaways.

They may not grow online following but will follow with gratitude and prayers in their hearts. This should be the true spirit behind giveaways. As for the government, we can only but reiterate the need to take governance seriously to ameliorate the plight of the average Nigerian, and in the words of English utilitarian philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, “achieve the greatest good for the greatest number”.

With the present crop of leaders, it will however take the grace of God and the will of the people to demand good governance and democracy dividends from her leaders. Power must continue to lie with the people.

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Vanguard