A conversation about hunger

Uyi: There’s hunger in the land. Ebi pa wa! People can barely feed. Inflation is creating havoc on our salaries! People are dying like flies because of depression. Too many suicides are taking place. Those claim it was their turn to rule, let them now say that it is their turn to feed the nation. How much longer can this go on?

Dedan: Bloomberg says that two out of three Nigerian households are going hungry. Families skip meals as they cannot afford enough food. The report says that ‘the number of households not having enough food to eat because of lack of money doubled to 62.4% in 2023 from 37% in 2019.

Bisi: I read the report too. It also says that ‘12,3% reported that at least one person in the household went without eating for a whole’, and that food inflation peaked at a near-three-decade high 41% in June. About 21% of households rely on help from friends or relatives.0 Yet the men and women in the corridors of power are having a field day with stolen and embezzled funds. The opulence in the National Assembly is an insult to all of us. God, how long will this continue?

Dedan: What about the states? Some of the governors live like emperors. Their word is law. They control both the judiciary and the legislature. Some of them spend money as if prudence has gone out of fashion.

Obi: How long? Until the deadly reforms are over, bear fruit or are stopped!

Bisi: We need a Moses to deliver us from Egypt! A Moses Lord, give us a Moses!

Dedan: Egypt, Moses, Pharoah! There must be emancipation of the masses from the hands of our oppressors.

Uyi: Who can stop the reforms? Who will stop the reforms?

Obi: The people! The hungry people of the land. The ones who complain that there is no food for them and their children!

Uyi: Which people? The cowards of Nigeria who run under the skirts of their parents at the sound of a gunshot! They may complain. But they have not been angry enough to act. They are taking refuge in religion and platitudes.

Dedan: Do not speak about the people in such disparaging terms. The longsuffering people of Nigeria have been too patient. Now, they need a real leader to mobilize them against the misrule in the land.

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Obi: Tell me something else! Spin another story jor. Except we fight for our rights, the rulers of the land will continue to mess with our lives.

Dedan: That is true. But you ae able to speak like this because you live outside the country. You have found a home in America, and you think all of us are cowards. Just move back and stay in the country for one year. You will sing a new song.

Obi: Isn’t that why I left? The hardship was unbearable. If you remember, I left in January 1983 when two blind generals seized power.

Bisi: I remember those horrible days when you could be jailed for publishing a true news report that embarrassed the junta!

Orezi: I am tired of this plenty of grammar. Let us focus on the price of garri, rice, palm oil, and fish. What can we do to let poor women like me to get food for my family. My husband has mortgaged his monthly salary to loans from the cooperative. I am virtually the bread winner of the family. How much do I earn? They promised a minimum wage of 70k per month. It exists only in the papers. Who should I cry to for help? Who? I have an aged mother in Warri who must feed and buy her medication. Who have I offended?

Dedan: You have brought us down to real issues. What have we done to deserve such punishment from the man whom we elected to rule? Why this wickedness?

Bayo: It is not wickedness my friends; it is not wickedness. It is one of the pains which we must bear to reform Nigeria. I feel the bite. I feel the pain. Do you know how many family members who ask for financial assistance these days? But what else could the government have done than to stop the subsidy regime?

Dedan: You have spoken well, Mr. Subsidy Remover! Thank you. The only thing you didn’t say was how you expect the people to survive this harsh economy. Do you know how many people who forfeit their medication these days because of the high cost? Do you know how many children who go to bed these days without food in their stomachs? Look here, I am speaking about the reality on the ground. This is no theory.

Bayo: But the tough measures were necessary. Our economy was on the verge of a total breakdown. President Tinubu had to act. You can see that he kept the decision under wraps, because it was not included in the written speech on inauguration day. We must commend him for taking the bull by the horn.

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Dedan: Check out governments all over the world which embark on reforms. They usually create shock absorbers for the people. Where is the succour? Even the military dictator IBB immediately announced palliatives when he removed subsidies. We could see that government trying very hard to pacify the people. President Jonathan did the same thing, though the current president took to the streets to insult and attack him. But in the case of current man in Aso Rock, there is no connection with the people

Bisi: He has appointed ten spokespersons to speak for him. Ten!

Dedan: What has happened to his mouth? Can’t he address the people directly? Can’t he visit the states and engage the people?

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Bayo: The man is unwell; we have to show some understanding.

Dedan: If you cannot stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. A man who has serious health challenges should not aspire to national leadership. That is the reason in traditional African societies; a man who had any deformity was barred from being king.

Bisi: But he is trying. He is trying to repair the damage that was done in the last sixty years. Bubu did not have the gumption to implement the reforms. He left it to BAT to carry the can, and therefore a bad name.

Dedan: Bad name or good name, what we want is action. Reuters says that 33 million Nigerians face hunger next year. Low wages, continued conflict, climate change, high food prices, and unemployment are the causes.

Orezi: Bubu did not have the heart to unleash more terror because he had killed the spirit of Nigeria. He was demystified when his policies failed woefully. Pure and simple!

Dedan: Let us begin to make suggestions on how to reduce hunger and poverty. Let there be subsidy on rice, garri, wheat, and amala. Let there be price control measures on basic food items. Let the government shore up domestic production for export. We need to shore up the naira. The devaluation shouldn’t have taken place without a plan in place to strengthen the naira. Social safety net programmes such as cash transfers and food subsidies are important.

Bayo: But the government is doing cash transfers; about 25 million people have benefited from the scheme.

Orezi: That is what the government says. But how many people really benefit from it? Do you know anybody who has received the cash transfers? Has it not become another source of corruption? Twenty-five million is a small figure. One hundred million peoples should be brought into the scheme to make an impact.

Bisi: They should tell Mr. President to come to our aid. He is the father of the country. When children are hungry, they run to their parents. This is the time for the father of the nation to do something about the high cost of everything. I can’t buy my medicines for diabetes and hypertension because suddenly the prices have gone beyond my salary.

Uyi: This is the case with everybody. In my home state, we are hungry for a governor who can read simple sentences without stumbling. A man that cannot make correct sentences or can hardly read a speech, how can be provide a solution to our problems!

Dedan: You have come again o! We are talking about food, and you are talking about reading sentences. The one who could read very well, what did he do for your state?

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