In the wake of evident hardship resulting from some painful but hopefully fruitful policies taken by the current administration, hunger came visited the land. The Nigerian Labour Congress was so piqued that it themed its two-day warning strike with ‘there is hunger in the land. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said labour was not fair to him because his regime was barley settling down before labour chose to welcome it with a strike. He assured labour that the steps taken in the economic direction may be harsh and hard on the people but they were bound to produce a salutary effect when the dust settled. Labour quickly called off its strike after government had given a promise and labour believed it that a salary review was in the offing.
Now that the nation has come to terms with the fact that there is hunger in the land, time has come for everyone to keep politics where it belongs viz, the realm of unfounded optimism and grandstanding about a coming Eldorado. The time is for the reality of taking decisive action against hunger as a result of spiraling price of food items. it has become certain that prices in our clime are determined by extraneous circumstances. Why, for instance, should the rate of dollar affect the price of tubers of yam and fish and such products that clearly have no dollar component in their coming into being. I have, however, reasoned that the yam seller would face the increased price of other goods when he goes to the market. The yam, egg and vegetable seller would be forced to make sells in tandem with other prices to survive on the proceeds of their sale. But things have come to a head. Inflation has made nonsense of peoples purchasing power such that they are unable to put food on the table given that food items have spiraled out of the reach of the average citizen. Income remained stagnant in contra distinction to sky rocketing prices.
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu saw fire on the mountain and expanded his economic team to include men of means who have proven their mettle as business men. The President would have told them how grim the situation has become, given that citizens were hard put to eat. Inflation was wiping out their purchasing power. In other words, there is hunger in the land.
It must have been at that point that the richest man in the African continent decided that the mater needed intervention beyond government. He told his foundation to do something quickly. He needed to give back to the society at this point when he is needed most. He initiated a programme that began in his home state of Kano-charity begins at home- and is meant to stretch to every part of the country. He had committed no less than 15 billion naira to the process. The food palliative is going through the nation.
Such a gesture would not diminish Dangote . it is a principle that others should emulate. Many people at the lower wrung of the ladder are at the mercy of a battered economy such that sustenance and feeding is a herculean task. Dangote committed the sum of 15billion naira to the project which began in Kano under the auspices of the Aliko Dangote Foundation. The intervention will see over one million bags of 10kg rice distributed across the 774 local government areas of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. When he spoke at the flag off of the initiative, Chairman of the group, Aliko Dangote, said it In a bid to address the pressing needs of the less privileged during this time of hardship, starting with one million beneficiaries of 10kg bags of rice covering the entire nation.
Among the one million beneficiaries in Nigeria, Kano State received 120,000, and from there, the distribution will continue throughout the country. Also, in Kano, the disbursement of the rice palliatives will continue in all local governments. The inauguration ceremony, held at the open theatre of the Kano State Government House, was orchestrated by Alhaji Dangote himself, witnessed by the state Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf. Alhaji Dangote said the gesture is for 774 local governments nationwide, covering one million bags of rice, with Kano State receiving the lion’s share of 120 thousand beneficiaries
“I am confidently informing you today’s distribution is special. Despite the fact that for the past 30 years, we have been extending support to the teaming populace. We decided to come and add this project to relieve our fellow Nigerians in need.
Dangote has done very well. He is not under any compulsion to do what he has. He understands the
principle and value of giving as espoused by virtually all religions. But the level of poverty in the land vitiates such a move. In Nigeria 40,1 percent of the total population is said to be living in poverty in 2019. Statistics show that 40.1 percent of the total population of Nigerians live in poverty as at 2019. In other words, on the average 4 out of 10 individuals in Nigeria has real per capita expenditures below 137,430 naira per year. This translates to over 82.9 million Nigerians who are considered poor. Going by the battering the economy has taken over time, this figure must have become obsolete given that the level of poverty may have increased.
The implication is that Dangote’s gesture may be a scratch on the matter, which is why other men of means should join add to what Dangote is doing. They do not have to be as rich as Dangote to do what they can. Some people can host host free kitchens even once in a month or every quarter in this period when there is hunger in the land. The matter has gone beyond government and those in government have ceased to pretend about it. There is no matter of political correctness in issues of the stomach. It ha to do with life and sustenance, and it hardly matters who is in office the political and economic parameters would not have changed. The strategy may be different but the huger would still be there to be managed.
From ages, rich people know that giving back to the society outlives them and their wealth. An American Superrich man named John Davidson Rockefeller , the pioneer of oil business in America, from whose business loins such modern day companies as Exxon Mobil and several others came into being, had began to give to the Church, in this case the Babtist Church, where his mother ensured that he attended and was serious about it, when he was diagnosed with an ailment that manifested through peeling of the hairs in the body. He was in his fifties at that time and doctors said he didn’t have long to live. He intensified his Charity work and began funding several charity projects. The man who doctors gave no chance of long life in his fifties, died at 98, July 8, 1839 -May 23, 1937. Today several generations still know him for the charity he birthed. The Rockefeller Foundation has become an evergreen institution.
The forgoing is to tell superrich people that when they give back to the society it becomes an eternal investment