IN NIGERIA: THE BELLIES ARE GRUMBLING, AND SO ARE THE PEOPLE
Anthony EKPO BASSEY
From the creeks of the Niger Delta to the plains of the North, from the urban underbellies of Lagos to the remote ridges of Ebonyi, the story is the same: food is fast becoming a luxury. Prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed like fireworks on New Year’s Eve, but unlike fireworks, there is nothing festive about this inflation. The pot no longer boils on many stoves, not for lack of will, but for lack of wares.
The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, recently reiterated what millions mutter under their breath daily: hunger is real. His words may have drawn applause in some quarters and dismissive shrugs in others, but facts, as they say, are sacred, even if opinions are free. The former VP did not speak in fables or fancies, he merely echoed what the farmer in Sokoto, the trader in Onitsha, and the tailor in Ibadan already know: things have fallen apart, and the centre cannot continue to pretend to hold.
The streets speak volumes. Children go to school on empty stomachs, and many do not go at all. Parents trade pride for pity. Breadwinners have become bread-seekers. The so-called "common man" is now an uncommon survivor, threading the tightrope of survival daily.
It is time the Federal Government faced the facts squarely, without the fog of denial or the cloak of political platitudes. No amount of press briefings or poetic promises can fill an empty stomach. Rhetoric, no matter how refined, cannot be served as supper. The time to act is not tomorrow, it is now. Swiftly! Decisively! Compassionately!
Nigeria is a land blessed beyond measure, with fertile fields, formidable minds, and fearless hearts, but as the proverb goes, "You can't eat potential." Good intentions would not cook the soup; action will. People do not just need hope; they need help. Tangible, timely, and targeted help.
Let it be known that a hungry man is still an angry man. That timeless truth is not a cliché, it is a caution. The seeds of unrest are sown in the soil of suffering. History has never failed to teach this, even if leaders sometimes fail to learn it. When hardship hugs too tightly, peace begins to slip through the fingers.
Let there be less talk and more tackling of the crisis at hand. Subsidies must make sense, policies must feed people, and reforms must reflect reality. Lip service is no longer enough, the nation is running on empty, and faith in leadership is fraying fast.
The people are not asking for paradise, only for the dignity of a decent meal and the relief of a roof that does not leak when it rains. The government must rise beyond boardroom banter and bulletin bravado, and meet its citizens at the crossroads of hardship with solutions, not slogans.
This is not a cry for pity, it is a call to duty. May those who lead remember: you cannot govern hungry people with empty promises.
