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One Paycheck Away From Global Disaster By Farouk Martins Aresa
If you are one of those that lost everything you owned in a stormy flood, lost a job or hit by devastating sickness, and had money saved in banks to standup again; you are one lucky son of an angel. As a result of such loss depression can turn many of us into dung rolling beetle sinking abysmally. The downward trend can be arrested by friends and relatives in the community, if you have insurance in one of those countries we hear about but in Africa, we must begin again. “God forbid bad thing”. Aliko Dangote, and the Federal Government of Nigeria have donated the sum of N2.5 billion each out of the total N11 billion so far for flood victims. It is more than the N6 billion called for by United Nation. Money is not the problem in this Country getting to the 7.7 million affected people is. Estimated 2.1 million were displaced while 363 were killed. No wonder they are called global warming and global economic downturn. When it hits, we can forget about the academic argument of the cause and concentrate on the devastating effects on families. For the first time, families that never think they will need to live anywhere else but in their houses, sought shelters and fragmented into homelessness while some resigned into dumps. The older you are, the more difficult it is to recover, even worse if you are a woman. What do we say about poor parents reaching the end stage after dreadful events separating and dumping their children at big city streets to beg for arms and be abused; while each fended for him or herself. One does not just become homeless, if you cannot afford to rebuild, pay another two years rent or hate to mix with too many people in the shelter, there are miserable or “comfortable” places under the bridge, in the parks, in the dumps or on the beach to hang. Normally, when disaster hits, communities come together and relatives rise up to the challenge to help one another out. It is even easier in countries where there are safety nets to catch the temporarily unemployed, homeless or hungry. We have no such nets in Africa because we rely on one another and families take care of their own. There is the notion that you are your brother’s keeper. It is the social fabric that kept us together this long without government aid. Even when you have love caring extended families and neighbors to take you in temporarily, after a period of time the kids would start getting on one another’s nerves just as the parents. The rich people on vacations know that, it is the reason they stop staying with friends and relatives when they are on vacations. They prefer privacy in hotels where they would spend big money since they have it. As they knew how you felt did not mean they were Dangote or Abiola. It is different these days. Even without global disaster and national callousness, the numbers of people you can call when in trouble are dwindling. Some of us simply have nobody to call if the police decided to raid a bus stop asking you to post bail at the station. Out of those released from Lagos jail by the Chief Justice recently were many without provable crimes. It could be us. Just when many think they are set for life after paying our dues in our own comfortable homes, global disaster hits. But the rich and the powerful have hijacked country’s sources of income in African countries and the people are reduced to hero worshippers and contract hustlers. Most of the incomes the majority of the people get trickled down as starving wages and charity were subjected to the elites’ whims and caprices. The elite argue that the only way to create more jobs for the masses is to pay stagnating wages not raises, so that they can make more profit. While the elite would have enough to rebuild when disaster hits, pay hospitals anywhere when sick and still have enough to send their children to school and relocate, the working class is one or two pay checks away from falling downhill. It is a scary feeling that the rich are never worried about until they are hit by sickness that drains their gold and silver stuck away. The difference between a sneeze and a cold is a small disaster for the poor and big one for the rich. Please, it should be noted that most African countries have their own federal and state ministry for emergency and social services like most developed countries. The difference is that they use them as their employments services and they provide little succor to those in need. Most of the allocations they get never even reach the ministries and those that did are mostly diverted for personal use. The African countries that really try are the poor ones, not oil producing countries. Charities are also replicated in the name of international agencies. Most international agencies knowing their host very well, always have their personnel on site supervising grassroots since they know how easy their foreign made products and materials can disappear into individual hands. We have seen relief materials flown in for displaced individuals and the poor being sold in open markets. Their profit is not meant for the poor. There are first ladies in every state in Nigeria some of whom create their pet projects going abroad in the name of the poor for charities, most of which end up in their pockets. In many cases they use the travel as opportunities to go shopping. In one case at least, politicians’ wives were able to secure some training to help their husbands learn how to practice democracy. All avenues to help the poor are snatched by the well- to-do. Where then do we go when national or global disaster strikes? Pray! These days people are increasingly realizing that heaven only helps those who help themselves. Another global trend is the number of people that declare themselves as atheists. It is not a total disappointment with God, it has to do with the wickedness of man to man in the face of need. But then, even in countries where there are free elections, almost half of the poor see their salvation from the hands of the rich and vote them in. |