Nigeria Content Online

Some of the
international journalists drinking at the hotels in Abuja were knocked
off their bar stools when they heard the announcement that the First
Lady of the world’s 6th largest oil and gas producer was donating bags
of rice, not for the millions displaced by floods in Jigawa or Cross
River, but to anybody that cared in the capital city, Abuja.

Nigerian colleagues
helped out with explanations – it was to mark the 50th anniversary of
Nigeria’s independence. Why did the present from Mrs. Patience Jonathan
cause a stir, or commotion, the foreigners drilled deeper. But, they
did not get satisfactory answers to their questions.

Food donations by
royalty and the rich are made globally to refugees and populations in
disaster areas as an ameliorative expedient. In Nigeria, the poor are
often fed by the rich, especially during festive occasions.

Rice is presently
expensive in Nigeria. The country is not one of the leading global
producers, but a net importer of the commodity, despite the existence
of a Cereals Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN, the West African Rice
Development Agency, WARDA, and the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture, IITA.

A third and
neglected factor in that “bags-of-rice,” debate, is the decency or
decorum of the idea and distribution process. Nigerians relish in
throwing money at beggars from the windows of their massive cars, which
is demeaning and in some way, a form of self-abuse, not self-esteem.

First of all, Mrs.
Jonathan must be congratulated for confirming to the world at Nigeria’s
golden jubilee that the country is stunted in econimic growth, despite
its oil wealth. She has definitely taken cognisance of the fact that
fish catches at her home-town, Okrika, are no longer what they used to
be. Finfish landings are drastically reduced by post-harvest losses,
thanks to poor refrigeration from regular power cuts. Levels of
pollution through industrial and domestic waste in shellfish, shrimps,
oysters, and periwinkles have increased.

Instantaneous pity
and generosity are common with women, but should the Jonathans return
to Aso Rock next year, the First Lady will have enough time to study
the causes of poverty in Nigeria. Patience Jonathan’s charity and
kindness are meant well, but must be planned for effectiveness. It is a
problem also faced by international aid organisations. Administrative
overheads of aid assistance often overshoot the actual poverty
alleviation on ground.

Open the door

Mrs. Jonathan may
perhaps then initiate the adequate funding of rural development, food
security initiatives, agricultural research and environmental
management in Nigeria.

Our development is
erroneously skewed in favour of urban areas. If 70 percent of Nigerians
are rural dwellers mostly living on below a dollar a day, is that not
where food aid should be directed, and not at the Blackberry-carrying
city people in Abuja?

The villagers that
provide the bulk of our grains, tubers, vegetables, and fruits are
dying of malnutrition, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. We take their statistics,
receive international donor assistance on their behalf, and then spend
the money buying project vehicles, installing air conditioners and
computers in the city, and paying a horde of incompetent consultants.

Poverty will never
vanish through hurling rice bags at people. The successful democracies
on earth are based on a free market economy backed by institutional
pluralism. Within this structure, opportunities are created for people
to feed themselves.

James Brown used to sing, “I don’t want nobody to give me nothing. Open up the door, I’ll take it myself.”