A BRIEF NOTE ON THE CONDITION OF RURAL AREAS IN NIGERIA
Moreover, several sycophants of the
government, including ‘respected’ Nigerians with pompous, highfalutin, academic
and professional titles, hailed the initiative as a game-changer that can
radically transform and empower women in the villages. But more discerning
Nigerians saw the programme as another scam by the ruling class to further
despoil the people.
It turned out the critics were right,
because the scheme was hijacked by the wives and mistresses of prominent members
of the ruling and business elite for their narrow selfish interests.
An initiative allegedly motivated by
“humane motherly considerations for the rural poor” from the former first lady
turned into an avenue for satiating the bulimic appetite of prominent
Nigerians, because the hundreds of millions of naira purportedly spent on the
scheme enriched a select few whereas rural women who ought to benefit from it
were ignored.
This point can be generalised: till date
virtually all federal government initiatives targeted at improving the lives of
rural dwellers have failed due to poor planning, corruption and avarice by
government officials and their collaborators. Therefore, it is not surprising
that the countryside nationwide has remained rustic and undeveloped all these
years in spite of rural development programmes launched with fanfare by
different administrations in the country.
Now, the Yuletide holidays which I spent in
the village made me acutely aware of some important but often neglected issues
which deserve serious attention from government. Generally, the level of
government presence in rural areas is abysmally low, creating the erroneous
impression that rural dwellers are second class citizens who do not deserve
modern amenities that make life more comfortable.
For example, epileptic electricity supply
which is a general problem in Nigeria is worse in the villages. Typically, in a month, electricity may be
available only for twenty four hours cumulatively, a situation that makes life
in the rural areas difficult and unattractive to the youth. Most rural dwellers
are so poor that they cannot afford even the cheapest generating sets to illuminate
their homes at night. Lack of motorable roads and portable water supply is a
serious problem in the rural areas. Because of inadequate road network, many
farmers go through hell to evacuate their farm produce from the farms.
In my hometown and most villages in Imo
State, people still fetch water from streams for their domestic use. Little
wonder, then, that water-borne diseases are still causing premature deaths in
the countryside.
Another point is the near-total absence of
industries – small, medium or large scale. Absence of industries and lack of
social amenities are the main reasons why young men and women abandon the
villages in search of livelihood in the urban centres.
Clearly, the lopsided demographic
configuration of our villages is a serious matter. In a typical Nigerian
village, majority of the population comprises old people who are mostly
economically unproductive and actually depend on their children and relations
for survival. Due to physical and mental infirmities brought about by ageing
and ill health, such people cannot contribute much to the development of their
villages.
And since the youths, especially in Igbo
land, that could have done so have gone to the towns in search of employment
and better life and return to their bases after Christmas celebrations, the
rural areas sink into a condition of existential hibernation by middle of
January until the Yuletide comes again.
Farming, which is the linchpin of rural
economy, has been neglected by local governments. Even in areas where
agricultural productivity has improved through modern farming methods, the bulk
of what is produced is sold in the towns, giving rise to the awkward situation
in which prices of foodstuffs are generally higher in the rural areas than in
the urban centres.
Again, chronic lack of modern storage and
food processing facilities and efficient transportation leads to wastage of a
significant percentage of farm produce. Clearly, the local government system
was created, as the cliché says, “to bring government closer to the people.”
However, due to corruption and structural
anomalies in local government administration and finance, the third tier of
government cannot effectively tackle the problems of poverty and
underdevelopment in the rural areas. Besides, subordination of local
governments to state governments in the 1999 constitution constitutes a
formidable stumbling block preventing authorities at the grassroots level from
actualising the mandate for which local governments are created in the first
instance.
That life in the rural areas is hard,
rustic and sometimes inhuman cannot be overemphasised. Many rural dwellers are
traumatised by poverty, starvation and diseases. The major problem is that
political office holders are alienated from the grassroots, from the people
they are supposed to serve. As a result, they do not really understand the
enormity of the sufferings experienced by rural dwellers on a daily basis.
Ideally, democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the
people.
But our own version of democracy is light
years away from the ideal, because what we have now is kakistocracy. But no
matter how bad the system is, particularly with the rising tide of insecurity
and insularity of the ruling class to the sufferings of our people, Nigerians
should not give up hope. They should continue to work hard for an egalitarians
society that pays serious attention to the problems of human beings no matter
where they are domiciled.
On a more personal level, I call on Rochas
Okorocha, governor of Imo State, to pay close attention to the villages and do
more than his predecessors to alleviate the problems of rural dwellers. When I
was in the village, virtually everyone I spoke with praised him for his
performance, despite the lean financial resources of the state and distraction
from the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo challenging his election.
The best way for Okorocha to create an
enduring legacy for himself is by massive development of the rural areas.
culled from www.vanguardngr.com
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