Again I feel I need to lob another non-specific missive.
So, here we are. Snugly ensconced in the poverty capital of the planet. You would think that as the weathered inhabitants of these badlands, most if not all of us would have at least a passing understanding of poverty.
I find that this is not the case. I find that I find that even the middle class that are perpetually teetering on the precipice of poverty, have their thinking caps backward in that regard.
We think poverty is the result of a lack of action or ambition. As a person's obstinate refusal to strike out and "make moni".
You know, work hard, save, rinse, repeat and soon, poverty will be no more.
This is foolish thinking. And it's thinking like this that leads me to always say that Nigerians deserve the leaders they've gotten. But I digress.
Poverty, as an issue is a systemic problem. Your guard cannot guard your house really, really hard this year and get paid more than usual as a result of it.
A bricklayer cannot work hard enough to be paid as much as the architect [and before you start, don't. Nobody becomes a bricklayer because he dreamed of doing that since he was young.]
Your housemaid will never save up enough to get a Honda to use as an Uber.
To quote a friend : "Or after a child born into poverty crosses all the financial and environmental hurdles to their education and gets a graduate degree, suddenly full time employment in the range of 6 figures is guaranteed. You just go to the bank, drop it there and they give you a business loan."
I do not have the statistics to back this up but can make bold to say that in Nigeria today, Upward Mobility is a myth. And the people who manage to claw their way out of the pit that is poverty, by legal means no less??
Most assuredly did not do it on their own. An outside force in the form of a person of “higher standing” must have mentored them or given them substantial full time employment or gave them the capital to start a business on their own.
And in most cases, all three events must work in concert.
Now you're reading this on your nice little smartphone and wondering where I'm going with this.
Nowhere.
I say all this to say be more compassionate.
Next time you see that poor person crossing the street, don't blare your horn at them.
Don't haggle prices so much that the hawker gives you just so they can make a sale.
Stop yelling at your house help like they're made of rocks and can't feel anything.
Remember your privilege. If you weren't helped out of poverty then somewhere up the ladder, most likely, one of your forebears…was.
Tuck your privilege in.
You didn't get here a entirely on your own.
You are not that special.
Salute.