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Weaponized Poverty in Nigeria

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Belemo
@belemo
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When you think about Africa, you probably don't think about a continent that is blessed with abundant mineral resources and manpower. Nope, you think of poverty, and rightly so, because we're wallowing in poverty.

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However, recent events in Nigeria has made me understand that the systematic issue is actually intentional and is used as a tool to ensure that we remain poor.

According to UN data from 2015, the poverty line is around $1.9 a day, so if you live beneath this amount, you're poor. Sadly, there are a lot of poor people in my community. Hell, I'm also poor, but the poverty that's ruined our society isn't solely about a bank account.

You've probably heard it before but poverty is more of a mindset, rather than the funds in your bank account. I say this because, in Nigeria, there are a lot of extremely wealthy but poor people living amongst us, particularly in the political class that will make you wonder.

After the recent protests that led to the government committing war crimes against its own citizens, the country has been in disarray. The protests that were hijacked by government-sponsored thugs(the centre of this conversation) and has turned into a free for all looting and robbery that's destroying businesses.

Now, here's one reason why there's an outrage and why I said there are some very rich but poor people. When COVID-19 was in full swing, NGOs and the Government got palliatives for the populace and dispersed them to the 36 states. However, those palliatives were never actually given to the people and we're instead stored in warehouses and allowed to rot.

I don't support looting in any form but at the same time, you have to wonder why these politicians stoop so low, despite being the most paid useless people on Earth. They literally hoarded food that would have been used to feed the starving population during the lockdown.

This brings me to the government-sponsored thugs who, as I said are also in the same category with the politicians as poor people. The only difference between them is that politicians have money and the thugs don't.

Politicians have constantly used these thugs to do their bidding. Whether it is racketeering, murder, or any other vice, the intentional poverty that the society is subjected to ensures that they have an endless supply of foot soldiers.

This is why whenever a movement like the ENDSARS movement that could improve the lives of the people come around, they would ensure they put an end to it.

This is why during elections, they have people that they can pay $3 to do literally anything. It is actually a fascinating version of slavery that is a common practice around here and doesn't look like dying out.

This system weaponizes poverty efficiently by making sure that a larger population stays poor. Then ironically, they use the very poor people that they create to ensure that poor people remain poor.




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