Face It: Greed Is Endemic In Nigeria Not Only Politicians

Have you ever wondered how a country that created the closest place to the Promised land with meagre Cocoa Income has become the Poverty capital of the world with enormous Oil Income from late 60s to early 70s Arab Oil Embargo? It is pure greed at every level of the community. From politicians to makers of adulterated goods that kill many consumers, traders that jack up their prices for no reason, importers and exporters that want to become rich in one day.

Money has its use, of course. It buys comfort, convenience and short-term pleasure. Beyond these, money cannot give internal peace in the long run or a good path to a goal. Fulfillment can only be achieved with solid objectives that can be recognized by many in the community, not just subjectively by one individual and his cronies. Even worse, money cannot relieve deep-seated emotional trauma, compensate for the grief of emotional loss or the loneliness of missing intimate loved ones, even with huge court awards.

African cultures warned and preached against greed because it has never favored anyone in the end. Those people that are disenfranchised or left poor grasping for straws are cheated and lost bargain prices. Even sachet water sellers blame their price increase on the U.S dollar. It is one thing to acquire money for individual goals that would improve oneself and community but to sort greed just for I Better Pass My Neighbor's sake, ends in unsavory competition.

People earning huge incomes have gone broke while those with modest income have prospered by increasing products and services for the market with modest profit, so that more people can afford what they offer. The more people that patronize them, the more people they hire to meet demand as their business grows in the market with higher returns and profit. We now have billionaires without factories, products or services!

Our parents used to tell us the story of Ajao. He was the biggest landlord in Lagos at one point. He died rich leaving properties and estates. The point is he came to Lagos beginning as a cart pusher or load carrier, Alaru. Yet, he made it in business employing others to do the job he used to do until he started acquiring properties. Yes, there are other stories and people like Ajao that made it big by being prudent with the little they had, like Ajao.

Greed to seek more money for political power corrupts absolutely. Greed infected most individuals, families, local governments or communities. Most of them have never shown value for the obscene profits they make. It is not how much money you make, it is how well you spend it. Most of them spend their riches on glitters without substance, foreign imports that create jobs and services overseas. Common sense is not common.

When the Nigerian Head of State said money was not the problem but how to spend it, many people were driven into politics to help him spend it. The difference is the caliber of politicians that spent money prudently and those looking forward to grabbing any allocation into their pockets before it gets to the masses or spent on projects and infrastructure. Forget about the days no one would dare steal in their communities or local areas.

There used to be a time when people say nobody would be bold enough to steal money or divert allocations in his own local area for fear of his people. What we are witnessing today has rubbished that thinking. It started when salaries of workers that were sacred became targets for diversion. First into banks to collect interest for months while workers groaned and suffered. Then dare devils graduated to diverting workers’ salaries into their pockets!

Finally, the greed that is rampant within the political class has finally gripped the working class and the poor. It is so infectious, you cannot send a little kid to buy you akara without expecting jara in return. We have lost African values to greed. The sad part is that once they accumulate the money, they start buying exotic foreign products, throwing the money out or actually launder the money through roundtripping if so privileged or outright exchange at any cost.

Each member of the political class comes from our homes. We are not different from them. We have to start asking ourselves about what is so wrong in Nigeria if not individuals like you and I. You can imagine what would drive a young man to throw all his savings and borrowed money away to an agent asking for which country his money can cover for relocation. He is so bent on travelling: any country but Nigeria is good enough.

Sorry, you better stay home. They are now turning to Artificial Intelligence to save them the cost of labor. They forget that their working class are the ones patronizing their goods and services. When they replace the working class, they may have to go to Artificial Intelligence to trade in the market, pay rents, buy houses, cars and food. We love those preaching extreme Freedom, Democracy and Capitalism to the gullible waiting their turns.

China accomplished poverty reduction without propagating slogans of democracy or freedom that extremists use as bait to attract cheap labor for their greed. There is a trend lately of trying to scapegoat whole sellers entering the retail market by denying them access. The fight is not new in Nigeria or around the world. The case of Nigeria rests on a fallacious story to cover greedy profits.

Nigerian retailers claim that the cost of bringing in their goods from Asia or Europe are the main reason for high prices. Since the whole sellers from Asia and Europe now sell their products cheaper at retail stores, one wonders if they do not pay transport fares from their countries. We also know that when the Government banned imported rice so that Nigerians could have the local rice market to themselves, the price jumped and surpassed the price of foreign rice.

Fast forward, local currency has lost its value, and we now calibrate in foreign currencies. We used to laugh at worthless Zimbabwe dollars that lost his value under Economic Sanctions from the Western world because Robert Mugabe had enough of their promises about equitable land transfer from the grabbers from the native owner of the land.