Charity Begins At Home

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I came across an interesting piece of information on social media several days ago. A renowned independent Nigerian journalist released a document on Twitter that showed the approval to purchase vehicles worth 1.4 billion Naira which is equivalent to 3.35 million dollars by the Nigerian government for neighbour, Niger. This news elicited a lot of reactions from Nigerians on social media and beyond. A day after this revelation, the Nigerian Minister of Finance acknowledged the purchase of these vehicles for Niger by the government. The Minister said the government of Niger had requested for aid from Nigeria to purchase the vehicles to maintain internal security when questions about documents of the vehicles shared online were asked by journalists during a press briefing. The minister further said that the President of Nigeria gave the directive for the purchase of the vehicles and has the right to make such interventions if he deems it fit to be in the best interest of the nation.

This issue sparked a lot of conversations among Nigerians on social media and beyond. A lot of us found the decision of the government to be inappropriate. The government appeared imprudent and insensitive to the plights of Nigerians who are experiencing hardship due to unfavourable economic conditions. Most Nigerians were upset with the government because it does not seem to know it's priorities! The nation is experiencing a downturn due to a decline in economic growth. Insecurity, inadequate power supply, inflation, bad state of roads, steep depreciation of the local currency and suspension of academic activities in universities are some of the pressing issues that require intervention from government. This issues need to be resolved by the government because they have a major impact in the lives of Nigerians. Sadly, this is not the case.

Insecurity has become a major threat to Nigerians. A problem that has been allowed to spiral out of control by the government. Insurgents and bandits have become predators! They attack Nigerians who they target as prey! These notorious gangs have crippled economic activities in the areas they dominate with their operations expanding to new places. The act of kidnapping Nigerians has also become a lucrative business for these gangs who demand ransome from the families of their hostages. This trend is unacceptable and needs to be stopped as soon as possible. The military who are supposed to deal with this security threat seem to be overwhelmed and incapable of doing so. They have cited their inability to stop the activities of the notorious gangs to poor intelligence gathering and inadequate weapons in their arsenal. A responsible government that has the interest of her people as it's priority is supposed to devise strategies in collaboration with the military to put on end to this issue of insecurity. One of those strategies should be the equipping of the military with modern weapons and facilitation of intelligence. A strategy like this can become effective when the government allocates funds for it. Is it not more prudent to expend resources to end insecurity in your domain than to intervene in the security affairs of another country? Which fire will you put out when your house and that of your neighbour is aflame?

The Nigerian government is ready to intervene in another nations security affairs but neglects matters within it's purview. Academic activities in universities in the country have been suspended for more than six.months with no indication of it ending soon. The suspension is as a result of the strike embarked upon by lecturers over poor renumeration and inadequate funding of universities. These demands that are just and should be meet by the government. Unfortunately, this is not the case! The government has been unable to meet these demands. Consequently, academic activities are suspended and students who supposed to be acquiring knowledge and relevant skills are at home. A development that is impeding their academic pursuits and will likely have an adverse effect on the labour market. Reward should be proportional to effort. The renumeration of lecturers should be commensurate with their work. Universities and other institutions of higher education should be well funded because they are the birthplace of ideas and innovation that power most industries in an economy. The development of human capital should not be compromised as this is the most valuable asset of any nation. Human capital is the major asset that harnesses the resources of any nation for economic development. Human capital development should be the top priority of any government. Unfortunately, the Nigerian government do not regard education as a top priority. It would rather meddle in the security challenges of her neighbour than tackle the problems in the education sector! Isn't this a brazen act of indiscretion

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The decision taken by the Nigerian government to purchase vehicles for the internal security of her neighbour Niger is a misplaced priority. This action has shown Nigerians that the government does not know it's priorities and is imprudent. To add coal to fire, the purchased vehicles are luxury SUV'S. Are luxury SUV'S used for security purposes? A question the Nigerian government needs to answer. They are so many economic challenges inflicting hardship Nigerians that require the attention and intervention government. A sensitive and responsible government will be keen on tackling these challenges head on because it has the interest of it's people as a top priority. Charity begins at home.

Thanks for reading,
Have a splendid day folks.