Palliatives: Is this how low Nigeria’s government sees its Citizens?

Palliatives are not the answer but rather an insult to the Nigerian people by its government.

Ruling a country by no means is an easy task, but then again, it is all about addressing the simple things on time, and according the citizens the respect they deserve rather than make a tough task a lot more complicated. For the Nigerian political space, the reverse becomes the case; the simple issues are allowed to get complicated, beyond any reason for complication, while the Citizens are treated like nothing but mere ants by those who hold on to power.

Nigeria’s current economic climate is one that takes a darker shade every turn of the day as businesses keep getting shutdown, investors continue to depart the country, while the country’s currency continues to plummet on a global scale.

To summarize, on an economic stage; Nigeria has been rendered unattractive for businesses to thrive, with the ripple effect being the economic hardship that has fallen hard on the average citizen whose earnings are no longer enough to pay the bills. But what does the nation’s government do?

Well, what better way than to have a stockpile of foodstuffs withdrawn from storage and thrown at the masses like a fish farmer would throw feeds at the fishes in his fish pond?

Palliatives are nothing but the ‘beggar syndrome’ the Nigerian government wants its citizens to appreciate.

The Nigerian government fail to address the obvious problems facing the country; which stems from the fact that policies and political actors have hindered businesses from thriving, or that insecurity has cost a lot of businesses their life span, or that the outright negligence of certain sectors are the reasons the economy has fallen so hard that its ripple effect is felt all over the nation.

Serious issues are taken so trivially or politicized to look ordinary, and when its ripple effect starts to rebound, the quickest medicine the government can give to a population of about 200 million people; is to have so-called palliatives that they very well know would never reach 200 million citizens, loaded in trucks and strategically awarded to masses as their symbol of ‘goodwill’.

This is by no means a symbol of goodwill but rather an insult on the humanity of the masses. Palliatives are given to people in refugee camps, and the government choosing to give Nigerians palliatives, shows how low they see the country and its citizens –nothing but a refugee country of helpless people waiting to die. And it is high time, Nigerians begin to see the ‘insult’ for what it truly is.