Grievances Over Sudden Step-up in Cost of Commodities -By Usama Abdullahi

I must not cover my feelings of discomfort over the recent increase in cost of commodities across the nation. Definitely, people are really suffering from this. An ordinary Nigerian finds it difficult to provide for his family three square meal a day. This is agonisingly unfavorable for the poor masses.

What I have yet to reason is, the body solely responsible for this sudden increment. Is it the government or business men ?  Debatable as it  seems. I suggest we look deeply and closely at the pathetic condition of the pauperised ones and chart a way out of this dilemma.Now is the right time to resolve these issues ourselves.

Since it’s obvious that government efforts in providing monitary support to the regular citizens is little, then I believe we can do it all together.You may be wondering how this is going to work, I know. In most parts of the world today, the monied often show complete disregard to the lives of the poor.

They ignorantly buy into the notion that when they feed the penurious, they would have decline in their proceeds or the penurious would outclass them over time. I quite disagree with such daft perceptions of the rich. And I consider that a silly excuse to ignore the terrible state of the poor and, of course to avoid giving them donations.

The rich do whatever it takes to make profit at the detriment of the poor. How bad this could be! Imagine a sachet of water which used to be cheaply bought at the sum of ten naira has now doubled the previous price. Unfortunately becoming unaffordable to the normal citizens.

The sachet water which is seen as “undiluted” and “safe” for consumption, hence the poor can’t afford it. As a result, they would resort to taking waters from the lakes, rivers, streams or other water bodies, like the way they sometimes do— which are often contaminated by waste dump.

And when they consistently do, without adequately preserving the waters, they are most likely to be infected by terminal diseases such as Cholera. However, with yet poor access to or lack of medical facilities in their localities, there would be multiple loss of lives. This is really serious.There is a dire need to look into this.

Lastly, I call on the government and business men to look into this ill-condition of the poor.However, business men, I know you can do this by reducing the cost of commodities in order to meet the needs of the ordinary Nigerians and by doing so, you’re making your products or goods readily affordable.

Usama Abdullahi writes from Abuja and can be reached at: usamagayyi@gmail.com