By Abu Jabir Abdullah Penabdul
Optimism is the magical elixir of the troubled mind. Once man becomes pessimistic, he indulges in self destruction. Our situation as a country calls for sober reflection, alas, a moment for National introspection.
We have indulged and condoned the atmosphere of negligence towards the less privileged of the society for many years. Though, there are some good individuals and organizations that have taken the initiative of taking off some of the less privileged from the streets and offering them quality education and a good life but that is simply not enough.
Education is very key in moving any nation forward. Government should deliberately invest heavily in the educational sector. What we are witnessing today is a manifestation of years of negligence. It is not a must for everyone to go to university but it is a must for everyone to be educated at least at basic level.
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Skills acquisition should be enhanced so that the teeming out of school youth can be engaged and contribute positively to nation building.
As for Northern Nigeria, the governors all need to convene an emergency meeting beyond rhetorical debate to address the issue of Almajiri. At least, reduce the numbers if eradicating it seems difficult.
I think beyond palliatives, our legislators should strive towards placing their less privileged constituents on scholarship. Please educate them and they will be valuable to themselves and contribute to Nation building and your threat level will be at zero.
Beyond flowery speech, we need leaders at all levels to make huge sacrifices and forfeit some of their comforts for the common man to have access to basic amenities.
Security is vital to nation building. Agriculture, education, construction and even health sector cannot thrive where there is insecurity. The government’s effort towards that is notable, however more efforts are needed to address insecurity so that people can feel the impact of whatever policies are being implemented.
Nobody should be seen as a nuisance, not the Almajiris not the okada people not the street hawkers. They are a group that needs attention of the government.
A think thank on how best to handle this group to offer them a more viable alternative.
Grass-root engagement beyond photo-ops is a catalyst to positive change. People should be given solutions according to their problems and not what is thought to be their solution.
All policies must be latched with sincerity of purpose and the thought of communal benefit. Sometimes, temporary interventions are introduced to alleviate the suffering of people in a short time. While they are in that, policies that have long time positive outcomes are then rolled out.
Noticeably, because of the systemic weakness in our various sectors, many activists of yesterday are the culprits of corruption of today. Beyond activism, we need a genuine drive to move our nation forward. We must work on ourselves and demand for personal change first.
And finally, whoever has anything to help others with, let him not hesitate to do so. Your kind gesture towards the needy has the potential to weaken the resolve of a criminal minded hungry person.
X @Penabdull