In Anambra State, the Fox Now Guards the Chicken Coop. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu βThe first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.βΒ Β Β Β Β Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter XXII (1513) https://t.co/fWVN0A8zhi
If President Tinubuβs economic policies are working as wonderfully as APC repeatedly tells Nigerians, then why has food distribution become such a visible feature of politics around the presidency?
When Seyi Tinubu is seen distributing small measures of rice to Nigerians, the real question should not be whether helping hungry people is good. Of course it is. Anyone feeding struggling families deserves acknowledgement for the immediate relief.
The uncomfortable question is: why are so many Nigerians desperate enough to need it?
APC cannot spend the morning telling Nigerians that the economy has turned the corner and spend the afternoon celebrating photographs of citizens queuing for small portions of food without expecting people to notice the contradiction.
Nigeria should be moving toward a society where families can comfortably buy their own rice, not one where politicians and politically connected individuals become celebrated for periodically distributing it.
That is the difference between relieving poverty and defeating poverty.
President Tinubuβs policies should ultimately be judged by whether the Nigerian worker's salary buys more food, whether transportation becomes affordable, whether businesses can thrive and whether parents can feed their children without waiting for another palliative programme.
Seyi Tinubu sharing rice may help someone eat today. There is nothing wrong with that.
But it cannot substitute for an economy that allows that person to buy rice tomorrow.
The greatest achievement would not be distributing more mudu of rice.
It would be creating a Nigeria where fewer citizens need to queue for one.
Don't just share the rice. Ask why Nigerians can no longer comfortably afford the bag.