๐ฌ๐ท.1๐ฅฐ of #newcovermondayswithdawnye
๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ @faveszn
Please Lmk what you think in the comments and tag her.๐ฉท
"My dad was kidnapped on his way back to Abuja after my convocation๐ญ
They are demanding for 10m ransom๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
I need your help, with any support๐๐ญ
My dad is been tortured right now and tied since yesterday
I heard his voice this night he told me to act fast๐ญ"
PLS HELP
The average Nigerian life exists in a state of decline, not bloom. The Alhaji, whom I once bought vintage glasses from at Lagos Island, went from selling in a library of glasses to trading a small stock in a portable show-glass and later, an old briefcase.
He couldn't afford the shop. He couldn't afford the merchandise. After a while, he left the spot entirely.
Some of those Ebonyi boys in Lagos have gone crazy with hustle. They go from selling phone accessories to socks and handkerchiefs to getting bread from supermarkets like Shoprite and Bokku and selling them on the street.
Nigerians get permanent deformities from small accidents because of a lifestyle, circumstance, and a system that prioritize staying alive over living. They survivedโit's all that matters.
When I was in the bank, I discussed Hugh Mcculloch's โAdvice for Bankersโ with one of the senior employees. Mr. Hugh Mcculloch was the Comptroller Of Currency, U.S Treasury, in 1863, when he laid out an Advice for Bankers, which would later become a set of principles for Modern Banking.
I told them that by those principles, a banker must be paid well and not get into petty loansโconstantly. To prevent the likelihood of financial irresponsibility.
They mocked me lightly and said I should focus on meeting my weekly targets rather than talking like a professor. "All your generation talk about is money." "Hardwork and experience, first. The money will come." Yet, a senior staff projected that at least 60 per cent of Junior staff in the same Bank were debtors or microfinance banks and loan sharks. (He'd done an audit of such nature not long before I got employed.) He wasn't wrong.
There were stories of people, including my own friends, who got robbed of their laptops, tablets, and phones when they were either coming to work or going back home. The Company wouldn't compensate them. When they did, it was not sufficient. Yet, they came to work as early as 6am and sometimes left very late at night. Some still came to the office during the weekend.
One lady was in the middle of a professional exam, which she could barely afford when she was robbed. I remember she had once protested to her bosses for how inconsistent they were at providing hotel accommodation for their late night work. After she got robbed, some people blamed her for not being alert and careful. She was depressed but showed up as if all was well, so she wouldn't be the centre of attention.
Another one got into an accident but still came to work even as she had a bleeding scalp. She had a lot of hair, yet the bleeding was obvious. I asked why she didn't go straight to the hospital. She said โIf I don't come to the office, they'll say I'm lying, and I can't risk it because of staff appraisal.โ
When you ask these people to โDare to dream," what are your expectations? Are they practical? Beyond the occasional moments of hope inspired by the worship songs they sing religiously, they have almost nothing. They just try to look presentable enough to show up dailyโsleep deprived and desperate.
Their wages are divided between Loan App repayments, savingsโwhich would later be consumed by billsโand expenses exhausted by social expectations that matter to them, such as outward adornment and career development. Life is terribly harsh and uncertain.
We must understand that people just want to work, pay their bills, and have enough time and vitality to tend to other things outside work. It's this simple. Can't regular people live a healthy life?