Umaru DIKKO, the flamboyant minister in the Shehu Shagari regime of the early 1980s was once quoted to have said that those complaining of hunger in the country then were not being fair and honest enough to the government.
In what capacity did he say what you said he said?
He said until people started eating from the trash bin, he would not agree there was hunger in the land. He said this in his capacity as the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on, wait for this, RICE! An agrarian community importing rice to minimise the pain of hunger and corrupt officials making it virtually impossible for the common to get enough to feed their family. Then he came out with the bombshell.
O ti o! Did he say that in your presence? You and this your “won ni, won ni”, “they said, they said…”. Were you there? How could any sane man say his fellow compatriots would eat from trash bins? O ma bloody se o!
Not a matter of blood or bloody. The thing has been happening. It first started with almajiri and the poor talakawa seeking refuge from hunger by doting on party goers for leftovers.
Is it still “they said, they said”? Any eyewitness accounts?
Look at this man? With these my KONGBA eyes I saw “fire inside well and…
Waiteee! Duro. Which one is “kongba eyes” and which one is fire inside well. You be Fire Brigade?
Listen carefully as I do a retake. I mean I saw strange things happen with my two naked eyes how people were scavenging at parties I recently attended in Lagos, one in Lekki, the other in FESTAC town. Come and see how both young and old were scrambling for and packing leftovers as ‘take always’ in black nylon bags. It was survival of the hungriest. I was moved to tears, but the “packers” were unfazed. Both the young and old really want to survive the hard times. A seemingly doubting Thomas thought aloud saying the leftovers were actually meant for their pigs.
Animal or human?
Both are scavengers in the trash can of an ailing economy. Only the rich are getting richer by the day and the kitchen table says it all. Half-filled for some. Half empty for others, the very innocent poor, VIPs.
Dele Omotunde
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