Poverty in the eyes of power
Speaking about poverty is understandably easier than experiencing it, especially when the speaker is rich and powerful. So, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha may be forgiven for his apparent claim to knowledge of poverty at the fourth Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) retreat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on June 6. It was an appropriate platform to ponder poverty, particularly the pauperisation of the people, considering the fact that political governance should be concerned with the activation of “the Greatest Happiness Principle.”
There is no doubt that the ethical principle of working for “the greatest happiness of the greatest number”, promoted by Jeremy Bentham in his 1776 book, A Fragment on Government, is eternally relevant in the context of politics in particular; and it is lamentable that individuals in the country’s structures of power noticeably trivialise the significance of the pivotal principle in their governmental perspective.
Interestingly, Okocha was quoted as saying that any governor shouldn’t be seen pretending to be poor since the position had nothing to do with poverty. He missed the point. Though it is correct that governorship is not a position of poverty, the status has everything to do with preventing poverty of the governed. According to him, “I was poor and I decided to fight against poverty and nothing will make me, my family and my generation to go back to poverty again. Poverty is worse than HIV. You can’t pretend to be poor.”
It is uncertain how he arrived at the conclusion that poverty is more terrible, or more terrifying, than HIV; but it was insensitive and uncharitable to allude to people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that can lead to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), described as “a disease in which there is a severe loss of the body’s cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy.” It is worth mentioning that, according to current statistics, the population living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria is 3.1 million out of the country’s estimated population of 140 million.
It is this pitiable group that the governor flippantly compared with the poor; but there is no basis for such comparison because while HIV transmission is usually a result of specific high-risk behaviours or practices, the United Nations definition says, “Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity.” In other words, poverty has a deep political dimension, which is not necessarily the case with HIV transmission.
For a picture of the political element, the World Bank’s definition is clarifying. According to the institution, “Poverty is an income level below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. This minimum level is usually called the “poverty line”. What is necessary to satisfy basic needs varies across time and societies. Therefore, poverty lines vary in time and place, and each country uses lines which are appropriate to its level of development, societal norms and values. But the content of the needs is more or less the same everywhere. Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.”
The obvious implication of this clarity is that governments have an inescapable responsibility to address poverty in society, which is why Okorocha’s personalisation of the issue is not only misguided but also tragically disappointing. Congratulations to him on having risen far above the poverty line, which is implied by his argument against pretended poverty in political office. However, he needs to appreciate that the genuinely poor also deserve opportunities that would raise them above penury, and that is a major purpose of governance.
Of relevance is the observation by the World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at the April IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings, where he restated that Nigeria was among the top five countries with the largest number of the poor. Scandalously, the country ranks third on this list of infamy behind India (with 33 percent of the world’s poor) and China (13 percent). With 7 percent of the “wretched of the earth”, the country is ahead of Bangladesh (6 percent) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (5 percent). Together these countries are home to nearly 760 million impoverished people.
The portrait of indigence is a tragic and inexcusable irony for an oil-rich country, and puts a huge question mark on the quality of governance at all political levels in the country. It goes without saying that the country’s poor deserve an urgent solution. Kim said, “It is imperative not just to lift people out of extreme poverty; it is also important to make sure that, in the long run, they do not get stuck just above the extreme poverty line due to a lack of opportunities that might impede progress toward better livelihoods.” The overriding concern is whether the people in power are sufficiently interested in providing poverty-reducing opportunities, or even whether they care about anything beyond their pockets.
Remarkably, the NGF event supplied useful insights into the poverty conundrum, especially through the contribution by a former two-term governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, who was represented by the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of theNew Telegraph, Mr. Gabriel Akinadewo. Kalu told the governors: “Know that the burden you will carry as a former governor is for life. Even if you leave office poorer than you went in, a cynical public would never believe you. They believe half of the public treasury is kept in your house.” According to him, “They will come daily to line up, telling one tale of woe after the other. If you give them, they will say they only came to collect what belongs to them. If you don’t give them, they will say you are selfish and stingy.” In conclusion, Kalu said, “When you become poor, the same people will abuse you of being a foolish man. It is head, you lose; tail you lose. Public service is truly a thankless job in Nigeria.”
What a sob story! He missed the point pathetically. The questions are: What is responsible for the alleged public perception that political office holders deplete the public purse for personal prosperity? Is it not symptomatic of bad governance and progressive poverty that the people reportedly queue for financial assistance from past governors?
