Opinion: Crass Individualism: The Coup Against the Nigeria of Our Dream, By Osmund Agbo
Jean and I crossed path few years ago, mostly out of mutual necessity. It was early in my career and I had to undergo a certain kind of training in an upscale hospital in the heart of Manhattan. As one would expect in such a highbrow setting in the US, we were part of a few sprinkles of people of colour in a sea of white faces. At the time, Jean was a freshly minted nurse practitioner trying to steady his feet in a challenging work environment. I was to the rescue.
In between those blings however,Jean still managed to notice the wide disparity between private possessions and public utilities and institutions . While he believed most Nigerians were like Akeem in Eddie Murphy’s, he couldn’t wrap his head around the glaringly decrepit infrastructure on display. Good public institutions and basic infrastructures were so hard to find that Nigeria could pass off as the poorest of the poor countries even by sub-Saharan Africa’s standard. He was right.
How do we explain that In 2018, Nigeria overtook India to become the poverty capital of the world and yet in that same year we made headlines as the country with the most black billionaires. According to a recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 82 million people making up about forty percent of Nigerians live on less than $1 a day.
The same could be said of the impact of COVID-19. Now that every country had closed its borders, the lethal virus is ravaging the rich with the same ferocity it’s consuming the poor. There is no question that more lives could have been saved had leaders of Nigeria made the necessary investment in our healthcare delivery system, instead of hoping to catch the next flight to Europe and America on a whim.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Premium Times Daily data-react-helmet=trueBreaking news, Investigations, Multimedia, Analysis, Opinion, Business, Sports & more... by Premium Times data-react-helmet=true
Read more »
Premium Times Daily data-react-helmet=trueBreaking news, Investigations, Multimedia, Analysis, Opinion, Business, Sports & more... by Premium Times data-react-helmet=true
Read more »
Public Safety: As Nigeria Gallops Towards the Tipping Point, By Jibrin Ibrahim - Premium Times OpinionOpinion: Public Safety: As Nigeria Gallops Towards the Tipping Point, By Jibrin Ibrahim
Read more »
Of George Floyd: Engaging the Depravity of Prejudice and Othering, By Adewale Ajadi - Premium Times OpinionThe world system needs for all of us to run our assumptions through a filter of how they affect the “other”.
Read more »
Of George Floyd: Engaging the Depravity of Bigotry and Othering, By Adewale Ajadi - Premium Times OpinionThe world system needs for all of us to run our assumptions through a filter of how they affect the “other”.
Read more »
Fighting The Heinous Crime Of Rape In Society, By Murtadha Gusau - Premium Times OpinionAs painful and embarrassing as this may be, it is our duty to report to police any incident of rape.
Read more »