The Davids And The Goliath.

There is a story in the bible that always fascinates me. Each time I read this incredible story, I feel some celestial assurance that there is hope for the poor and the powerless. David, a poor shepherd boy was sent to the war front to give food to the Israeli soldiers who were fighting against the much more militarily advanced Philistines. At the time David got to the war front, the Israeli force was already losing the battle and morale was down generally and the Philistines were already celebrating a victory that was obviously theirs. David was green, he had no idea of the dangers attached to the war and what it meant so to him, and the battle was another child play. Probably that was why despite being unharmed; he put himself in the path of the Philistine killer machine- Goliath with just a stone and a sling! Everyone laughed in derision at him, even his own army must have laughed at him because while seasoned soldiers with swords and skills were dying by dozens each passing moment, he was there with a sling and some stones as if he wanted to kill a rodent. Goliath underrated him and wanted to smash him to pulp within seconds but the narrative changed and it was he- Goliath who ended up dead on the floor. What seemed like a lost battle to the Israelites some moments back suddenly became a whooping victory due to the daring of a young inexperienced man.

The Nigeria Labour Union.

This story is one of my favourite biblical stories. Recently, this same story was brought to mind when the issue of the implementation of the minimum wage arose again between the federal government and the labour Union in Nigeria. Contrary to the agreement reached by the federal government and the labour union in Nigeria before the general elections that took place this year, the federal government of Nigeria had come out to say that it is not ready to honour the agreement because it is unrealistic; there is no money to implement the agreement. The labour union had been shedding tears and sending curses since then. The government gave conditions that can warrant its implementation of the said agreement. It said that if the labour union is adamant in getting the thirty thousand naira minimum wage, the federal would have to lay off some workers in order to be able to raise enough money to meet up with the minimum wage payment. This heartlessness, this cruelty and inhumanity was blatantly expressed by the federal government- the Goliath of this generation, without a spec of guilt .

Let us consider ways by which the federal government of Nigeria can raise this money without laying off workers; First and foremost, if the government is truly concerned by the plight of the common man, it can cut down the salaries and allowances of our political class. Our political class takes a huge percentage of our annual income as salaries and allowances. An average senator earns a lot more than let’s say a professional doctor or lecturer in a University. Yet, by workload and brain tasking, the works of these professionals surpass that of an average politician. Yet, our government doesn’t think it necessary to cut down these ungodly salaries and allowances; rather, it wants to lay off thousands of hardworking Nigerians who have served their fatherland all their lives.

Unlike the biblical David and Goliath’s story, David is the loser here and Goliath the cunning dictator is the winner. The fault partly lies with the labour union. The union shouldn’t have taken the federal government by its word, it has no integrity. It is a government that says and promises one thing but does something else. It has shown over time that it cares more about the political class and less about the common man. It signed the agreement when it was desperate for votes, it lied and promised what it knew from the onset that it cannot fulfill but the labour union was gullible enough to believe these lies and it accepted the promises in good faith like a house wife who believes the promises of an abusive husband. 

The federal government of Nigeria is either being deliberately wicked or it is doing this out of foolishness crass stupidity. Now that the government has banned the importation of rice and other staple foods, the common man is forced to buy the insufficient Nigerian rice from the market at a very exorbitant rate yet the only way he can survive is if the government increases his wage but the government is not ready to do that! Under normal circumstances, the Nigerian government should have been sued to court for breach of contract and other crimes but it will definitely win because it controls the judicial system. It is against the law to sign an agreement and default on it, anyone found guilty of such action would be made to face the scorching wrath of the law but when it is the government that controls the law itself that commits such heinous crimes, the law becomes a toothless dog.

I Jon millions of other Nigerians to see where this drama ends.