The Mockery of Mercy: How Nigeria’s Seasonal Palliatives Weaponise Poverty and Insult the Masses

By Ben AHANONU 

Nigeria's seasonal and politically motivated palliative exercises represent a profound mockery of governance and a systematic weaponisation of poverty, rather than a genuine, structural effort to alleviate human suffering.

The practice of sharing small bags of food and tiny amounts of cash during difficult economic times or just before major elections does not fix the deep, hidden causes of public suffering. Instead of helping the community, these short-term actions actively use poverty as a political tool to keep people weak. Across the entire country, these quick emergency fixes act like a small bandage placed over a deep, bleeding wound. They provide a tiny bit of relief to a very small group of people for only a few days at a time. Because of this, they completely fail to fix the wider financial system, and they do nothing to lift millions of ordinary citizens out of extreme poverty. When we look at serious, caring, and well-managed nations across Europe, America, Asia, and even certain parts of Africa, we see a completely different approach. These countries focus on the long-term survival of their people by creating permanent social safety nets that are protected by law. These reliable systems include monthly unemployment money for citizens who lose their jobs, free and high-quality hospital care for every family, and structural support systems that protect people from birth to old age.

Nigeria, unfortunately, operates in the exact opposite way. What vulnerable citizens receive from their leaders are tiny, drop-in-the-ocean handouts specifically designed for political campaigns, media show-offs, and making government officials look good on television. These distribution events are carefully planned under bright camera lights to capture the perfect video for the evening news, providing brief comfort to a lucky few while leaving the vast majority of citizens abandoned in deep, painful poverty.

The current system used to run the country is fundamentally designed to work against the interests of ordinary people, regularly leaving poor, unemployed, and vulnerable citizens completely out of the state's main economic plans and budgets. Public office must urgently be understood as a sacred path to serve the community, rather than a private prize for corrupt leaders who want to steal national wealth for their own enrichment. Both the politicians who hold power today and those who want to lead in the future must realise that governing a nation is a holy trust given by the people. It is not an opportunistic tool used to exploit the hunger and difficulties of voters just to win the next election cycle. Giving out temporary emergency charity deeply insults the people who receive it. It strips away basic human dignity by turning things that should be fundamental human rights—such as food, safety, healthcare, and survival—into special favours rationed out by politicians. This broken system deliberately creates a toxic cycle where people are forced to depend entirely on political leaders for their daily bread. By keeping the population poor, hungry, and desperate, the ruling class ensures that voters remain weak enough to be easily controlled and manipulated with small gifts of food whenever a new election comes around.

Nigeria is a beautiful and incredibly wealthy country that is blessed with an amazing abundance of natural resources, valuable underground minerals, and a young, energetic population full of bright ideas, creativity, and hard-working talent. If the government managed this shared national wealth honestly, transparently, and with total accountability, they could use the money to build proper roads, modern railways, reliable electricity grids, and clean water systems that would protect every single citizen. This type of fair, inclusive growth would closely match the strong welfare systems that were once seen in other oil-rich nations in the past, such as Libya, where the wealth of the state was systematically turned into real public benefits. In those systems, every family received free education, fully subsidised hospital care, and universal financial support to own a home. Instead, because Nigeria's massive wealth is managed so poorly and selfishly, citizens are forced to live like beggars while sitting on top of vast riches. They have to watch a small, insulated group of politicians lock away the country's money for themselves while the rest of the population fights a daily battle just to survive on the dangerous edges of a neglected society.

When the basic daily needs of the masses are met by honest, clear-sighted, and selfless leaders, public desperation naturally disappears, creating a peaceful and stable environment where small businesses can grow and the economy can truly thrive. The alarming rates of kidnapping, internet fraud, armed robbery, and other violent crimes that happen across Nigerian neighbourhoods would drop very quickly. The urge to commit crime disappears when the state ensures that young people have a fair chance to find legal ways to work and survive. Public desperation is the main fuel that feeds crime and lawlessness in any society. When young people are systematically denied good jobs, proper schools, and a basic financial safety net during tough times, turning to illegal activities becomes a desperate way to stay alive. The government can easily destroy criminal networks by fixing the root financial causes of poverty through proper, permanent laws and job creation, rather than just driving around to hand out occasional, insulting bags of grain.

In a fair, equal and protective country, true love and patriotism for the nation grow naturally because citizens finally feel safe and trust the people running their government. You cannot force people to love their country through expensive government advertisements on television, state-sponsored propaganda or empty speeches. True patriotism is a two-way street born from the knowledge that your country genuinely cares about your well-being and actively protects your future. When the state provides working public hospitals that actually have medicine, good public schools with proper books, reliable electricity for homes and businesses, and financial help when you lose your job through no fault of your own, you automatically give back. You gladly offer your loyalty to the state, pay your taxes honestly and use your creative energy to help the nation grow. On the other hand, relying on occasional food-sharing breeds deep anger, sadness and a feeling of being completely forgotten, which drives many young people to risk their lives fleeing to other countries or turning to anti-social behaviour out of pure hopelessness.

Ultimately, building a proper institutional system that protects ordinary people while paying public workers a fair wage is not just possible—it is the only way to transform Nigeria's future. Government workers certainly deserve good salaries so they are not tempted to take bribes or participate in systemic corruption, but this pay must never be achieved by starving the wider population of life-saving public infrastructure. Nigeria must move away from this embarrassing state of seasonal, emergency charity and step decisively towards a culture of permanent, shared wealth. This requires a complete rewrite of the country's economic rules, shifting the focus away from simply sharing oil money among a small group of elites and moving towards actively creating new wealth and distributing it fairly. Only when permanent social security, strong public welfare programmes and real economic opportunities are built into the law can the nation finally break the heavy chains of poverty and restore the true pride and dignity of the Nigerian people.

I believe with all my heart that a new, fairer and better Nigeria that accommodates the needs of every single citizen is entirely possible.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Prince Ben AHANONU,

Principal Partner,

Ben AHANONU and Associates.

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