|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The ignoble role the so-called middle-class (the class below those in wealth and above those in poverty) plays in the affairs of Nigeria did not register in my consciousness until I read a piece by Chris Akor titled: “Can we hold our leaders to account?” He noted in the article that instead of seeking accountability for the resources entrusted, the middle-class is “more preoccupied with establishing contacts and relationships for future contracts, jobs and favours.” This is unexpected given that the middle-class whose ‘sense of class’ has now been crowded out by greed and inordinate ambition ought to be the toast and the bride of both the wealthy (the ruling class) and the poor in society. Rather than thunder against the malfeasances of the ruling class, the middle-class has lost steam and all sense of value and has become an accomplice in riding Nigeria as a bicycle.
This is why, for instance, you would find some two ‘eminent’ Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) exchanging fists over who is better fit to defend a serial killer or a notorious armed or even ‘political’ robber. It is also the reason you would find some Professors turning theories overboard in their wisdom or lack of it in advising or ill-advising the ruling class. It is also the reason that a portfolio of policemen, military and other para-military men and women and of course many senior civil servants have taken perpetual oath to remain eternally corrupt and demented like the hen that sucks its fines eggs. Rather than be vilified, the actions of the middle-class are garnished by the ‘sharper than two-edged sword’ ready pen of some journalists. Today, the middle-class has left us with a country in a depressed state with little order and no national pride.
The middle-class ignorantly appears to forget that though great wealth may bring temporal happiness, it is, however, not the source of joy. Look at most members in the ruling class- extremely arrogant, amusing and with horrifying past and present credentials. I wonder where lies the joy and prestige in being an accomplice in administering Nigeria with large doses of injustice with a group that soon become afflicted with frailties soon after the source(s) of their ‘wages of unrighteousness’ dry up a year or two after leaving office.
In all of this, it is evident that Nigeria is not ‘divided’ along political, tribal/ethnic or religious lines. The division is simply in the economic domain and thus, three classes of Nigerians exist- the ruining (oh the ruling class), the middle and the poor classes. Poverty has no respect for religion, political or tribal affiliations. Hunger has the same effect on the poor whether or not he/she lives in Kaduna or Portharcout; whether Christian or Muslim or whether a member of the ruling party or the opposition party.One would have expected the middle-class to use its vantage position to turn its passion into purpose in the public interest in order to tackle the danger which the ruling class represents. But this has not been so. You are likely to hear the question: is passion in the law? And I wonder the law we talk about – Is it the one that is obeyed or the one that is often deliberately misinterpreted and disobeyed? It is important to remind the middle-class that there are issues of life against which there is no law-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. Which of these does the middle-class exhibit? None, rather we have the middle- class enmeshed in a portmanteau of cases of stealing, murder, kidnapping, arson and others vices cast in the same mold.
One wonders whether the middle-class was born into corruption, raised in corruption and dwell in corruption and dishonor. The middle-class in Nigeria is simply indescribably horrible- a class destitute of honour and dignity; low minded and acting without consideration of others. The class smells awful.All those in the middle-class with soiled hands seem to forget that they are finite in all ways. They fearlessly indulge in profane and sordid activities. They are troubling to many who are poor and only a comfort to a few who are prodigiously and fraudulently wealthy. They have all been disabled by sinful acts in helping the ruling class erect hurting political edifices where they unleash violence of all kinds on the vulnerable who are daily worried about frustration and apprehension of what the future holds for them.
I personally feel constrained to think that President Buhari is the problem of Nigeria. He neither represents the problem nor the solution thereof. He is as much a victim of the monsterized middle- class as any other Nigerian. He is as ‘bad’ or as ‘good’ as the middle-class molds him.The virtues he has been known for and stands for are at risk of being blatantlyswept away by some demented elements in the middle-class. And his sense of reasoning re-ordered to no one’s chagrin but to the delight of the same elements in order to continue to cheer and canonize him in readiness for 2019 in theirs’ and not in the interest of the masses.Truly, it is no longer the middle class but the demented class.
Francis Iyoha
Professor Iyoha is of the Department of Accounting, Covenant University and Research Fellow, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He wrote viafoiyoha@ican.org.ng
