A hinterland burden

A hinterland burden is a reflection on the primary drivers of insecurity in our rural areas, and how civic minded folks can address them.

On my last visit to the village, the faces that I beheld made me emotional. The women of my hometown, like most struggling Nigerians, bear politically-inspired suffering with stoic equanimity. They cover the burden they bear with brave smiles and laughter each time we meet. But it is easy to see the devastation that years of rural conflicts have wrought. These reflect not only on their physical features but also in environment degradation.

Monday 6^th of November was my birthday and it turned out to be a mixture of sadness and joy. For me personally, it was full of joy, the joy of having relations, friends and acquaintances extend good wishes. No one dislikes such gestures, unless of course their religion forbids birthdays, as do the Jehovah Witness sect. I lapped up the salutations. Inside me, however, a conflict raged between the enjoyment and the sad reality of what I witnessed a week before.

I often reflect on my birthday by going back to my roots, the village where I was born. This is the place from where most of the current fathers and grandfathers began their journey of life. On Monday morning, I thought of my home town, a place I visit sparingly these days. Each visit leaves me with mixed emotions.

On one hand, my hometown envelops me with happy feelings. There is a feeling of satisfaction that there is a place one can call home, one’s root. The village blesses me with a happy feeling of connectedness to a root. As I stepped into my father’s old corrugated aluminum-roof home, my mind travels back to an exciting but difficult childhood. I am grateful for the grace of God, without which one could not have overcome . Then there is the pure joy on the faces of my village folks. I hear from them embellished stories of my childhood, as if I had no memories of childhood at all. Mothers hug and hold me, looking straight into my eyes to enquire about my family and wellbeing.

I feel blessed amongst the mothers of my village.

The hinterland burden

On my last visit to the village, the faces that I beheld made me emotional. The women of my hometown, like most struggling Nigerians, bear politically-inspired suffering with stoic equanimity. They cover the burden they bear with brave smiles and laughter each time we meet. But it is easy to see the devastation that years of rural conflicts have wrought. These reflect not only on their physical features but also in environment degradation.

The people I met in the village did not need any prompting to recount their tales of woe. The recurring tale is of how strangers with cows bullied and frightened them away from their farms. This action instigated the current cycle of poverty and hunger that has become a burden in the hinterland. Most rural folks now depend on noodles and other processed junk. They abandoned fruits, vegetables, tubers and seeds that hitherto sustained them on a balanced diet. It was heartbreaking, Beneath the gay and sometimes forced smiles, acute hunger and disease accompany them in their struggles.

On the Monday birthday when I work up for my morning reflection, I kept wondering whether this situation is irredeemable. Is it irreversible? My candid assessment was that, though we all know that it is not irredeemable or irreversible, the million dollar question is who will bell the cat? Certainly not the government, federal, state and local. There is usually very little or no policies in place to challenge the problem of rural poverty and disease from its root.

Dealing with the burden

It is not as if the people of the southeast have no experience in dealing with economic deprivation. We have simply refused to return to the basics. And we remain obstinate, even when we see hunger and disease dealing with our people. And it does not matter that we see them silently pleading with us for help.

It is possible to chart a path that returns strong, healthy smiles to the faces of the village folks. We can do this with support from civic minded fellows who currently focus on providing social infrastructure. Unfortunately, these folks think that infrastructure alone can accelerate their peculiar concept of community development.

As it is today, this concept of community development begins and ends with predictable outcomes. We love erecting fantastic mansions. Grading dirt roads. Drilling boreholes. Repairing dilapidated school infrastructure. Building village halls that will not serve as youth centres. And constructing sundry other infrastructure and social utility projects. However, anyone who truly listens to the stories of the people of the hinterland will not fail to notice something. Local women and men are unable to really appreciate them, because they are struggling with hunger and disease. In most of the villages, majority of the old folks suffer endemic diseases, including high blood pressure and diabetes. These are not terminal diseases but they require a planned and sustained regimen of medical attention to manage.

The solution to this hinterland burden is a focused and basic support system that complements the social infrastructure projects. Each community does not have to reinvent the wheel. They can follow the template from the UN Millennium Development Goals. The goals are to reduce income poverty, attack hunger, and facilitate a health environment to manage diseases. Their absence in each community are the primary drivers of insecurity and youth restiveness. Insecurity and youth restiveness threaten community peace and safety in the hinterland.