Name : - Akintomide Ifedayo Adigwe
Phone Numbers: - +2347030136545, +2347050458508
Twitter handle: @semanticdmax
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/akintomideifedayoadigwe/
Life in a third world
country
Life in a third world country is usually worse than most would suggest,
it becomes more deadly if you’re one of many who earn less than a dollar a day.
I earn ninety dollars a month which is quite low when you consider how
expensive everything is __ food, utilities; the list goes on.
But truth be told am one of the lucky ones to have even found work at
all. Nigeria is a beautiful country; fertile lands, extensive mineral and material
resources which are for the most part being squandered by the political elite;
cabals who like nothing better than to keep the countrys’ economics and people
under a tight leash.
It’s hard however to be ungrateful when I consider how many years I sweated
to get a job at all. I teach twenty six impressionable children, whose age
range is between six and eight years old.
The job has its challenges as everything on earth does. Trying to impart
knowledge into children who’d rather play than work; you could come into
conflict with their overprotective parents. Another negative is seeing children
being emotional abused or neglected by the people supposed to see to their well
being.
Surviving in Nigeria is like trying to navigate a mine field with only a
pencil thin flashlight for company in the darkness of night. To some that might
sound like a gross exaggeration but it happens to be the truth.
You’ve probably heard reports of terrorist attacks, but that isn’t what I
am talking about here. What I am referring to is the unfavourable working and
living conditions.
Bill Gates was in the country a few days ago. He said Nigeria is one of
the most dangerous places for a woman to give birth. Many disagreed with him
but I felt his words were a right assessment of what most Nigerians go through
on a daily basis.
This brings to mind something that happened to a friend two weeks back. She
went into labour. Her first mistake was registering for antenatal care at the
town’s general hospital, which many describe it as a neutering/death centre.
Her experience was an alarming indicator of how deep corruption has eaten
into the nation’s systems. The doctors have a system they employ. When women
come to give birth, they’re referred to private hospitals in town citing lack
of appropriate equipment as the cause. These private hospital owners carry out
unwarranted caesarean operations on these women raking up huge medical bills in
the process which when paid are shared between the private hospital owners and
the doctors at the general hospital.
My family friend lost the baby; it went into distress early in the labour
process. She almost lost her life too. A complaint was filed but the general
hospital staff denied it saying she chose not to continue her treatment there
and had insisted she be referred to a private hospital. That was how the whole
thing was swept under the rug.
This is one of a million cases which are buried on a daily basis. A
pastor of one of the most popular Christian assemblies said humorously that
every family in Nigeria is like a nation on its own.
Why you might ask? Well the reason is every family finds themselves
responsible for providing their own electricity (Because we get on average
three hours electricity a day. The saddest part is they bring bogus bills every
month which we are forced to pay for. Nigeria is the only country I know where
we pay for services not rendered), water and security.
The life of a man working in a third world society as dangerous as what
obtains in Nigeria is a trial. But it is a trial we have no choice but to face,
pushing on to a future we hope will be brighter than what we see today.
