Last Monday, July 8, 2019, was a memorable day in the history of the people of Delta State, ‘The Big Heart’ of the nation Nigeria. It was the day that the amiable and hard-working governor of the state, Senator (Dr.) Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, celebrated his 60th birthday.

The event, which was held at the Delta State government-owned events centre on Okpanam Road, Asaba, attracted people from all walks of life.  Among the dignitaries who attended the event was the able Chairman of the largest party in Africa, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus.

Others were the former governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, the Ogidigborigbo of Africa; the governors of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal; Edo state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; Imo State, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha; the deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John-Jonah (retd), and the Managing Director/CEO of ThisDay group of newspapers, Chief Nduka Obaigbena.

Apart from attracting very important personalities, the event was a very memorable one to me, for two major reasons. One, it was the first time that I heard and saw a Nigerian important personality celebrating his birthday with a large number of people with disabilities, PWDs, under the same roof and at the same time.

Before that day, important Nigerian personalities used to celebrate their birthdays at high-profile hotels with only people of their class in attendance. The best they had done was to pay a visit to a motherless babies’ home or to a prison with few cheap gifts.

Governor Okowa, has, by that action of celebrating with PWDs under the same room, changed what used to be the status quo.  Prince Uche Secondus also observed this and remarkably showered praises on Governor Okowa for that act of humanitarianism.

Two, the occasion gave me the opportunity to listen to Governor Okowa’s childhood friends and professional colleagues, who spoke glowingly about him. Their individual remarks and comments showed that Governor Okowa has been a humble person right from birth. It also showed that his love for fairness, equity and justice did not start when he became a governor in 2015, but part of his deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA.

As you would expect, there was plenty of food and drinks for guests to eat and to drink at the party. All the invited guests, including those on the technical side, who wanted to eat, had more than enough to eat and to drink.

On the band stand was the Veentage Band, who came with their newly acquired and sophisticated musical instruments. They treated the guests with beautiful rendition of a medley of Christian and secular popular songs.

While the guests were still enjoying their food and the music from the Veentage Band, Governor Okowa and his beautiful wife, popularly known as ‘Mama Delta,’ took time to go round the entire hall, greeting and thanking their guests for finding time to honour their invitation. That really showed that the hard-working Governor and his amiable wife were truly nwaezimmadu as is always explained by the publishers of Nwaezimmadu.com.

As I stood to take photographs of the governor and his wife shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with their guests, my eyes caught two men who were having a scuffle. That aroused my curiosity to move closer to them.

When I inquired to know the cause of their quarrel, with a view to settling their misunderstanding, one of them said: “They gave me a take-away pack of food and this man was struggling it with me.”

In order to make peace between them, I requested one of the caterers to give me a pack of food, so that each of them could have a pack each.  As I offered the pack of food to the one without a pack, both of them felt satisfied and went their different ways.

I later discovered, from one of the caterers, that both men had been given enough food and drinks. They were just fighting over the food and drinks they wanted to go home with

While the birthday party was going on inside the event centre hall, a large crowd of ordinary Nigerians gathered outside the gate.  As soon as the event-proper came to an end, that large crowd rushed into the hall.

Can you guess what they came to do? They came to scramble for left-over food and drinks that were left behind on the tables of the guests.

They gathered all the unfinished food and poured them into the polyethylene bags they came with. Those of them who were interested in the drinks, gathered all the contents of the left-over wine and spirit and emptied them into the bottles of table water they found on the floor.

I noticed most of them smiling as they left the place with their bags of food and bottles of drinks. What a country of abundant human and natural resources, yet full of hungry people?

I was ashamed and disappointed at the present economic situation in Nigeria where able-bodied Nigerians; boys and girls, men and women, scrambled for left-over food at a party ground. That showed the level of poverty in Nigeria.

That reminded me of the statement credited to the late Allhaji Umaru Abdulrahman Dikko, a Nigerian politician and a chieftain of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, NPN.

He served as an adviser and as the Minister of Transport during the regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s civilian government. He was reported to have said that Nigerians were not as poor as being portrayed by the media since they had not started eating from the dustbin.

What is the difference between eating from the dustbin and the action of those Nigerians who came to scramble for unfinished food and drinks from the table of Governor Okowa’s birthday guests? Any difference? I don’t think so!

There’s poverty in all the countries of the world, including the so-called developed countries. So, no country should boast of not having poverty among its people.

However, I must point out here that the degree of poverty differs from one country to another. The worst type of poverty, from my own perspective, is the poverty that makes it difficult for its victims to feed, as we have it in Nigeria today.

This has caused my prayer-points to include ‘God go punish poverty, GGPP.’  God go punish poverty is my Nigerian way of saying: “Please, God help us to overcome poverty in Nigeria.”

So, I want you to join me in saying God go punish poverty. Repeat after me, God go punish poverty. God go punish poverty in Jesus name.

A-m-e-n!

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