By Chuks Ucheagu
A chilling anecdote purportedly written by Chingiz Aitmatov and attributed to the former Soviet leader Josef Stalin tells how it is easy to govern ignorant people. The allegory describes how the dictator asked that a live chicken be brought to him. Next he plucked all the feathers off.
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He then cast the chicken by his feet and began throwing some grains of wheat at it. Bloodied and in crushing pain, the chicken began eating the grains and followed Stalin wherever he went. Over the years in Nigeria, the political class amplifies their survival by ensuring that the people are kept in most profound ignorance.
They continue to dominate and control the people by
impoverishing them. They formulate policies that will serve their interests
first and do not really bother about the welfare of the people. They loot and
steal from the public till with impunity and on industrial scale. When nothing
is left to loot, they go into borrowing frenzy and thus mortgage the future of
their youths.
With this level of brigandage on and heist of our commonwealth, all the indices of development are neglected. Because the monies meant for development fritter into private pockets. Therefore, inflation sets in because productive sectors of the economy are neglected.
