Dinner From A Lagos Dustbin
By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
It was a very beautiful evening in Lagos. I was in the car, waiting for my wife to get her bag from her office so we could go home together. Then, I saw him, as he passed, looking very hungry and haggard. The general consensus here is that he is not mad. At least, not yet. He is clearly traumatized by the impossible condition in which he struggles to exist each day.
Suddenly, his hungry eyes caught the dustbin, outside the office complex, a few meters away from where my car was packed. He appeared so elated at his find. His face creased into an awful gesture, which he probably meant to be a smile. Then, with a quickened pace, he made for the dustbin, and began to desperately rummage in it, among its decayed, putrid, stinking contents. He seemed afraid that someone might come out to drive him away before he was through.
An idea occurred to me immediately. Nigerians ought to share this heart-rending image with me. Yes, my camera was at the backseat, I remembered. I quickly reached for it, and with a greater part of me hid behind the windshield, I took two shots of him while he was still busy searching and collecting some items triumphantly. Then my third shot caught him as he made to move away with his booty. And within a few minutes, he went down the street and was gone.
This, too, is a Nigerian. Like you and I. Like Umar Musa Yar’Adua. Like David Mark. Like Patricia Etteh. Like Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo (the founder/father of Modern Nigeria). Like National Assembly Members. Like former State Governors. Like former ministers and Super Special Advisers. Like some Local Government Chairmen. All now incredibly wealthy after just a few years of “self-less to the nation”!
If this hapless Nigerian had heard that houses are renovated and/or upgraded in Abuja with a mere “ paltry sum” of N628 million, he didn’t show it. He was just content to invade the dustbins, to fill his stomach with its putrid contents, until life, his life, reaches a T-junction, where, his candle would be cruelly extinguished by the violent wind of the unspeakable callousness of Nigerian leaders.
By the way, is Umaru Dikko reading this?
That is the reality of present day Nigeria. And make no mistake about it, there are several others like him out there, who would never have anything to eat today, until they are able to find a dustbin rich enough to yield them a meal.
Perhaps, this fellow voted in the last election. Perhaps, he did not. But those who are supposed to take care of him are out there in Abuja and other points of power engaging in unspeakable profligacy, with the commonwealth, from which they have carefully insulated him. While he dies slowly, and miserably.
What a nation.
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Comments Page: 1  posted on 09-16-2007, 02:57:18 AM X-Ray Re: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinLet's not get carried away my good friend. Yes corruption is something we must continue to fight with vigour, but you can't stop some people being homeless and eating from dustbins. The greatest and richest country in the world, the USA, has an untold amount of tramps and vagrants eating from dustbins and permanently living under the subway. If in doubt check out New York's Manhattan.
Let's get things into perspective as we try to build a better nation. No where in the world is everyone employed or wealthy. The top 5 wealthiest nations all have these problems too. What could be their reasons!  posted on 09-16-2007, 03:25:44 AM Vade MecumRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinQUOTE:
Mr. X Ray, The scenario is not the way you are painting it. "Some homeless are more equal than others". The vast majority of American homeless and beggars are homeless and are begging by choice, not that the government did not make social provisions for them.In the city of Los Angeles, the city attempted to forcibly remove all the homeless from the city,especially the business districts and relocate them to a special zone where all they would need for their comfort were put in place for them.The homeless resisted the move,got a law firm to represent them and the court decided in favor of the homeless and beggars.The homeless and beggars right to reside any where they deem fit except private property anywhere in the United States was upheld. American cities,counties,states and the federal government all have programmes in place for the poor.Ever heard of Medicaid-a medical insurance programme to help the poor get their medical care.What about gas and electric bills special assistance programmes. Talk about the free cheques, the poor collect monthly in the U.S. Free housing for the poor nkor? Abeg, leave matter. posted on 09-16-2007, 04:58:05 AM AbraxasRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinHi, folks! This guy sounds like someone who has just been teleported from planet Uranus, via the Moon, to planet Earth for the first time ever. It may interest him to know that, worldwide, the main reason why most persons that got employed to work for refuse disposal companies ever applied for the job in the first place, is to have privileged and unrestricted access to the goodies at the refuse heaps! Obrigado. Don Juan-Carlos ABRAXAS (III) posted on 09-16-2007, 05:26:08 AM AkuluounoRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinThis argument over eating from dustbins even in developed climes keep being cited by mischievious patriots who want to rationalise the total destruction of the socio-ecnomic fabric of our fatherland can indeed be seductive. But I refuse to succumb. 
What of other fundamentals being exhibited by these countries. Why are they not being cited in those arguments viz: constant electricity, cold and hot water, roads, medicare facilities, education, good governance etc etc etc. Can u compare a man eating from the dustbin in Canada with subject under consideration in Lagos? The former is by choice, while the latter is by compulsion. 
It is not bad if UMYA sets it as a national goal to make sure that no Nigerian eats from the dustbin. posted on 09-16-2007, 06:11:25 AM AbraxasRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinQUOTE:
It is humanly impossible! posted on 09-16-2007, 06:34:50 AM AmyRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinYou do not have to be poor, homeless and starved to scavenge the dumpsters in America for goodies as I know perfectly normal and productive people that regularly visit dumpster to cart away perfectly edible produce that these grocery stores discard of simply because such produce have extended the artificial expiration date on their package.
In fact, I have personally been served food from a dumpster and I couldn't tell the difference, so I believe it is an unbalanced perspective to compare the incomparable. There's simply no need to acutely blur the lines in the bid to prove the absurd... feeding from a disease infested & disgustingly stinky dustbin in filthy Lagos, of all places, can not be compared in this life with scavenging well maintained dumpsters that sometimes contain perfectly OK food that wasteful America and other developed nations do not want. Bottom-line, we have been unlucky with the leaders that have managed to force themselves on us in Nigeria- leaders that are too self-absorbed to realize the importance of investing solidly in the people. The extreme poverty that will lead a sane person to Lagos dumpsters is a vivid manifestation of how chronically disconnected our leaders are from the deprived masses of Nigeria. The author speaks to our hearts and humanity in a way that is worth more than mere theories! In the end, we may all have to insert ourselves in meaningful ways in the economic development of our downtrodden- one lone person out of poverty at a time is all that is required. I am convinced chronic poverty need not be the inevitable lot of a majority of the human race... God did not mean it to be so... it is the unfortunate consequence of the greed and wickedness of a few in our nation. posted on 09-16-2007, 07:51:10 AM CelticologistRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinQUOTE:
Before the arrival of stalinistas, government apologists and other well adjusted, western-living, gucci-flaunting, nice-neigborhood-living, nice-CLK-cruising, in-denial-living, white-women-loving "activists", and before they begin to neutralize the effect of that picture, I would like to say these: AMY: Thank you. You summed up what it is all about. I think Abraxas could have been making a joke, but on the other hand, the possible spin in this sad picture is that some might still find it unbelivable or unrealistic because his hand is in the bin, and not yet in his mouth. Some may say the guy in the picture is an actor, not quite easy to accept. In my opinion, I think yes!...he is looking for something, he can't possibly be employed, and his chances of making it in his society is very slim. His access to justice at anytime is zero, he is not in the system, no possible health care opportunity. If (God forbid) he dies on the street, he will be there for a while, and life will move on. BUT....whatever led him to that bin is NOT choice. (Some) people who scavenge dumptsers in the west often have to drive there, you'll be suprized to see them clutching cellular phones. They have some kind of access to the system if they want to live a normal life; choice is the keyword. I noted a few of your points in bold because some of us have been called all kinds of names for implying exactly that. Nigerians in europe and america sometimes seem to be selectively detached from reality. I bet among afro-conspiracy theorists and other myth peddlers, whatever makes a fellow citizen eat from a dustbin cannot be the fault of the leadership at home; even "father of the nation" should not be questioned. It always come down to that white-man-did-this-to-us myth. Ransome Kuti's ODOO says it all about a civil servant who saved money for two years to buy a fan but never could: "Now he understands his own life, that enjoyment can never come his way, Now his life is in reverse, In Africa his fatherland" That was just about 1991. I don't know if it's worse now or not. posted on 09-16-2007, 08:43:58 AM Jah GudaRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinTo the author, I am very disappointed that you did not offer your brother some money to enable him have a decent meal for a change, he gave you something to write about, you took a photograph of him without his consent, the least you could have done is to give him enough money to see him through a couple of months. If you had you would have given him some hope and made him feel he is not alone.
There are millions of Nigerians in the same predicament. Some are fortunate enough to have a family and loads of love to compensate for their meagre existence. Your subject is alone on this Earth, he has no one in his life to help him bear the burden of poverty and neglect. Take a look at his face, you see emptiness and dejection. There are very poor people in every Country but Nigerians deserve better. We have got too many of our fellow citizens living below the poverty line. Politicians and the rich drive past hundreds of poor Nigerians everyday and seem immune to their pitiful existence. If we fail to tackle our social problems now we will one day wake up and find these problems impossible to find a solution to. As our numbers grow, our chances of tackling and finding solutions to social issues like poverty and crime diminishes. posted on 09-16-2007, 08:49:40 AM AkuluounoRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinDear Abra,
And that exactly is what qualifies an idea to become a mission statement. It is like Nike's Just do It. I is humanly impossible for everyone to Just Do It, but at the end of each financial year, Nike and her shareholders smile to the bank. Once UMYA adopts that as a guiding principle of governance, the rest of the machinery of govt can now work gradually towards that goal. It may not be met 100 per cent, but at least having aimed for the sun, he may land Nigeria on the moon , which is better by far than the limbo we are presently in.
Now having distinguished between dutbins in Europe and Nigeria, let us henceforth eschew making mischievious comparisons so that policy makers will know that they have a great job ahead of them.  posted on 09-16-2007, 09:47:12 AM EzyvicRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinX-ray attempted to distract the message behind the write-up, and I guess he succeeded to some extent. The writer simply displayed what we already know, which in my humble opinion remains the biggest issue in Nigeria, and that is- How do we get the government to become responsible to its citizenry? Jah guda would have preferred the writer give out some stipend to the hungry man, well, I get your point of view, but that still does not change the message. I wonder how many beggars the country generate yearly, and what average effect a one time meal would do to change the fact that governance is at its lowest ebb. I was brought up to teach a man how to fish, rather than keep giving him fish. In other words, a visit to various dump sites will around the country will tell how much work needs to be done to put some confidence back in the populace. During my last visit to Nigeria, a soldier approached me, begging for some money to get home, he wore a camouflage and obviously was ashamed of what he was doing, he was completely helpless. Same goes for policemen, who now wear bathroom slippers to roadblocks and beg with impunity. The difference between the writer's beggar and the soldier/ policemen beggars is clear like 7-up, the latter is oppressed, suppressed and depressed, with no alternative. Meaning, the government has failed to cater for the BASIC NEEDS of its citizenry, while the soldier/ policemen are victims of high level corruption taking place within the leadership of the various arms of the military.
The writer owes no obligation to the beggar, but out of compassion can channel a token through various organizations to support the 'submerged' citizens of Nigeria. I sometimes give alms, and sometimes keep my distance (out of fear of being attacked), since there are various tricks being used to get people in trouble today.The NGO's have to step up their support calls, same goes for the religious bodies and various traditional councils. The government is non existent. My late father would always ring it into our ears, that you need to have all your personal ministries (water resources-bore hole, power- generator set,health- pay your doctor/ private hospital, etc) if one wants to be comfortable. So, where lies the hope for the common beggar who cannot afford a meal, talk less of owning his/her own 'ministries'. Those at the corridor of power and those in power have 'milked' the country and its citizen so dry that they dont even have the energy to protest anymore, or stand up to ask for their right (as in the constitution) to get a fair look at, as the main reason for the existence of Nigeria. So, when is the 'citizen diplomacy' of the Yar'Adua government taking a look at the micro problems of Nigerians, and stop focusing on just the macro sectors? posted on 09-16-2007, 16:06:16 PM Mikky jagaRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinWhy do we compare dustbins in Nigeria with that in the US as if that is the problem? If we focus on dustbins, the government may decide to make a policy of upgrading our dumpsites since they cannot prevent people from scavenging. 
I believe, seriously too, that this should serve as a lesson to our thieving public officers that all those millions they embezzle makes life harder for another citizen out there. posted on 09-16-2007, 21:00:38 PM JthelmsdeepRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinQUOTE:
Well spoken Amy. I agree with your summation, and concur that such writeups should tug at our heartstrings and motivate us to action rather than induce verbose and empty arguments as to the comparisons of eating out of dustbins in developed and industrialized nations versus a nation such as ours. posted on 09-17-2007, 12:21:06 PM DanGomRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinSometimes I weep for Nigeria! posted on 09-18-2007, 06:24:46 AM NativeRe: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinQUOTE:
Weep not. Obasanjo has just completed a five star hotel on the ground of his so-called Presidential Library! It was reported last week that, in his thinking now, a library would not yield enough profit for him. He now wants to invest the N6Billion he used the power of his office to force individuals and corporate bodies to donate in more profitable ventures. And the stealing goes on. In Abuja now, what everyone is talking about is how to save Patricia Etteh, and not the obscene profligacy of renovating house with N628 million. Don't weep. Can't you hear your fellow Villagers justifying eating from stinking dustbins in Lagos? The biggest mistake we make is to beleive that anyone that stray into the NVS is a patriot. No, Sir. Some, if given the opportunity, would be worse than Alams, Obasanjo, Akala, Adedibu, Nnamani rolled into one. They will make the unspeakable stealing that flourished in the NNPC in the last 8 yrs look like a child's play. E go better posted on 09-19-2007, 23:05:53 PM Surulere007Re: Dinner From A Lagos DustbinLets discuss how to recycle N628m and generate business opportunities to empower the poor/under-previledge and make Lagos State a pilot project!
That way, we channel our energy in helping the young man and save him from his shadow. Comments Page: 1 |
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