By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
Please let us move away from the political scene in Nigeria. What happened in Edo State was a political harlotry and murder of electoral norms and ethics. Thinking about it may be injurious to our plan to discuss some important issues in our land today. In early March we started clearing and planting in our farms. Some of the planted seeds are ready for harvest and some would still wait till December. One thing is to plant, another is to harvest and another is to preserve or save it in the barn.
While growing up in Onitsha my parents had a big yam barn in the village where they stored all the yams and cocoa yams for almost one year. It was an art I learned. My mother would also buy fresh tomatoes and blend them with a pestle and mortar. She would cook it until all the waters were gone.
She would put it in a plastic container and add a little groundnut oil on top of it and it will last for 12 months. We will go down to Ochanga market and buy ears of corn. From morning to evening, we engaged in separating the corn seeds from the straw. Sometimes we will have ten bags of corn, each bag containing 50kg.
From the corn, we get our pap (Akamu), foofoo (Nri oka), and combido (A mixture of corn and beans or a mixture of corn and breadfruit). My parents were primary school teachers and as you know money was not one of their resources. But with common sense during the harvest, they were able to save a lot of money from food so that we could go to school.
Today is no different. Hardship for the people has been a trademark of the Nigerian government be it military or civilian, democratically elected or politically selected, none is better than the other. I know that what we could have gained during this harvest season has been taken away by the bad policies of the Tinubu government.
The five hundred Naira we could have saved from one liter of fuel has been obliterated by the new prize of 1,200 Naira per litter. We should not lose hope: we shall do what we can do to survive. My parents were teachers from 1979-1983 and Chief Ifeanyichukwu Jim Nwobodo was the governor of the old Anambra State, and salary was not paid for one year, yet we survived because of our food reserve.
I drove along the Nnewi Oba road and I saw the corn sellers. I drove along Ekwulobia-Nanka-Isuofia road and I witnessed the corn sellers running after the transporters to make a sale. I drove along Awka-Amawbia-Onitsha express road, which is the mega corn station. The corn sellers will disappear in two months and the era of corn abundancy will be a thing of the past. I imagine what my mother would be doing with the extra corn from the sellers.
The price of tomatoes came down significantly from 90,000 a basket to 50,000. It is time to seize this harvest time. Although, we have not seen the money to buy these foodstuffs to preserve, the politicians have more than enough to share among the electorate in Edo State in the name of vote buying. Meanwhile, the Anambra State gubernatorial election is coming up. I hope that the boast made by the APC (All Progressive Congress) chairperson will not come through. Any person in Anambra State who should sell his vote because of pittance and pence should visit the first Adam.
Anyone who is planning to destroy the political will of the people of Anambra State so that they would not vote according to their conscience should be prepared to engage Olisa. In this struggle to manage 70,000 Naira in a month to take care of a family of six, and someone has come to disrupt the leadership and political peace we have enjoyed since 2007, that person should be ready to face our forefathers.
At least, we should be able to elect our leaders ourselves. I am not interested in partisan politics or the political affiliation of the winner, but let the winner be the person voted by the majority. On the other hand, Akidi or beans can be bought also in large quantities.
After drying the beans put them in a container mixed with dried pepper and store them away for future use. Do not be distracted: it is harvest time. The soja-ant said that the firewood we secured during the dry season is the one we will use in the rainy season (Nku Onye Kpaa Na Okochi Ka Oga Anyaa Na Udu Milli). Politicians are on their trade so be watchful, be on your guard and make maximum use of the season we are in now (harvest season).
Of all the things happening now, it is only the living who would share the story, so do not allow your abundance to be wasted. Prepare now for the rainy season. Election will come and go but you would be around to tell the story. The Gwo gwo ngwo dance would come and go but you need to keep your body and soul healthy.
If know how to preserve the yam from Otuocha for six months you are making good progress in this process of buying in plenty for the barn. I heard that the government has given scholarships to high school kids in public education. Do not spend the money on frivolities. Go to the food market now and invest it in food items because very soon the plenty we are seeing now will disappear. And people will go hungry.
We should be wise to use our time, talent, and treasure. There are things we do not need government to do for us and one of them is how to manage the little resources that we have. The second one is to remember that nothing lasts forever, that is to say, that no condition is permanent.
This harvest season will not be forever and we cannot just allow the high energy prices and the recklessness of the government to ruin our lives and plans to survive as a people. If we act wisely now, we may stay alive to read and see the next episode of the event happening in Nigeria. O bu kwa onye di ndu gbaa fess (He who is alive took the first position).
