Success through hard work is the shining example a strong moral society passes on to improve the standing of the next generation coming after them. Once you ignore and refuse to teach your children how to survive, you lose your future. If you teach your children how to fish, they will survive forever but if you keep on giving them fish, they will expect free fish for the rest of their lives. Life is a journey of survival not an easy thread to navigate.

What needs does a flashy display of wasteful material wealth satisfy other than “I Better Pass My Neighbor”? Those who work hard have the right to reward themselves with a luxurious life but limited to their surroundings, environment and neighbors. Playing the shining king on the hill surrounded by poverty is nothing short of provocation. Daring poverty ridden communities by thumbing your nose is outrageous to all of us.

There are criminals everywhere without any provocation or outrageous display of ill-gotten wealth. This is the reason for strong law enforcement officers in every community. When it gets to the stage where more poverty is created than alleviated, all law enforcement officers are overworked and can never be paid enough to risk their lives. It gets to the point where it pays more to be a bandit accomplice than to be a dedicated police officer.

Systems must be in place to curb excess or extreme human characters. No matter how much economic and social opportunities there are, those with criminal tendencies will still victimize others in a reasonable and fair community. This is why crime stoppers are needed at every level in society. But it cannot replace opportunities to excel in different fields. Deterrents are put in place to demonstrate there are better ways to succeed.

Creating more poverty by diversion of allocation that is supposed to alleviate the poor condition of the masses, especially when you loot the Treasury dry, hijack allocation that should provide infrastructure, you deserve to be visited by bandits because you are attracted to them. Bandits look at the way the politicians live and want to emulate them. These days, bandits want to replace the politicians because they are tired of earning peanuts as thugs at the risk of their life.

Late Adedibu said if you want security as governor, surrender your security allocation for your protection, otherwise there would be no peace. Bandits are going steps further, they are the latest money making “profession”. Neighbors closest to you are turning to informers and bandits since they have precise location of those conspicuous spenders. The flashy cars they drive, humongous houses and expensive imported clothes they wear. Who nor wan beta tin?

Unfortunately, the poor masses cannot protect themselves: school children and teachers are now targets for big ransom. Since politicians negotiating with bandits pocket the lion share of the ransom, it is now difficult to differentiate between bandits, accomplices and politicians. Politicians withdrew millions to pay ransom but bandits claimed they got only a fraction.

If you are told Money is Vanity, tell them to try Poverty. Before you celebrate Vanity or allow Poverty to destroy you, prepare for the endgame. In other words look before you jump since there are different ways of reaching the various goals. The consequences of money and how money satisfies your basic and secondary needs can easily become a case study in many African countries. Try Nigeria that was flowing with wara and honey until the Curse of Oil money.

Africans, especially the poor, struggling Youths and opportunists are tired of hearing that money is vanity. All they want is the opportunity to get the money first and then deal with consequences later. A well fed man cannot tell an hungry belly to take heed. When we appeal to the masses to reject rice packets that would only last them for a couple of days, we must also provide an answer to the pain of hunger they would endure instead.

Man inhumanity to Man by demonstrating deliberate indifference to children is a new low below human dignity where every international agreement, even in the face of war, is ignored. When children become acceptable as collateral damages, the world has got to the point of self-destruction. Unfortunately, politics have become a do or die for the survival of the fittest. Pursuit of money may enhance violence but so is greed.

Motivations based on money alone, only last as long as the money exists. The problem with Africans is the loss of our Moral Value System that encourages greed by following Western Judeo-Christian capitalist values alien to Africa. Africa in general and Nigeria in particular can never be fixed until we return to our moral values starting with being My Brother’s Keeper, where It Takes A Village To Raise A Child.

Most Africans know the problem of Poverty and the solution but each Administration would not practice the solution they preach once in Power.The most subsidized sector in both Western and Eastern countries is Agriculture. This is the reason food is relatively cheap in these countries. Yet most African countries leave their most economic agricultural advantage to the private farmers unsubsidized.

While no one should vote based on immediate gain, political jobbers make a career out of it. They go around campaigning for whoever pays them the most money or positions. It is even a worse moral example from a leader who would only join a party, not based on conviction but only if he is fielded as a representative, senator or Presidential candidate. So they are willing to jump from one party to another.

We may then wonder which of these political hustlers have the moral obligation to hold voters to their parties. Voters see what leaders do to become elected, so monkey see monkey do. If you already know the Party you are going to vote for, you can still make money by taking whatever they are willing to offer and vote your conscience anyway. What could be repulsive is to take money solely to change your vote for the party you dislike.

Money is good when used prudently. It is not the only cause of violence, drugs and criminal tendencies but may encourage many people including thugs to exhibit crude primordial behavior into the populace. If you have money and it is not well managed, it can become a problem for you and those around you. Your neighbors wonder how you acquire sudden riches without working for it over a period of time.