by Tosin Adesina

The under development in Nigeria is not propelled by ethnic sentiment but a class war between the haves and the have not.

The haves, irrespective of their ethnic background continue to amass wealth and control the means of production and wealth circulation at the expense of the have not. The haves are united when it comes to issues concerning their plight, while the have not are encouraged by the haves to wait on “God”.

The sad development in Sokoto state where the government allocated a huge sum of money to the acquisition of an official residence for the Sultan in Abuja is one. The spate at which the proposal by the Sultanate in council was approved by the Sokoto state executive council has shown that the haves are united in their course to further impoverish the have not.

Take a look at this scenario – the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport Abuja was shut down for runway renovation on the 8th of March 2017 and was reopened on the 18th of April 2017 – 24 hours before it’s scheduled for opening.

In the build up to the closure, billions were spent on renovating Kaduna airport and the Kaduna-Abuja expressway all within a period of three weeks with enough security in place.

The Abuja example shows how the have’s place a priority on what concerns them and if you think my observation is misplaced kindly know that poor people don’t travel by air.

A country where the majority of the population are living below 1 dollar per day won’t fly. You can’t expect a man that earns thirty five thousand Naira as salary to fly – it’s impossible. As a result, the quick renovation was a means of satisfying the have.

In this same country, Osun and Oyo are playing games with the future of over thirty-two thousand students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomosho.

The university has been locked for more than 365 days now due to non-payment of staff salaries. There has been series of protests by staff unions and students but there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet.Despite the financial lifelines granted to Osun and Oyo in forms of Bailout and Paris refund the school is still under lock and key.

Despite the financial lifelines granted to Osun and Oyo in forms of bailout and Paris refund, the school is still under lock and key.

One year after the school was shut the two states have taken their insensitivity to another level by constituting an audit committee to audit the finance of the school; an action we all know is only time wasting and not in the best interest of the students.

The ongoing class war in Nigeria will continue to hamper our growth and development and should be eliminated before it’s too late.