Countries all over the world have continued to experience increasing fiscal inequality. It's usually the rich and the poor. Looking at the fortunes of the world's richest black people as reported by Forbes magazine.
Many Africans like Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Patrice Motsepe, Isabel dos Santos and Folorunsho Alakija (these are not all) made the list alongside black Americans like Robert Frederick Smith, David Stewart, and Oprah Winfrey.
While this is an indication that wealth is no native of any particular race, tribe or people, it raises some concerns for the many other people who are not rich, and how systems that ensure certain persons get rich and remain so while others do not get the required pull for mobility upwards the social ladder.
The subtle erasing of the term middle class in the face of current happenings raises the question of whether we still have middle-class citizens. Or, Is it just the rich and the low-income earners who I call "others"?
The heightening gap between the rich and the others is a matter of the incapacitating nature of the differences between the rich and the poor as they affect virtually all elements of their day to day existence, from what neighborhood they find themselves, the safety of their lives and property, the educational opportunities available to them, their career prospects, to health care provisions and possible risks.
With limited resources, the poor can hardly afford the basic necessities of life. Asking such a person to aspire to send their kids to good schools and colleges would be like asking for a luxury.
With only the rich and others, there is an enormous gap in income that continues to fuel a social disconnect that feeds off the prevailing social class difference.
Nigeria is no different from other countries like the United States and Europe. The words of Havard professor Robert Putnam that family income matters more now than a person's abilities in terms of whether he/she completes college is so apt because affluent kids have many advantages available to them raising their likely hood of proper education.
The recent closure of many offices and shops and the overall downward trend in business is a reminder of the 2008 global economic meltdown that crippled the financial system and made a mess of people's investment.
Till date, many investors in Nigeria, are yet to recover their initial capital leaving these ordinary citizens to suffer. The rich, however, bounced back quite easily, showcasing the unfairness of financial inequality.
This is made possible by the oppressive systems that ensure the wealth gap exists.
According to Oxfam Nigeria despite being the largest economy in Africa and a growing economy has extreme levels of poverty and a huge economic gap between the rich and poor. They argue that more than 112 million persons are currently living in poverty when the combined wealth of her richest could save millions from poverty.
Systems that ensure a huge wealth gap
. Electoral systems
It is not news in Africa that those that participate more in politics are people with high incomes. Basically, everything that concerns politics involves the spending of money. From buying nomination forms to campaigning for the available spaces and down to grassroots campaigns.
How many poor people can do this without the need for support? So, the rich either contest for positions of office, contact candidates of their choosing, or donate to a politician who they feel would work for their benefit.
This places a silent demand on the government to systematically respond more to their financial backers than to the electorates who actually cast their votes under the hot sub-Saharan weather of Africa. This is a clear case of Money easing access. As such most policies and agendas are influenced by these heavy financial backers.
. Low Economic mobility
The expectation of most people to move up the economic rung is stalled by the low wage system being practiced in Nigeria. While some states in America are calling for the upward review of wages to $15 per hour, the minimum wage is N 30,000 Nigerian naira per month.
If converted to dollars, the poor earn about $83 per month and about $1,000 dollars annually as compared to Nigeria's elites with fortunes ranging from $1billion to $10.1 billion in the face of the soaring cost of living.
. Poor Infrastructural Development for the Underprivileged
How many poor kids can afford the top-notch education available to rich kids?
They can only dream of this. The schools, hospitals, and security of the underprivileged are nothing compared to what is found among the rich. This is worsened by a sustained systematic allocation of resources by the government on the poor populace.
How Nigeria got here
With the vast amount of resources available, Nigeria cannot be termed a poor country yet millions are hungry and can barely afford two meals per day. This means the state of hunger and inequality is not due to a lack of resources but is rooted in a culture that supports corrupt political elites and their financiers who are out of touch with the daily struggles of average citizens on the streets.
Chief among the list of the root cause of this great financial gap are the following
. A constant decline in jobs and employment rates for both skilled and less-skilled workers.
. The high numbers of university graduates the available job pool
. With deregulation, and the gains of globalization the rich gain from the speculation that happens in the financial markets.
Today it appears that those who work bear more risks than the investors themselves. All these compound the likelihood of one at the lower end of the role ever improving their lot.
What can be done?
To reduce the huge wealth gap and create some balance, low and middle-income earners should be allowed to contest for office and contribute to society by reducing all financial constraints to the barest minimum.
The current minimum wage should be reviewed and increased.
Businesses can still run profitably with higher minimum wages.
Opportunities for business growth should be vigorously pursued by the government. Economies grow when more small and medium-sized businesses abound.
The ease of doing business in Nigeria should be looked into to make the environment friendly for the low and middle-income earners.
More intervention funds should be made accessible to the public for business
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