A student once wrote on a piece of paper: 'Epotamag: N100.' He was preparing to cook soup, and epotamag stood for 'epo, ata atimagi''( palm oil, pepper and Maggi). The writer recalls another bad day when two friends fried dried pepper and made eba, only to have a girl knock in the middle of the act: quickly they pushed the eba under the bed, wiped their hands on whatever they could find, and...But Chinyere had indeed brought fufu for Ikechukwu---I'm sorry to have to mention his name---and soon afterwards, when one mentioned what they had done, Chinyere only laughed. She knew they did not have money, she said, so why should they pretend'The Ijebu say 'Ibanuje mo niwon feni to ba to ri gari wa mu'' (sorrow is reduced for the man who has gari to drink). And the Ijesa add that 'a ki i sepade iya ka mo eni to je ju'', meaning 'If we hold a meeting of the poor, we shall never know the poorest,'' for when one emerges complaining that he has not had breakfast, another comes, saying he has had nothing to eat in the past three days, etc. In a market, Lagbaja eats eko but does not pack off the leaf wrapping, and Tamedu eats without tidying the ground, so great suffering greets the market sweeper who must pack all the filth. Suffering is not stew, the Yoruba pray again, 'Father, do not let me suffer want.' Suffering is not a friend of the flesh. Soup is the friend of the flesh, and if soup is sweet, it is money that has crafted it.One woman told of how, one day while she was washing the only wrapper that she had, it got torn and she burst into bitter tears. A younger brother, Mayowa, told of a church service he had attended in Ondo in 1997, a Pentecostal outfit where the worshippers danced in frenzy and sang: 'Ma feyin jesu o, ma feyin jesu; emi o ni m'oloyo ku o, ma feyin jesu,'' (I will eat yam with eggs, I will eat yam with eggs, I shall not die eating gari oloyo; I will eat yam with eggs) and the women as usual gyrated their bottoms, while the blind men tried to clap poverty out of their lives. When bread and eggs become issues of Pentecostalism, there is indeed a big problem involved. In Mile 12, Lagos, at least when I used to work there, you would find halls where people slept, urinated and....for a fee. There was, in those days, a restaurant called Jesu Oyingbo which sold good food in a dignified environment and at pocket-friendly rates. It was a lot better than the current deathries called eateries which serve improperly cooked meat and other bad food at outrageous prices. Ultimately, though, eateries are for the graded poor.At OAU, Ile-Ife, handsome guys in tight jeans would ask you as you passed by in those days: 'Bros, can you hala (give) me 20 bucks'' Yes, N20. Some are going home to get food and do not even have transport fare. The toilets are always full, because the students eat mostly beans cooked on hot plates (cheap electric stoves). Ah, what suffering toilet cleaners in Nigerian universities experience on a daily basis! They see, smell and battle evil on a daily basis, and some crazy students would even do their crazy thing on the bare floor, and leave the toilet without a heart. Some people do not know why they have not got a job in five years; they are under a curse.In churches, vulcanisers (tire repairers) don't have sisters dreaming about them being their future partners or 'will of God.'' 'How many tires will they pump before they make it in life''' people ask. But no one should be underrated. Not even a church rat, which can make service difficult for you if anointed by the devil.USA'born William Marrion Branham, Laodecian age minister, was born, and married, in gripping want, but he toured the globe a record seven times. His victory lay in his mind: he believed in God and did not lean on his own understanding. Do not let anyone fool you that the solution to your money problems lies in anybody: it does not.What gave Dolly Parton victory over her misery was in her mind: 'Now, I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be in my coat of many colours that my mama made for me; made just for me.''Often the foolish and riotous are full of food and wine---this is a great evil in the world--- while the wise do not have dinner. Sometimes your talent gives you wealth; sometimes it is some other person who lends a helping hand. But another person's help usually comes when you have helped yourself by conquering your limitations. Ultimately, then, I would rather have a better, God-trained mind than another cheque. The untrained mind easily succumbs to the traps of want, but some minds are able to see clearly beyond the horrible present. A lot of money in the hands of a fool is a lot of riot, a lot of hell, in the world. Before the money comes there must be structures in the mind to regulate its use.In Nigeria, money is in the hands of the blind, lunatics who try to buy up the entire country, digging graves for their future generations. There are bright graduates perpetually looking for jobs whose forebears swam in stinking wealth: but so many people will never hear anything meaningful in their lives, including advice on how to avert their day of shame. Most of these wealthy crooks will eventually end up beheaded by the very people whose future they have mortgaged.'Awolaja is on the staff of the Nigerian Tribune
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