By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

When Eedris Turayo Abdulkareem Ajenifuja, popularly known as Eedris Abdulkareem, made the ailment he has public on July 6, 2022, one thing that came to mind was that he would raise money easily to tackle whatever ailment he has since he is popular.

Nigerians were jittery on social media about losing this man, who has always been at the forefront of the downtrodden and the betterment of humanity here. A fundraiser was called for people to assist him. This was due to the fact that Nigerian hospitals are sorry tales in the area of human and infrastructural input.

Nigerians started showing their concern for him after a statement by Myke Pam for Abdukareem’s Lakreem Entertainment enlightened the public about what had befallen Abdulkareem.

The statement said they were calling for “sincere and unalloyed prayers of all Nigerians and his fans around the world” for the singer known for his hit song, ‘Nigeria Jaga Jaga’.

Abdulkareem needed a kidney transplant at the end of July, and Myke Pam said: “They have concluded all arrangements and tests.”

While the managers of Abdulkareem might have concluded plans according to them since July 6, the “Jaga Jaga” singer later shared details of a GoFundMe account via his Instagram page, and explained that it was created based on requests from concerned individuals.

However, the news on July 27, 2022, on national dailies that the veteran rapper is scheduled to undergo major surgery for a kidney transplant with £4,269 (N2,136,345.49) raised to that effect is miserably poor.

Upon his popularity, such an amount of money for twenty days after the ailment was made public shows how poverty is living amongst Nigerians with an estimated population of two hundred million people.

It even shows how poorly the creative industry is in Nigeria if Abdulkareem, who published his personal record label in 2005, can merely boast of $100,000 USD as net worth by 2022, according to research.

On the other hand, a music star in rational climes would have raised all the cash brought in for Eedris in over two weeks in a day. His well-being would have been a national concern, taken up by the government. This pittance brought to Eedris vigorously is a math showing how destitution of the pocket and the brain has negatively affected Nigerians who persevere through bad circumstances such as unsatisfactory housing, vagrancy, insufficient sustenance and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of admittance to medical services, unsafe neighborhoods, and under-resourced schools, which adversely affect over 80% of the citizens.

With a miserly £4,269 raised for the popular musician, its posits that the Nigerian system is based on the issue of poverty among the citizens who still have issues like hunger, disease, and thirst. Many Nigerians can’t access common water and latrines. The essential neediness of the citizens leads to chronic weakness, suicide threats, brutality, and what not.

We must, however, thank everyone who contributed to the £4,269 total. The authorities ought to grasp that living in destitution, which citizens endure in Nigeria under successive governments, affects the wellbeing of citizens in immediate and roundabout ways. There are the prompt outcomes of living in low-quality houses, living on dirty streets, chemicalized air from gas flaring, and pollution contamination that represent a more serious gamble of respiratory issues and expanded pressure from openness to congestion.

•Odimegwu Onwumere, The President, Advocacy Network on Religious and Cultural Coexistence (ANORACC), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, can be reached via apoet_25@yahoo.com

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