ROTATIONAL POVERTY

Rotational poverty to me means a recycled poverty. But in the words of Mr. Segun Adefila, the leader of Crown Troupe of Africa, "Rotational Poverty is the poverty that rotates among the poor...it refers to the exploitation of the poor by the poor". He went on to give an example of a Danfo (Bus) Driver who unjustly increases transport fare for his own selfish gain. But guess what? He goes home, give his wife an extra cash for home up-keep but she goes to the market to find out that the prices of goods have gone up! The traders who were forced to pay extra fee to transport their goods in turn inflates the cost of sales and this backfires on the driver who started it all. It is like a boomerang.

Rotational poverty is not restricted to Public transport alone. It is all over our society. People exploiting others at the slightest given opportunity. For instance, the cost of fuel per liter is now N65 but I am yet to see this change impact lives at the grassroots. It obviously took a while before most Fuel Stations effected the new price but now they have, those at the helm of local affairs are yet to take responsible action to ensure that the prices of things that went up is tuned down. No matter the number of millionaires we have at home or in diaspora, if the masses are living below poverty line, our society will be tagged poor.

According to UNICEF, about 30, 000 children die everyday due to poverty. Imagine loosing such a huge human resource to poverty instigated by another man's greed. Poverty is a state for majority of the world's people, a few of us get the chance to be wealthy either because we had riches bestowed on us or through sheer hard work and as a result are shielded from the harsh reality of poverty or otherwise, while majority struggle on trying to to get "there". Young people are most affected by poverty, thus all stakeholders must initiate more strategies to eliminate poverty in all ramification- be it material poverty or poverty of the mind. Indeed, we can all stop the rotational poverty eating deep into our society through collective and personal responsibility.

I really would not have given this a deep thought had the Crown Troupe of Africa not instigated it through their creative satirical presentation. Talk about a creative group who know how best to fuse dance with drama to create a new audio-visual experience while at the same time raising critical issues that affect mankind. Their last performance was on Ahmed Yerima's "Fall of a King" and Jumoke Verissimo's Ajani. Their mix of comedy really keeps you laughing until you almost pee on yourself. Do find time to attend the next performance themed "Moremi", coming up 3pm March 1st 2009 (a monthly event) at Cinema hall 1, National Theater. The experience will entertain you and challenge the way you perceive things.