■ INTRODUCTION:
The Betrayal of the Real Nation Builders
In the grand scheme of Nigeria’s governance, elections consume billions, politicians earn outrageous salaries, and convoys stretch for miles. Yet the very people who hold up this nation — the men in uniform, the teachers in chalk-stained classrooms, and the farmers who till the land — are left to survive on crumbs.
This is not just injustice. It’s national sabotage.
■ Uniformed Patriots: Undervalued, Overused, and Unheard
From the soldier in Sambisa to the policewoman on night patrol, Nigeria’s security forces operate in extreme conditions with minimal support. While the 1999 Constitution grants the government power to ensure security and welfare (Section 14(2)(b)), it has largely failed in fulfilling that mandate for the protectors themselves.
Pay: Many junior officers earn between ₦40,000–₦80,000 monthly — far below a living wage.
Housing: Dilapidated barracks and overcrowded hostels.
Freedom: Denied union rights under the Trade Unions Act Cap. T14 LFN 2004, Section 1(1)(b), and prohibited from striking by the Trade Disputes Act Cap. T8 LFN 2004, Section 51(1).
■ What they deserve:
Decent wages, modern barracks, proper healthcare, and full pension benefits — not broken promises and political lip service.
■ Teachers: The Builders of Brains, Treated Like Burdens
Nigeria’s education sector is bleeding, and at the heart of the haemorrhage is the teacher. Despite the Universal Basic Education Act 2004 mandating free and compulsory education, those delivering it are neglected.
Primary school teachers in many states still earn under ₦40,000.
Poor infrastructure and unpaid salaries plague government schools.
Teachers in rural areas are forgotten completely.
■ What they deserve:
Respect, training, safe classrooms, and salaries that reflect their nation-building role. When teachers flee to Uber and POS jobs, the nation’s future is in peril.
■ Farmers: Feeding a Nation with Blood, Sweat—and Fear
Nigeria’s farmers don’t just battle climate change and poor infrastructure. They now fight for their lives. From Benue to Zamfara, banditry, terrorism, and unchecked herdsmen attacks have turned fertile lands into mass graves.
Despite the Land Use Act 1978 vesting land in the Governor for public interest (Section 1), many farmers are displaced without compensation or protection.
“We are afraid to go to the farm. We no longer own the land we inherited,” laments a farmer in Kaduna.
■ What they deserve:
Secure farmlands, access to credit, modern equipment, and guaranteed safety. If food security fails, everything else crumbles.
■ The Bigger Picture: National Prosperity Depends on These Three
Security without welfare breeds corruption, mutiny, and broken morale.
Education without teacher motivation produces half-baked graduates.
Agriculture without safety and investment results in food scarcity and import dependency.
We cannot keep pretending that budgeting trillions for infrastructure while our farmers, teachers, and soldiers suffer is progress. That is not nation-building — it is a farce.
■ Call to Action: A Legislative and Executive Duty
I urge the National Assembly and the Executive arm to:
1. Enact a Uniform Welfare Act mandating salary thresholds, union rights, and post-service benefits for all security personnel.
2. Fully implement the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 across all states — and adjust it to reflect economic realities.
3. Allocate at least 15% of the national budget to education, as promised in various UN declarations Nigeria signed.
4. Create a Farmer Protection Corps (FPC) — a security task force dedicated to protecting rural farmlands.
■ A Nation That Cares Must First Pay Its Workers
It is time we stopped the hypocrisy of praising heroes we’re unwilling to feed. If Nigeria truly seeks peace, prosperity, and posterity, then it must rise for those who:
1. Guard its borders
2. Build its minds
3. Feed its people
" Until the teacher’s salary rivals a senator’s allowance, until a farmer is safer in his field than a politician in a rally, until a soldier's widow does not beg to bury her husband — Nigeria will not know peace.
Read, Share, Advocate. The time is now.
