Opinion
Coping With Global Natural Disasters
Earthquakes, storms, floods and typhoons are disastrous natural events that usually happen in rnany parts of the world. And whenever these occur, many lives and properties are destroyed. In the meantime, more than 284 people are reported dead and several others missing in a severe flood following a storm that affected Northern Philippines. More than 1.9 million homes were inundated by the flood caused by the storm. According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, about 380,000 people are seeking shelter in schools, churches and other evacuation centres. The government of Philipines has appealed for international aid. It said it might not have enough resources to withstand the effects of the storm in the country. Reacting to the incident, the Defence Secretary Mr Gilbert Teodoro said more deaths were likely. Worst hit areas include Manila cities.
In a related development, about one thousand people were killed and thousands others trapped in a rubble following a strong earthquake that shook western Indonesia on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. Many buildings including hospitals were destroyed by the 7.6 magnitude quake which occurred off the coast of Sumatra. The coastal city of Padang capital of West Sumatra province was among the areas hardest hit. Speaking, in this connection, the Vice President of the country, Mr Jusuf Kalla said the death toll was likely to rise sharply as so many buildings including schools, shops and hotels had collapsed. Also speaking the Health Minister, Mr Siti Fadilah Supari stated that the quake was one of the biggest in Indonesia in recent times, adding that it was a high scale disaster. He stressed that it was more powerful than the earthquake in Yogyakarta in 2006 when more than three thousand people died. Meanwhile, there is extreme panic in the area.
Similarly, a powerful eearthquake occurred near the Samoa Islands. Its centre was about 190km South of Apia on the Island of Samoa. Meantirne, the authorities have issued a tsunami warning to the Samoa Islands, New Zealand, Tonga Fiji and other pacific Islands.
In fact, this is very unfortunate. As already noted, the world is prone to natural disasters such as the ones we have described. And disasters like these that can occur anytime any day are beyond the control of humnity. Tsunami centres in the earthquake prone zones of the world should endeavour always to issue warnings whenever earthquakes, storms and typhoons are likely to occur. Nevertheless, we appeal to the world community and other humanitarian organizations to come to the rescue of the affected countries as the incidents have created humanitarian problems in the pacific islands. Progress can only be made in the world when we decide to help one another and particularly those in serious problems. The world should therefore come to the rescue of these countries that are affected by the current natural disasters.
Earlier, at least two hundred and sixty people were killed and thousands others rendered homeless in earthquakes that occurred at L’Aquila and other towns in central Italy. Altogether twenty-six cities and towns were destroyed by the earthquakes. In his reaction, the Prime Minister of Italy Mr Vilvio Berlusconi said field hospital was set up to help local medical services. He declared a state of emergency in the affected areas and ordered mass burial for the dead people. According to one of the victims, Mr Antonella Massi, they were in shock because they had lost their loved ones, their town had been reduced to rubble and a whole generation had been cancelled out. Actually this was a tragedy that would linger a long time in the memory of Italians. The incident occurred in April, 2009.
In any case, other areas of the world have experienced natural disasters of immense magnitude. For instance, India and Pakistan experienced earthquakes that killed more than forty-one thousand people including children. Also properties worth millions of dollars were lost as a result of the incident. The worst affected area was the Pakistani can trolled Kashmir region where whole towns and villages were wiped out. The former United Nations secretary General Dr Kofi Annan stated that he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives. Howbeit, the United Nations reacted positively to the disaster. For example, members of the United Nations Disaster Management Team met with nongovernmental organizations in Islamabad. Soon after this, members of the United Nations Children’s Fund were assigned to the North-West Frontier Province. Also, members of the United Nations population Fund were sent to Sanma and Kashmir as well as the International Non-governmental Forum to northern areas. Supplies were moved by UNICEF to affected zones. The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released one hundred thousand dollars emergency cash grant for immediate relief aid.
Some countries of the world including Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, Germany and the United States of America sent in relief materials to the affected areas. The Australian government sent in 4.2 million dollars to the earthquake relief efforts, the German En1bassy in Islamabad sent in 4 million Pakistani rupees for first ~;d and immediate relief operations, Turkey sent in thirty aircraft carrying medical teams, the United Kingdom International Development Department sent in an initial allocation of 10 million Pakistani rupees and the United States of America released 50 million dollars for reconstruction and relief in Pakistan. Indeed, this is how it should be. The world should be one another’s keeper particularly during natural disasters and catastrophes. The same gesture should be extended to the pacific Islands currently suffering natural disasters. The world community should come to their rescue.
Dr Mann Tolofari,
Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria Abuja.
Mann Tolofari
The line that separates betrayal and corruption is very thin. Betrayal and corruption are two sides of the same coin. Like the snail and its shell they are almost inseparable. They go hand-in-globe. Betrayal and corruption are instinctive in humans and they are birthed by people with inordinate ambition – people without principles, without regard for ethical standards and values. Looking back to the days of Jesus Christ, one of his high profile disciples-the treasurer, was a betrayer. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for just 30 pieces of silver. One of the characteristics of betrayers is greed.
So, when on resumption from his imposed suspension, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminilayi Fubara threatened to bring permanent secretaries who were found complicit in “defrauding” the State during the days of Locust and Caterpillar regime, he did not only decry a loot of the Treasury but the emotional trauma of betrayal perpetrated by those who swore to uphold the ethics of the civil service. Governor Siminilayi Fubara had least expected that those who feigned loyalty to his administration would soon become co-travellers with an alien administration whose activities were repugnant to the “Rivers First” mantra of his administration. The saying that if you want to prove the genuineness of a person’s love and loyalty feign death, finds consummate expression in the Governor Fubara and some of the key members of the State engine room
Some of those who professed love for Governor Siminilayi Fubara and Rivers State could not resist the lure and enticement of office in the dark days of Rivers State, like Judas Iscariot. Rather, they chose to identify with the locusts and the caterpillars for their selfish interest. Julius Caesar did not die from the stab of Brutus but by his emotional attachment to him, hence he exclaimed in utter disappointment, “Even you Brutus”. The wound of betrayal never heals and the scar is indelible. Unfortunately, today, because of gross moral turpitude and declension in ethical standards and values, betrayal and corruption are celebrated and rewarded. Corruption, a bane of civil/public service is sublime in betrayal. The quest to get more at the expense of the people is the root of betrayal and sabotage.
This explains why Nigeria at 65 is the World’s capital of poverty.
Nigeria is not a poor country, yet, millions are living in hunger, abject poverty and avoidable misery. What an irony. Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies and most populous nation is naturally endowed with 44 mineral resources, found in 500 geographical locations in commercial quantity across the country. According to Nigeria’s former Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Olamiekan Adegbite, the mineral resources include: baryte, kaolin, gymsium, feldspar, limestone, coal, bitumen, lignite, uranium, gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead, zinc, copper, granite, laterite, sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, gamer, etc. Nigeria has a vast uncultivated arable land even as its geographical area is approximately 923, 769 sq km (356,669 sq ml).
“This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities along the value-chain, for job creation, revenue growth. Nigeria provides one of the highest rates of return because its minerals are closer to the suffer”, Adegbite said. Therefore, poverty in Nigeria is not the consequences of lack of resources and manpower but inequality, misappropriation, outright embezzlement, barefaced corruption that is systemic and normative in leaders and public institutions. According to the World Poverty Clock 2023, Nigeria has the awful distinction of being the world capital of poverty with about 84 million people living in extreme poverty today.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data also revealed that a total of 133 million people in Nigeria are classed as multi-dimensionally poor. Unemployment is a major challenge in the country. About 33 percent of the labour force are unable to find a job at the prevailing wage rate. About 63 percent of the population are poor because of lack of access to health, education, employment, and security. Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) speculated that unemployment rate will increase to 37 percent in 2023. The implications, therefore, is increase in unemployment will translate to increase in the poverty rate. The World Bank, a Washington-based and a multi-lateral development institution, in its macro-poverty outlook for Nigeria for April 2023 projected that 13 million Nigerians will fall below the National Poverty line by 2025.
It further stated that the removal of subsidy on petroleum products without palliatives will result to 101 million people being poor in Nigeria. Statistics also show that “in 2023 nearly 12 percent of the world population of extreme poverty lived in Nigeria, considering poverty threshold at 1.90 US dollars a day”.Taking a cursory look at the Nigerian Development Update (NDU), the World Bank said “four million Nigerians were pushed into poverty between January and June 2023 and 7.1 million more will join if the removal of subsidy is not adequately managed.” These startling revelations paint a grim and bleak future for the social-economic life of the people.The alarming poverty in the country is a conspiracy of several factors, including corruption. In January, 2023 the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International, in its annual corruption prospect index which ranks the perceived level of public sector corruption across 180 countries in the world says Nigeria ranked 150 among 180 in the index. Conversely, Nigeria is the 30th most corrupt nation in the ranking. It is also the capital of unemployment in the world.
Truth be told: a Government that is corruption-ridden lacks the capacity to build a vibrant economy that will provide employment for the teeming unemployed population. So crime and criminality become inevitable. No wonder, the incessant cases of violent crimes and delinquency among young people. Corruption seems to be the second nature of Nigeria as a nation . At the root of Nigerians’ poverty is the corruption cankerworm.How the nation got to this sordid economic and social precipice is the accumulation of years of corrupt practices with impunity by successive administrations. But the hardship Nigerians are experiencing gathered momentum between 2015 and 2023 and reached the climax few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed power as president of Nigeria, removed the controversial petroleum subsidy. Since then, there is astronomical increase in transport fares, and prices of commodities. Living standard of most Nigerians is abysmally low, essential commodities are out of reach of the poor masses who barely eat once a day.
The Dollar to Naira exchange rate ratio at one dollar to N1,000, is the most economy-unfriendly in the annals of the history of Nigeria. The prohibitive prices of petroleum products with the attendant multi-dimensional challenges following the removal of the subsidy, has posed a nightmare better to be imagined than experienced. Inflation, has been on the increase, negatively affecting the purchasing power of low income Nigerians. Contributing to the poverty scourge is the low private investment due to.unfriendly business environment and lack of power supply, as well as low social development outcomes resulting in low productivity. The developed economies of the world are private sector-driven. So the inadequate involvement of the private sector in Nigeria’s economy, is a leading cause of unemployment which inevitably translates to poverty.
Igbiki Benibo
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world, the pursuit of success and growth has become an all-consuming force. Individuals, organisations, and nations alike, are locked in a perpetual struggle to achieve more, earn more, and surpass their rivals. Yet, beneath this relentless drive for progress lies a silent danger—the risk of self-destruction. This perilous pattern, which I call the self-destruct trajectory, describes the path taken when ambition and growth are pursued without restraint, awareness, or moral balance. The self-destruct trajectory is fueled by an insatiable hunger for more—a mindset that glorifies endless expansion while disregarding the boundaries of ethics, sustainability, and human well-being. At first glance, it may appear to promise prosperity and achievement. After all, ambition has long been celebrated as a virtue. But when growth becomes the only goal, it mutates into obsession.
Individuals burn out, organisations lose their soul, and societies begin to fracture under the weight of their own excesses. The consequences are everywhere. People pushed beyond their limits face anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnection. Companies sacrifice employee welfare and social responsibility on the altar of profit. The entire ecosystems suffer as forests are cleared, oceans polluted, and air poisoned in the name of economic progress. The collapse of financial systems, widening income inequality, and global environmental crises are all symptoms of this same relentless, self-consuming pursuit. To understand this dynamic, one can turn to literature—and to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In one of the novel’s most haunting scenes, young Oliver, starving in the workhouse, dares to utter the words: “Please, sir, I want some more.” This simple plea encapsulates the essence of human desire—the urge for more. But it also mirrors the perilous craving that drives the self-destruct trajectory. Like Oliver, society keeps asking for “more”—more wealth, more power, more success—without considering the consequences of endless wanting.
The workhouse itself symbolises the system of constraints and boundaries that ambition often seeks to defy. Oliver’s courage to ask for more represents the daring spirit of human aspiration—but it also exposes the risk of defying limits without reflection. Mr. Bumble, the cruel overseer, obsessed with authority and control, embodies the darker forces that sustain this destructive cycle: greed, pride, and the illusion of dominance. Through this lens, Dickens’ tale becomes a timeless metaphor for the modern condition—a warning about what happens when ambition blinds compassion and growth eclipses humanity. Avoiding the self-destruct trajectory requires a radical rethinking about success. True progress should not be measured solely by accumulation, but by balance—by how growth serves people, planet, and purpose.
This calls for a more holistic approach to achievement, one that values sustainability, empathy, and integrity alongside innovation and expansion
Individuals must learn to pace their pursuit of goals, embracing rest, reflection, and meaningful relationships as part of a full life. The discipline of “enough”—knowing when to stop striving and start appreciating—can restore both mental well-being and moral clarity. Organisations, on their part, must reimagine what it means to succeed: prioritising employee welfare, practising environmental stewardship, and embedding social responsibility in the core of their mission. Governments and policymakers also play a vital role. They can champion sustainable development through laws and incentives that reward ethical practices and environmental responsibility. By investing in education, renewable energy, and equitable economic systems, they help ensure that ambition is channeled toward collective benefit rather than collective ruin.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provides a tangible pathway for this transformation. When businesses take ownership of their social and environmental impact—reducing carbon footprints, supporting local communities, and promoting fair labour—they not only strengthen society but also secure their own long-term stability. Sustainable profit is, after all, the only kind that endures. Ultimately, avoiding the self-destruct trajectory is not about rejecting ambition—it is about redefining it. Ambition must evolve from a self-centred hunger for more into a shared pursuit of the better. We must shift from growth at all costs to growth with conscience. The future will belong not to those who expand endlessly, but to those who expand wisely. By embracing restraint, compassion, and sustainability, we can break free from the cycle of self-destruction and create a new narrative—one where success uplifts rather than consumes, and where progress builds rather than burns.
In the end, the question is not whether we can grow, but whether we can grow without losing ourselves. The choice is ours: to continue along the self-destruct trajectory, or to chart a more balanced, humane, and enduring path toward greatness.
Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi
