‘IN THE GHETTO’ is a song written and sung by Elvis Presley in 1969 but made more popular by Candi Staton a couple of years later probably because of her more contemporary, more soulful melody and delivery. The lyrics struck me even then as a young man as we sang and danced to the song in the 70s. And as I grew older, they began to haunt in a way that only those with a social conscience will understand. Especially, when I could see the enactment of the song in certain situations in my country. I wish I could pour out the entire lyrics here, but it would take too much space and ‘old school’ journalism is about brevity and I am ashamedly ‘old school’. Besides, whoever is interested can always look it up online. The song, as the title suggests, is about poverty. Or better still, the unending cycles of poverty. A ghetto is that overcrowded, underdeveloped part of town where the poor live. The haunting lyrics of the song tell us of a child being born in the ghetto by a mother who couldn’t really afford to feed another mouth. The boy had to learn to fend for himself early, which meant learning how to steal and learning how to fight. Then he graduated to learning how to use a gun. Sounds familiar? The end was inevitable and the song described it vividly, ‘as a crowd gathering round a young man face down on the street with a gun in his hand’. And as the young man was passing away, ‘another little baby was being born….. in the ghetto’, where else? And so, the cycle of poverty continued. But not without the song stabbing our conscience. I quote ‘people, don’t you understand, this child needs a helping hand or he will grow up to be an angry young man someday. Take a look at you and me. Are we too blind to see? Or do we simply turn our heads and look the other way?

Are we in Nigeria too blind to see those poorly clad kids carrying begging bowls in their hands and chanting prayerful songs on the streets? Kids that should have been in school? Some, too young to even consider schooling are being taught life’s lessons on the streets. Can’t we see the inevitability of these kids ending up on the wrong side of the law? Yes, most of us simply turn our heads and look the other way, perhaps unconcerned, perhaps overwhelmed, perhaps hoping for some kind of a mystic change in the social order. Leaders, who are supposed to tackle the social disorder in the different ghettos of our country, are unfortunately among those who have simply turned their heads while some are pushing the can forward to the next set of leaders. The saddest and most condemnable part belongs to those who continue to enable and perpetuate this social disorder for selfish gains under the guise of religion or culture. Even as the consequences of past enablement stare us in the face. The angry young men inhabiting our forests today and making life difficult for us in the villages and cities are among those we refused to help; those to whom, we turned a blind eye.

Last month, a bewildered nation – bewildered because of the current circumstances of rampant insecurity – woke up to the news that Kano State, was going to spend a whopping 1.5 billion Naira for an arranged coupling of three thousand unmarried youths. We are not talking about 1.5 billion naira for skills acquisition, education or employment generating ventures. It is to facilitate a mass wedding. Included in this 1.5 billion Naira budget are gifts of beds, matrasses, food provisions and a hundred thousand Naira for each newly wedded couple. The 1.5 billion Naira budget is, simply put, for conjugal pleasures. Yet, marriage is more than five minutes of pleasure in the bedroom. The reason, or excuse given by the State is that it does not want young men and women with raging hormones to be let loose. This is a medieval and pretentious thinking at best. Marriage alone has never stopped promiscuity. Just as being single does not equate to being sexually irresponsible. What matters is self-discipline and an awareness of the consequences of an unrestrained libido. This comes from an awareness of self-worth which in itself is a product of education. The 1.5 Billion Naira would have been better spent in my opinion, if it had been spent on educating youths on the wider ramifications of family within the context of marriage while including the consequences of promiscuity. There is also the issue of compatibility for example. Many of these ‘couples’ barely know themselves let alone understand their differences. Yet, they are not taught that there are many ‘rooms’ in a marriage that couples have to navigate beyond the bedroom. Marriage is two people trying to live as one in spite of their diverse backgrounds. Is it any wonder that ‘things fall apart’ for many within five years of an arranged union? Marriage is for the long haul. This education – call it marriage lessons – were it given, would teach intending couples that children, the products of a marriage are not just gifts from God, they are responsibilities. That finances matter a lot in the survival of a relationship. The promoters of mass weddings are not loud enough on the seriousness and responsibilities of marriage. And of family. This, in my opinion, is where Kano State, and all the states which arrange mass weddings get it wrong. In five years’ time, the one thousand, five hundred couples would have multiplied exponentially. Some would have added second or third wives. There would then be thousands of hungry mouths that would need to be fed in the face of dwindling resources and shrinking land. What helping hands are the states giving them in skills, jobs, shelter? What plans have the states for the kids who would soon start roaming the streets in search of survival? These are kids with little parental care or nurturing. These are kids without the sense of ‘family’ as the civilized world knows it. Is it too far-fetched to believe that many of these kids would turn to violence and banditry in future? Children, they say, are the future of a nation. What is the future then, of a nation which permits, or indeed encourages mass pro-creation without making any plans for them? Kano State and all the States with a similar mindset of mass weddings, will indeed reap in future, what they have sown today be it good or bad. The fear is the ripple effect on the rest of us.

•Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com