Nothing kills potentials faster, dwarfs abilities quicker and makes you beg like poverty. It is the greatest of all evils. It is the reason why nations that are rich look with disdain on poor nations. It is reason why we beg for visas. It is reason why our passport is weak and a major reason for our barrage of prayers and silent woes and tales of depression.
Poverty is beyond lack, it is a state of nothingness that formats creative minds to factory settings.
Over the years, I have made countless trips to a number of embassies. I have come to observe that the visa process of Europe and the Top 5 countries in the world (Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom) is nothing short of separating the wheat from the chaff. Besides, the visa fees, cost of medicals and litanies of requirements, I perceive the process is deliberately designed in such a way that only the best brains and those with significant economic wherewithal are able to receive visas as stamp of approval. Fact is, you need to have millions of naira sitting in your account for months before contemplating to apply for the visa process. It is not surprising however as nobody likes to be associated with poverty.
As I would observe, getting a visa from Nigeria to any part of the world, is one of great perplexity marred with endless episodes of unpredictability, anxiety and perpetual fear. You have to pray. Sometimes sow seeds and also have to be entirely discreet about the entire process because of the concept of "village people". If you take the blood pressure of the average Nigerian at these embassies it is beyond normal. Applying for visa is like writing JAMB, you never know the cut off mark. You would be confused whether to smile or frown during visa interviews. A times, you may out-rightly freeze. I reckon these Visa Officers receive the highest prayer points in Nigeria. However, once you leave Nigeria, getting visas to any part of the world becomes relatively easy. You see, geography atimes changes the translation of poverty.
Singapore was landlocked and poor, now number one passport in the world. China was a butt of jokes, now a toast of nations. The UAE was a dry patch now the tourist hub of the world with Emiratis enjoying free visa to the UK and Europe. Thus, a country's passport is a simply a reflection of its prosperity. If you travel often, you would observe that holding a Nigerian passport could be shameful. Even with visa vignettes you will still fidget when you arrive border control. You see, geography does not change the identity of poverty.
Prayer have never brought any country out of poverty. More often altering the status quo is mainly predicated on sound leadership, revivification of national ethos and economic recrudescence. There is no honour in poverty and no glory in originating from a nation performing poorly. Poverty is the greatest evil and therefore must be eradicated.
For if Hell is real, there would be no greater evil than to live in a poor country and suffer in Hellfire and If Heaven is real, there would be no bigger surprise if only developed nations make heaven. For God is Developed
