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Fiction People of Color Contemporary

" That is the thing about this city, it doesn't sleep" Marcos said.

"But, that's not a good sign, it's an indicator that all is not well" Eugene replied.

" Of course, that is the situation we found ourselves in the country not just only in this city, even though here seems to be the worst"

" How does those that wants to sleep do that, this is madness. Sleep fled from me when I started hearing noises everywhere. For sure, they must've been people like me that wanted to sleep but because of the noise could not"

" That's true. But the situation is caused by the economic state of the noise makers. Am sure those making those noises want to sleep too. But condition made them to woke by 3:00 am to start preparing whatever it was they're preparing in order to meet up in the morning"

" Night was meant to be resting time for humans, if you neglect the nature's law for long, one day, you will collapsed and die"

"Yeah, nature is not human, it understands our conditions. It might be reason no one has collapsed so far and they have been doing this for long"

They spent hours arguing about the residents, noise and sleep and on the psychological, law and economic implications of the city's way of life. How they get up early to pound this, knock that, call this person and that person without realizing that it's even against the law because no one is enlightening them. Mr. Eugene was wondering seriously where all the people he saw was coming from and how do the house that by law was designed to accommodate about 30 people were housing about 70.

Government don't do anything for the masses or even perform their basic duty of providing basic necessities of life like housing, security, food and clothing. Life here in this Nkpor city could be equated to " to your tent oh Israel" type of life. The last time there was anything like water supply in this city was in middle 90s. Could you believe something like that?, But it's true. During that period, the management of the water corporation was advising the state government to allow them to stop supplying water to the people and start selling bottled water for according to them, it was more profitable. Reason they gave was that people don't pay their water bills on time. 

When suggestions like that is coming from the staffs of the corporation, what other reasons do you need to know that they the staff was the problem of the corporation. Staffs that don't even know the reason for the establishment of the corporation they work in, how would they not run it to the ground?. The corporation was non-profit establishment of the government to supply water to her citizens at lowest rate. It wasn't for profits making, and the incompetent staffs were advising on how to maximize profits.

Other agencies of the government were like that too. Most have closed down as result of bad management and those that are still on are operating on half capacity.

Power generating firm were perennials complainers. They kept complaining to the masses that government refused to release funds. They said that they're operating at half capacity, that only one turbine was operating at full capacity that others are working at 50 percent capacity. " We can't do much, our hands are tied financially" their director said.

Housing sector were the same story, each successive governor's had sell off the houses to themselves and their hangers on. Housing estates in the state don't exist anymore. House people live in were all individually built and most of the land were wasted by the developers and above all, there's nothing like supervision by the government any more and that were one the reasons people were sharing flats meant for a family by two families. Most of the houses were in need of renovation and now were forth coming from the greedy landlords their only concern was rent and not safety.

Most of the lands would have been utilized by the government to provide houses for the citizens but business people wasted them by developing them according to their limited capability.

Towns and regional planners exist only on papers, how land owners developed the lands don't concern them as long as their pockets were lined. Traders build markets in residential areas, people that want to rest even on Sundays found it difficult to do for some gather there making all manners of noise. No electricity, no housing, no shelter etc. What then is government duty?.

Government duty according to the politicians here's to renovate roads, not to build houses, electricity, water. Most of the civil servants were still being own three months salaries despite receiving their due allocation from the federal government. In this state, no one waits for government to do anything for him, that's reason the government has forgotten their duty and reason most people are rich and most poor. It's even regarded as shameful thing to ask government to be alive to their responsibility.

" How do you mean, are you trying to justify all i witnessed this morning?"

" Am not justifying anything or anyone's behavior, but am not condemning it either. They devised the system that suits and work for them and that was what you witnessed this morning"

" No, Mr. Marcos, I refuse to agree with you. These people are mostly illiterate, they have wrong orientation and they need enlightenment on how their actions impact on their lives and that of their neighbors negatively"

" I am like others one of that their neighbors and I tell you Mr. Eugene, we reason with these people, they don't need reeducation"

" In PH, something like this don't happen, infact, It is viewed as wickedness not poverty".

" If something like this starts happening in city like port Harcourt, then it would be requiem mass for Nigeria as a nation"

" How do you mean, is not in the same Nigerian all of us are?, It's how you make your bed that you lie on it"

" Yeah, that's, you had bed in the first place. What of it is only mat that you have?"

" Both are the same"

 Laughter

" Both the same?, Bed and mat in your analysis is the same?"

" Some how"

" Some how?, Ah, Mr. Eugene, right hand and left hand are both hands but, they don't have the same capability"

The argument went on and on and no without any shifting ground. Around 9:00 am, Mr. Eugene went to his suppliers that brought him to Nkpor city in the first place from PH.

March 15, 2021 19:07

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