0
0
Dieticians cannot be stopped from doing what they are trained to do. They keep educating us on the essence of balance diet in our wellbeing. They always urge us to maintain healthy habit when it comes to feeding. They want us to have balance diet. They will not stop to inform us that children who do not get enough healthy foods may face growth and developmental problem, frequent infections, and poor academic performance. It means lack of balance diet can affect the growth and future of a nation. If this is what lack of balance diet does to a nation, what does lack of food do?
As lack of balance diet affects the growth and intellectual development of children, adults are also negatively affected. They are not exempted. Balance diet gives their bodies the nutrients they need to function correctly. How does one get balance diet? This isn’t a difficult question. Everyone should be able to answer it. Let me out the question this way: can we balance our diet as Nigerians in Nigeria? Yeah! This is the real question! Nigerians cannot balance their diet. You don’t discuss balance diet when food is not available. You should not think of balance diet if you are civil servants, petty traders, factory worker, etc. To avoid making a long list, don’t think of balance diet if you belong to the unfortunate 133 million Nigerians who fall into different categories of poverty (or is it poverties?).
Poverty in Nigeria has reached the lowest of the low level. In fact, it has to be taxonomically classified. There are those who live in poverty—they are the one at the poverty line. We have those who live below poverty line. Another category lives in extreme poverty. Yet, there are those whose poverty is multi-dimensional. Another class of poverty in Nigeria completely defies categorization. To all these categories of Nigerians, balance diet is unthinkable even in dream.
Balance diet requirements are not within the reach of the poor. To get the needed daily nutrients, dieticians inform us that one needs fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, dairy, and protein foods. The combination of all the above gives balance diet. With balance diet, one is likely to have balance growth, balance health and even balance thought since it tells on one’s academic performance.
In Nigeria today as I write, what we have is balance hardship. The hardship is balanced because it is multi-dimensional. This is as a result of balanced blend of poverty. We face hardship on all fronts. I know it is gibberish to talk about balance diet in the midst of balance hardship. But it is important to talk about it so that those we elected to govern us (who prefer to rule over us) should understand the harm their misrule does to us.
Without balance diet, balance future is not guaranteed. One needs to think straight to plan for their future.
However, the existential challenge isn’t just about balance diet, it is about food (balanced or not balanced). The luckiest among the Nigerian poor are those who eat repetitive meals. It is sad that many poor Nigerian Muslims eat repetitive meals in this fasting period. For clarity, repetitive meal means taking (drinking) gari as pre-dawn meal and breaking your fast with the same gari—for lack of alternative. You can replace gari with any other food, it is only used for illustration.
What is worrisome about these repetitive meals is that they are anything but nutritious. Anyway, one is taught—in religion—to always thank the Creator in whatever circumstance. After all, many like to be free like us but are in kidnappers’ den. To them, freedom, not hunger, is the most important thing. We pray to Almighty God to free all those who are in the cold territory of kidnappers from their tormentors.
Since majority of us cannot have a balance diet due to balance hardship, we must learn to cope with some of its consequences. Our wards may not do well in school. We should know how to address them gently and compassionately. Their intellection might have been affected for lack of needed nutrients to function optimally.
Wives should learn to tolerate their husbands’ eccentricities and vice versa. Lack of balance diet in the midst of balance hardship can lead to the exhibition of some strange behaviors. One becomes unnecessarily irritated over things that should ordinarily be laughed over.
If you have been experiencing poor memory (inability to recall things), lack of concentration, sudden emaciation, and one infection after the other, know that it is most likely lack of balance diet. Do not think you are bewitched. No one does you juju. For your information, your village witches and wizards do not even have your time. They are also facing hardship squarely. It is all round hardship—a balanced one. Let’s pray against hardship in this month of Ramadan. It is good we also repent to Allah. Hopefully, He will bring us some ease.
On a serious note, lack of balance diet which has now metamorphosed into balance hardship is affecting my ability to write. I would have liked to write further but…So, please, ignore grammatical errors in this piece. It is due to lack of balance diet in the midst of balance hardship.
Ebin Pa Wa O!
Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com
