Leadership
From Banex Junction to Jabi, Wuse , Wuye and even the popular Mabushi bridge located along the Federal Ministry of Works express-way, a typical Abuja resident will wake up to see men- old and young- flood around these areas with their work tools- head pans, shovels, machetes, trowels, ladder- and several other plumbing equipment.
At first, you may imagine they are workers for construction firms waiting for their company vehicle but not until you make a slow drive around, you see these men besiege your car like ants after a honey drop, begging you to take them along for whatever job you have and often, without price negotiations- their pay is usually detected by the employer’s good conscience.
For them, their poverty is not a problem of laziness but that of unavailability of work. They are able, ready, and willing to work, yet, the work hardly comes, at most sparingly.
For all the labours and pain of these able-bodied men in Abuja, the macho women of Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, southeastern Nigeria, are the replicas. The only difference is that they are mostly married women fending for their families.
