Class

        Welcome to Nigeria, where class is as important as the food you eat. Welcome to Nigeria, where your class in society determines the quality of air you breathe. Welcome to Nigeria, where your class would determine how you would be treated, and spoken to. Welcome to Nigeria, where the classless do not get jobs, where CVs are just formalities to avoid unnecessary questions. Welcome to Nigeria where traders tag different prices depending on how you are dressed. Welcome to Nigeria.
  
        Mr A once told Bambi about his experience sometime ago in a western state. He parked at the side of the road and tried to open his door when a middle aged man who was walking past was hit by the car door. In a dramatic western fashion as they are known for, the man stops as Mr A tries in futility to beg him. He turns squarely at Mr A as he asks him in rhetoric that "was it illegal for people without cars to walk? Can I not walk without somebody assaulting me with his cars and riches?". Mr A was a middle class man. Safe to say, the man left after a riot act of emotional rants. This really shook up Mr A, who is an almost timid man with a cornucopia of good intentions. I felt pity for him because he didn't deserve what he got. The relationship between class in the Nigerian society is a very peculiar one.
     
      Occupying the bottom of societal hierarchy is the lower class which is almost impossible to survive in a country like Nigeria. They are taunted and plagued by the constant struggle to make a living with no assurance of safety or comfort. They are identified as the hardest working and the lowest earning people in society, they are the ones refered to, in Nigerian vocabulary as - "the masses" since they are the largest percentage in the country. The lower class have an intense dislike for the middle class, they harbor this abhorrence because they feel the middle class is always trying to show off, and in a way, they do not want the lower class to rise. They detest the display of "affluence" shown by the middle class and they think they are equals with them. They are not just as lucky as they are. They forget that the difference between a lower class citizen and a middle class is just one wrong decision.
     
     The lower class love the upper class citizens, the upper class which are the elite of the society are both respected and revered by the lower class. They are constantly showing off, but because they know the difference between them and the others is obvious, it does not make any difference. It removes every notion of equality in the mind of the lower class citizen. They give little amount of their money to the lower class, and in so doing they gain their loyalty. It is a Nigerian rule, the more money you give to the people, the more you are regarded as a man of the people, the people do not care if you are always against laws that hinder their welfare, as long as they get that little change, you are their hero.    
      
       The upper class are mostly the politicians in Nigerian Society, they move in convoys. Convoys driven by middle class drivers and an entourage of lower class and middle class citizens. Because they provide employments for the poor, they cannot but be loved by the poor. They occupy the thugs and touts with little change and violence, to put their names out and fight over them because they are the "men of the people".
    
       The middle class as always as all the middle class in history as far as history goes detest the upper class. The middle class being the little comfortable societal class are livid with anger of the upper class. They are so near, yet so far from the top of the society. Hence, they become jealous of the upper class because they are one godfather away from their position. The theory of revolution is that revolution always starts from the middle class who in turn ignite the lower class to overthrow government. In so doing, the middle class exchange positions with the upper class and the lower class maintain position. And after a hundred years or thereabout, another revolution occurs and position is exchanged with the lower class always maintaining position.
  
      The upper class in Nigeria does not care about the middle and lower class, all they are concerned about is maintaining their power. They care about keeping a physical and mental hold over the country and prevent revolution whenever the thought arises. The upperclass, if their cards are played right have the ability and power to hold on to their position forever. Considering the fact that the Lower class are always occupied with survival and their next meals, thinking about a revolution becomes difficult as the upperclass makes the economy more unbearable. The stiffening of economy in Nigeria is to push the middle class down into the lower class and maintain power.
     
       Now, this is not a conspiracy theory, I do not even think the politicians are fully aware of the effects and ramifications of the current economy on class but I assume a discerning mind would see it is obvious. A particular set of people are on top of the societal ladder and they won't let go. And as the lower class rain curses on the middle class and as they sing praises and fight for the upper class. The middle class try to show off with money they don't have to the lower class and they spit on the ground everytime they see the upper class. Every minute this goes on, the upperclass strengthens and extend their grip over the society's economy. And a revolution becomes distant memory,the majority in population are the minority in standard of living. Inability for the lower and middle class to ageee leaves the upper class citizens uncontested in power. Welcome to Nigeria.