16
Jun
Jun
THE UNSEEN HOMELESSNESS: A SILENT TRAGEDY IN NIGERIA’S PUBLIC SERVICE
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CapitalTimesNews / 6 days
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- 3 min read
The recent news of an Assistant Director, Yahaya Umar sudden death at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) has cast a long, sombre shadow over his colleagues and friends and the wider society. A respected figure on Africa’s largest Radio Network, Umar’s passing revealed a heartbreaking truth. For two years, he was alleged to be living and sleeping in his office, effectively homeless, despite decades of dedicated service to Radio Nigeria This grim reality exposes a profound societal failure, a lack of communal responsibility that allowed a valued member of the community to suffer in silence. Umar’s story is a stark illustration of the struggles many Nigerian public servants face. With over thirty years in government employment, his inability to afford basic housing, forcing him into homelessness, underscores the dire economic realities for a significant portion of the workforce. It’s an open secret that many public servants can not secure decent housing on their meagre salaries, often resorting to additional hustles to make ends meet. This harsh truth stands in stark contrast to the widespread emptiness of over 70% of houses in Abuja, many likely owned by individuals with questionable qualifications and exorbitant wages, who contribute little to governance while ordinary citizens struggle for survival. The revelation that Yahaya Umar had been sleeping in his office for two years has ignited painful introspection on Radio Nigeria and among those who knew him. Friends and colleagues were aware of his plight, yet no one intervened. It was only after his death that the full extent of his suffering became public knowledge. This collective inaction speaks volumes about a societal detachment, where individual responsibility is overlooked, and the suffering of another is deemed “not my business.”The irony is cruel. Help and acknowledgement arrive only when it’s too late, when it no longer matters to the one who needed it most. This tragedy also highlights the precarious state of professions like journalism in Nigeria. The notion that journalism is a poorly compensated field often meets with disbelief or feigned surprise, yet the reality for many, like Umar, is one of financial struggle. The experience of leaving federal public service after years with a monthly salary that barely covered basic living expenses further corroborates this unsettling truth. It raises critical questions about the relevance and sustainability of institutions like the FRCN. How can a government parastatal claim continue glory when its dedicated staff are forced into homelessness?. Yahaya Umar Socials deserved better. His decades of service, his contributions to Radio Journalism, and his very humanity warranted more than a silent, solitary end in an office that became his unwilling home. His death is not just a personal tragedy but a societal indictment, revealing a profound breakdown in the communal spirit. The absence of genuine care and collective action is palpable, leaving many to grieve not only for a lost colleague but for a society that has seemingly lost its way. May Yahaya Umar rest in peace, and may his story serve as a catalyst for genuine change, urging us to re-examine our collective responsibility and reclaim the empathy that defines our shared humanity. John Aduku is a retired staff member of Radio Nigeria and a social commentator.