Solomon2day

The Poor Report published in 1834 outlined the degradation and inefficiency of the Speenham system that had flourished across England for almost 40 years. The system encouraged demoralization, rude behavior, laziness, thriftlessness, and immorality of the poor. The lack of centralization, dependence on the parish initiative, and the absence of a responsive and responsible authority weakened the system. The resultant administrative anarchy gave rise to the emergence of several petty interests trailed by corruption. Poor relief was a disservice to the poor, a drain on the rich, and a threat to the government. The Poor Law Amendment Act of August 14, 1834, made no difference but established administrative machinery, giving prominence to three remote impersonal Commissioners in London. Their activities resulted in despondency, disillusionment, and anger among the majority poor. In present-day Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management claims that the...

In the 19th century in England, children and adults of both sexes were subjected to despicable factory labor. Even though there were several factory-reform movements that led the agitations for an end to inhuman practices in the factories; the stubborn, unscrupulous, and grasping attitude of the factory owners, who were in their private lives often kind fathers and husbands, such as John Bright, resisted reforms in their factories and still engaged children of nine years old to work in these factories. In the same vein in Nigeria today, the exploitation of labor, children inclusive is now very prominent. Underaged children engaged by those in the Organized POrivate Sector(OPS) and government contractors are commonplace in a number of states, while these contractors minimize costs by going further to engage cheap labor and procure inferior materials. However, in England, factories, workshops, and mines reforms became a reality after a long and painful struggle against the resistance o...

Nigerians continue to groan as the strangulating grip of the tax regime at all levels of government tightens. The reason for the tax regime by Those-in-Charge is obvious-more revenue-even as Those-in-Charge has decided to take additional loans to finance projects that fall under the category of misplaced priorities. However, during the Napoleonic wars, one of Those in Government in Britain, Pitt, resorted to an income tax to aid the defraying national expenditure. The burden of the war debt was humongous. £ 74,500,000 revenue was required annually to service the debt and other expenditures. This was four times the pre-war budget, which resulted in the multiplication of taxes. During this period, government officials made excusable mistakes or were rather frankly ignorant. Indeed, smuggling and other sharp practices became prominent. There were taxes on the import of manufactured goods and taxes on the export of raw materials. There were also various revenue taxes on consumption wh...

The bad harvest of 1792 in England, the grave discontent among the people, the high rate of unemployment, the prohibitive prices of food items, repression by the government among numerous other factors had adverse effects on its socio-economic and political development. In Nigeria in 2021, insecurity, hunger, poverty, the high unemployment rate, violent crimes, incompetence, misplaced priorities, mediocrity, the beautification of lies and falsehood, the condemnable activities of state actors and their agents have visible prints in every part of the country for the people to see. Indeed, the insinuation is that leadership at all levels has derailed. The ignoble roles played by the likes of John Castle, Oliver, and George Edwards, all provocative agents of the government and spies, have further dented the image of the leadership and also eroded its credibility. The actions of Pitt in the House of Commons and Grenville in the Lords resulted in the passage into law of the Seditious Meetin...