Father John Chinenye Oluoma
Reverend Father John Chinenye Oluoma made a thought-provoking statement on Facebook on Thursday, July 4, 2024, challenging the common perception of poverty as humanity's primary adversary.
Oluoma began by defining poverty as the lack of financial resources necessary for a certain standard of living, rather than a lack of essential life-sustaining items.
"Poverty is not a good thing to covet or desire, anyone who does that is insane," he stated.
He emphasized that humans have historically survived without many of the things now considered essential for a higher standard of living.
He cited examples such as clothing, transportation, and housing to illustrate his point.
According to him, before the invention of clothing, humans survived without it, yet today, many feel impoverished if they cannot afford certain types of clothes.
"Despite this new higher standard of living with clothes, some human beings feel poor compared to others because they can't afford certain clothes. You see, poverty is bad, but it ain't the problem," Oluoma explained.
Similarly, he noted that before modern transportation, people traveled on foot, but with advancements such as horses and automobiles, some still feel poor for not owning specific vehicles.
"Despite all these, some people feel poor because they don't own any of these machines or some particular kinds of these machines."
He continued by discussing housing, reminding readers that humans once lived in trees before constructing houses and mansions.
"We were generally so poor that we lived on trees. Then we raised our standard of living by building houses and mansions. Yet, some people feel poor for not living or having certain kind of houses, it makes them sad, anxious and disturbed," he reiterated.
Oluoma concluded his post by listing several genuine problems people should avoid, including living beyond their means, trying to keep up with others, incurring debt, harming their physical and mental health, compromising spiritual and moral values for wealth, and feeling pressured by others' success.
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