The Viaticum: How Mother Nigeria Has Left Her Children Unprotected from the Vultures

Introduction

The word viaticum carries a double resonance: one literary, one theological. In Birago Diop’s poem Viaticum, a mother prepares her child for the journey into life. She marks the child with ritual gestures, invokes the breath of the ancestors, and sends them forth with the assurance that they are not alone. It is a poetic initiation, a covenant of protection.

… With her three fingers red with blood,

with dog’s blood,

with bull’s blood,

with goat’s blood,

Mother touched me three times….

Then Mother said, ‘Go into the world, go!

They will follow your steps in life.’…

In Catholic tradition, viaticum refers to the final sacrament given to the dying, “food for the journey.” It is the Church’s way of saying: You will not walk this last road alone. We will accompany you with prayers, Holy Communion, tenderness and dignity.

Both meanings converge on a profound truth: A community that cares prepares its people for the journey: whether into life or out of it.

Nigeria, however, has failed to offer either form of viaticum. Her children are born into a nation that does not prepare them for life, and the poor often die without dignity, protection, or communal care. The vultures circle not only the living but the dying.

This essay explores how Nigeria’s broken covenant with her citizens, especially the poor has left generations unprotected, uninitiated, and unseen.

What a Nation Owes Its Children

In Diop’s poem, initiation is not a ceremony; it is a promise. The mother’s ritual marks the child with belonging, strength, and ancestral presence. It is a declaration that the child will not be abandoned to the world’s dangers.

Every nation performs its own initiation. Citizenship is not merely a legal status; it is a covenant of protection. A child born into a nation should receive:

• education that empowers,
• healthcare that heals,
• security that shields,
• justice that protects,
• opportunity that dignifies,
• community that accompanies.

These are the rites of passage that prepare a citizen for life. But in Nigeria, the initiation is incomplete. The covenant is broken at the very moment it should begin.

Citizenship Without Protection

Nigeria’s children enter a world where the basic rites of protection are fragile or absent.

Education: A Gate Half‑Open

Millions of children remain out of school. Those who attend often face:

• overcrowded classrooms,
• underpaid teachers,
• unsafe learning environments,
• inconsistent curricula,
• dilapidated infrastructure,
• Strikes and cultism.

Education, the first viaticum of citizenship is compromised.

Healthcare: A Gamble, not a Guarantee

Hospitals lack equipment, personnel, and funding. Preventable diseases still claim lives. Rural communities rely on self-medication or unregulated clinics. The poor die from conditions that should be treatable.

Security: A Patchwork of Fear

Banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, and communal conflict have become part of the national vocabulary. Many communities rely on vigilantes or self-defence groups because the state’s protective presence is thin.

Social Welfare: Symbolic, Not Substantive

Safety nets are inconsistent. The elderly, the disabled, and the unemployed often fend for themselves. Poverty becomes hereditary.

Nigeria’s initiation into citizenship is therefore a hollow ritual: an identity without protection, a birthright without guardianship.

The Vultures

In Diop’s poem, the ancestors accompany the child, shielding them from unseen dangers. In Nigeria, the unseen forces are often predatory.

Corruption: The Vulture That Never Sleeps

Public resources meant for schools, hospitals, roads, and social welfare are siphoned away. Corruption is not merely a moral failing; it is a structural predator that feeds on the nation’s future.

Insecurity: A Marketplace of Fear

Where governance is weak, violence thrives. Communities negotiate with bandits, insurgents, and armed groups. The state’s monopoly on force is contested.

Economic Hardship: Dignity Under Siege

Inflation, unemployment, unstable power supply, and limited industrial growth choke productivity. Young people migrate in droves, seeking viaticum elsewhere.

Environmental Degradation: The Land Itself Groans

Oil spills poison rivers. Desertification swallows farmland. Floods displace entire communities. Climate vulnerability meets institutional neglect.

Leadership Culture: Power Without Stewardship

Leadership often prioritizes self-preservation over nation-building. Policies shift with political cycles rather than long-term vision. Institutions remain fragile.

These vultures do not wait for weakness; they manufacture it. They circle because the guardians have abandoned their posts.

The Lost Catholic Gesture

The Catholic viaticum is a profound act of mercy. It says:

• You matter.
• Your suffering is seen.
• Your final steps will not be taken alone.

But in Nigeria, the poor often die as they lived: unprotected, unseen, and unattended.

The Poor Die Without Dignity

• Hospitals turn patients away for lack of payment.
• Ambulances are scarce; families transport the dying in taxis or wheelbarrows.
• Rural communities bury their dead without medical explanation.
• Elderly citizens die in poverty after a lifetime of labour.
• Victims of violence receive no justice, no closure, no communal accompaniment.

The nation that should offer “food for the journey” instead offers silence. The dying receives no viaticum. The living receives no initiation. Nigeria has abandoned both ends of the human journey.

The Children Who Walk Barefoot into the Storm

Despite this abandonment, Nigerians continue to display astonishing resilience. They innovate, create, rebuild, and survive. But resilience is not a national policy. It is a coping mechanism.

A nation cannot continue to send its children into the world without functional schools, safe streets, reliable healthcare, economic opportunity, justice that protects the weak, leaders who understand stewardship. To demand these things is not rebellion. It is citizenship.

Toward a New Viaticum

If Nigeria is to reclaim her promise, she must rediscover the spirit of both viaticum:

1. Diop’s maternal initiation, which prepares the young for life with protection, belonging, and ancestral breath.
2. The Catholic sacrament, which dignifies the vulnerable and ensures that no one walks alone.

A new national viaticum would require:

• Rebuilding institutions that protect rather than exploit.
• Investing in education and healthcare as sacred obligations.
• Strengthening security through accountability and community partnership.
• Cultivating leadership that sees governance as stewardship.
• Restoring the moral contract between nation and citizen.
• Honouring the poor as the heart of the nation, not its burden.
• Reimagining citizenship as a shared responsibility, not a passive identity.

Only then can Nigeria’s children walk into the world with confidence, knowing they carry the breath of a nation that stands behind them, and the assurance that even in their final moments, they will not be abandoned.

Conclusion

The viaticum, whether in Diop’s poetic vision or in Catholic tradition is a symbol of care, protection, and communal responsibility. Nigeria’s children deserve that. They deserve a nation that prepares them for life and accompanies them in death. They deserve protection from the vultures.

The question is not whether Nigeria can offer this covenant. She can. The question is whether she will choose to.

Reference:

Team, LP. (2022). Poem: Viaticum by Birago Diop. Literature PADI. https://www.literaturepadi.com.ng/2022/09/19/poem-viaticum-by-birago-diop/ Accessed on January 25, 2026).