Poverty is an aspect of society that many of us would prefer to imagine does not exist. It is a sickness not just of the society I live in here in Nigeria, but of the world in general. When poverty is at its worst, it represents heartache and suffering for those unfortunate enough to find themselves without. The sad truth of poverty is that while there might be many sociological triggers that might lead to a life of poverty, the majority of the time it would seem that one is more likely to be born into poverty rather than create the situation for themselves. This tells us a lot about the manner in which different societies have chosen to somewhat ignore the economic disease. It also tells us that while we would like to believe that we live in a free country, in a world that values freedom high amongst human conditions, the reality is that the geographical location of birth will go a long way in determining the lifestyle of a child. This is not to say that where on is born shall always dictate the lifestyle ahead, however it would be foolish to believe location did not play a vital part in the structure of one's life. Ironically, the same might be said of religion. It has been suggested that a human being is actually born religiously neutral, and that it is the geographical, social and environmental conditions that we are born into that shall determine the manner in which we will choose to worship, if we choose to worship at all.Long gone is the time to try to find a source of blame for the fact that a child can be born into poverty. It serves no purpose to try to blame the parents, or parent, to blame the government, or to blame economic sanctions across the planet. It is high time, however, to ask if it shall serve a country to hold little importance to the social environment that shall allow a child to be born into poverty. It is high time that members of the community known as Australia begin to ask why a government feels it is of far more importance to spend the taxpayers money on instruments of war which shall, by their very design, lead to the death of an unknown number of human beings, whether they be innocent or not, rather than try to build an infrastructure that shall begin the process of making poverty history and create a larger sense of the birthright of freedom. If we truly have the heart and soul of our country in mind, then we should be questioning how many great minds are born into poverty, minds that might have been perfect to be shaped as the next leader for Australia, instead left to fend for themselves in a life of poverty, that will more than likely lead to a lack of education and more likely to a life of crime.If a child is born into an extremely wealthy family, has access to all his or her heart desires, has a family that is well established within the community, perhaps involved in politics, and is given the opportunity to experience the best in education from a young age, then of course we will all be shocked and surprised if the child turns around and begins to commit crimes against the community. It will, some will say, simply not make sense! Why would they choose a life of crime when they have everything they could want? Well, statistics will show that a scenario just as this one is quite a rare occurrence, which of course is the reason why one is to be surprised at the sudden choice in lifestyle. But what of the child that is born into a single parent home in the depth of poverty? This child does not have access to the best of education, his or her single parent (usually the mother) is far from wealthy, (in fact is struggling just to get a meal on the table), and the child is constantly standing in the shadows of violence that is found on a simple walk down the street. However the child has access to a television set, and learns that there are many nice things out there that he or she just must have. As the child grows, they will see around them supposedly easier ways to make money, such as theft and drug dealing, and will be taught by those that help to make up his or her small community. After all, money is needed to purchase all those things which are being flashed as must haves through the T.V. Screen. So when the child begins to commit crimes, are we as shocked and surprised as we were with the previous scenario?Unfortunately, I do not believe so. There are two basic statistics that are so overwhelmingly obvious that we take them to be unchangeable and necessary without worrying about further research. These are that the majority of all violent crimes committed in this country are done so by the male of the species, and the majority of all crime committed are done so by members of the lower economic class of citizens. Now if the court system of this country, and the moneys involved in incarceration, are proving to be a drain on the economy, then surely it is worth while to investigate what can be done to curve the two most basic of statistics? Obviously the fact that the male has proven to be the most violent of the two sexes definitely has biological origins as well as psychological and social ones. But if there is a correlation between poverty, unemployment and domestic violence and crime, then this would seem to me to be a matter that should be investigated to a degree that a working plan should be established to begin to try to end the vicious cycle. This of course will incorporate the theory that if a sincere effort is made to educate todays children with the knowledge of how they might involve themselves in the law making processes of this country, and how the current laws and structure of society is diminishing the free choices of people depending upon their economic situation, then in the future laws and economic structure might be influenced by those who have experienced true poverty. For it seems today that those in the seats of power very rarely stem from a life of poverty or want, and therefore cannot properly understand or appreciate the importance of attacking the problem. Does a politician of today truly comprehend the value of the money saved by flying economy rather than first class to a family that is suffering in poverty? Does todays politician truly understand that it is one thing to say that we all choose the life we live, and another to be born into a life of poverty and crime and face the enormous struggle to take advantages of the same opportunities that the wealthy are afforded?Obviously, when one wishes to offer ideas and theories that might help to make poverty history, literally thousands of ideas will be available, some quite basic and obvious, and some extremely complicated with reference to the field in which they are researched and created. And while each and every one of these are equally important and beneficial in motivation, I cannot help but feel the true beginnings of making poverty history lie in the communities willingness to become involved. Our very seat of motivation must be reignited. Perhaps for the first time in history, thanks to the internet and somewhat low costs of basic computer hardware, a higher number of individuals have the power to research and learn about the world around them on a much more personal level. We no longer need to leave the relative safety of our homes to investigate issues that we feel we would like to learn more about. We have greater access to information about how our country is being run, and the processes and motivations that establish the laws we live by.But does multi media help to advertise this new level of intelligent freedom? I think not. As soon as possible, we need to establish community centres whose sole position is to promote the need for all of us to remember that we belong to a society that represents the country we live in, and that by belonging to the said society we have a responsibility to be aware of some of the problems that need fixing. We no longer have an excuse to turn a blind eye. Poverty in Nigeria effects each and everyone of us in one way or another, whether it be struggling to keep the family unit together in an atmosphere of violence and crime, or ever increasing price tags on luxuries to compensate for theft, high taxes generated by a inflating welfare system, or the death of a friend or loved one through suicide or drug and alcohol abuse. It is obvious that as a community we can no longer simply assume that the government will deal with such a overwhelming problem, funded through the high taxes those of us lucky enough to have jobs pay. It is time that we become active in our day to day life within the community, even if it is only becoming more aware of the origin of the products we intend to purchase. We are now in the twenty first century, and we need community centres to reflect upon this, utilizing todays technology and being available to all who choose to walk through the doors. The centres should be designed to offer those who enter new levels of understanding with regards to mental freedom and life choices. These centres should not be static, rather they should be at the forefront of ideas and systems to attack the problem of poverty at the heart.People should be made to feel that these centres do not care if you are wealthy or are poor, and that they understand the current level of confusion that the churches and governments are maintaining through misinformation and stagnant ideals that no longer reflect the needs of the community. The centres should teach the youth how the country is being run and how one might become involved should they decide to after learning more about it. They should help those who walk in from the street confused about religion and how it should be integrated into their life should they choose such a path. They should be given the tools and help to investigate and research the choices that are available, and learn the history of each so that they might leave the centre with a better understanding and a feeling of freedom to choose via education rather than being the victims of hard sells from individuals that often do not understand their own product. Children and parents alike might be taught in the centres about the psychology of sales and marketing, about how different cross sections of people are targeted by companies in unique ways as to convince the potential customer that without their product they are somehow incomplete as an individual. With the help of the internet, the centres might offer those who are interested a different and new way of trying to understand what is happening in the world, and the real reasoning behind some of the decisions that lead to war and suffering, which of course results in the creation of more poverty. People of all economic statures will begin to understand that they no longer must rely upon a one sided view of the world through the regular media that they have let dictate their lives. They will begin to view technology as a tool to expand their level of awareness and aid in their ability to question the information that is being fed to them.As the centres begin to gain in popularity, so too will the number of centres around the country begin to grow. People will begin talking amongst each other of important issues for the first time in many years. Children of poverty who normally would have a life of crime and violence to look forward to will be empowered with the knowledge that there are other choices, that if they choose to live a life of crime they are simply becoming a subservient to the system rather than attempting to grow as an individual. Rather than their anger being spewed out onto the streets, perhaps they will find in the centre differing methods of striking out at the society that has left them with such little freedom in reality. They will have the ability to learn of how to involve themselves in the law making processes, and the steps that need to be taken. In effect, the centres will turn the wall that seems to divide the wealthy community from the poor into one of glass rather than one of brick. The wall will become less daunting. The community as a whole will begin to turn around and question some of the aspects they have always assumed to be written in stone and unchangeable. One might hope that these centres will create a sense of unity in the community, and when there is unity and education there exists the possibility of change. And change is what is drastically needed in todays world.When a community finds the motivation to unite under common causes, then there is less likely to be a blind eye turned to the suffering of others around us. Instead we will be more inclined to think of ways to help one another. When this begins to take place, poverty will have a new and powerful enemy. When members of the community are given the chance to question the power structures, the laws that govern us, the religious structures and the manners in which they attempt to control us and the laws of the community, and the ways in which large corporations wish to separate us from our money, then power is once again given to the community. When the poor begin to realize that a lack of money does not always mean a life of ignorance and complacency, then the poor shall begin to experience a sense of motivation and a sense of confidence that can only reflect positively upon the community in general. If centres that offer such services begin to appear throughout the country, then I believe the seed of change will be given the chance to sprout. It is said that knowledge is power, and never before has knowledge been so accessible and cheap. As a community we must learn to stand on our own two feet, and help those around us that need it. The centres should let us all know, young and old, that the governing factions of this country are not beyond our control. The centres should begin to inject positive opportunities into poverty infected communities so that they might for the first time understand there are ways in which to combat the problem. To let people know there are methods to improve oneself and ones surroundings. There can be created a sense of freedom for the children of today, without doubt our most important possession as a country.Suffering and violence might always be a part of life, but the level at which it is a part is adjustable by a society that has faced the challenge to become aware and empower individuals with knowledge, thanks to the advances of technology and the availability of information. Then perhaps, as generations go by, the governing powers of this country might find itself including representatives of a life of poverty and compressed freedoms, and thus be in a position to begin the process of change within the laws and economic structures that we all live beneath. And if similar processes are proving successful around the world, then perhaps countries will be in a better position to negotiate and offer aid to one another, rather than cry freedom while supporting wars and governments that so obviously turn a blind eye to the suffering of great numbers of people. Making poverty history in Nigeria might be far more difficult than ever imagined, however using poverty to expand the level of awareness in both our community and in the future seats of power in this country seems to me to be a lot more achievable.