#SomberTuesday! As expected, the new year progresses relentlessly, for neither time nor tide waits for anyone. It’s still resolutions season. The quest for transformation is a never-ending one in human life. Candidates for political office & their proxies continue campaigns, each promising that they have the magic formula to transform Nigeria. However, history shows that such promises are rarely kept. Nigeria’s quest for true democracy requires collective work if there will be political, economic & social transformation.
The masses are suffering from economic, political & social stressors that are not of their making. Regardless, they must become agents of the change we all desire by embracing civic engagement as a norm. Voting is the 1st step. Tenacity & vigilance are also needed. Civil society organizations should hold government accountable & build pro-poor coalitions for change. Elected officials must be uncharacteristically selfless & work to produce the beautiful Nigeria their campaigns are promising. These are all urgent goals. Our competitive world won’t wait for us to become organized.
If Nigeria is to be transformed, all citizens must commit to working together to reach the nation’s full potential. We must curb, even end insecurity, inequality, unemployment, and underemployment. These are core demands made by the #EndSARS protesters. Our youths called for good governance, an end to impunity, violence, and police brutality. They were violently attacked by state security forces. Two years on, #Nigeria cannot afford to forget the massacre of peacefully demonstrating #EndSARS protesters at #LekkiTollGate and other locations. Together, we should declare: #NigerianWomenArise #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeriaNOW #EndSars #EndSWAT #EndImpunity
I am the voice in the wilderness who repetitively quotes Howard Zinn’s statement and insists on its relevance to this moment in Nigeria’s history: “Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while, the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” Let the kleptocrats give back our stolen wealth so that we can fix our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and also offer worthwhile social protection to our people.
Let the masses enjoy the full benefits of citizenship in Nigeria. Let the leaders and political class repent and build peace with justice. This is no time for politics as usual. The people elected should be those trusted to bring justice, equity, and human security to the entire country, not expedient, unethical, and egocentric individuals determined to dominate for self-aggrandizement or sectional gain. We don’t need oligarchs’ continued domination. We also need a government that puts the interests of majority of citizens first.
