#SomberTuesday! Electioneering campaigns continue, and I’m glad I’m not alone in wondering why Nigerian politicians seek legitimacy by speaking at Chatham House instead of in the country, where they should take every opportunity to engage the electorate. Why at this point in our history as an independent country do we need validation from our former colonizers? As though that wasn’t bad enough, we don’t seem to be able to produce either female, young, or people with disabilities as candidates for the presidency. These categories of people are also few and far between among candidates for other positions. It’s also a matter of the utmost urgency that we must never forget that #EndSARS protesters demanded an end to bad governance, impunity, violence, and police brutality but were harshly suppressed in a violation of democratic norms and values. The economy is in a downward spiral. Many lost their lives in the catastrophic, unprecedented floods. Many survivors lost everything. Millions are displaced and in dire straits. #NigerianWomenArise #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeriaNOW #EndSars #EndSWAT #EndImpunity Two years on, we must never forget that our peacefully demonstrating youths were massacred at #LekkiTollGate and other locations.
Like a broken record, I keep saying that Howard Zinn’s statement applies to Nigeria’s predicament: “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.
