A Strong Need to Agitate

Often times, things are not right in this part of the world – Africa. Whenever such things happen and I have people around me, I complain bitterly. One such issue that bites really hard is erratic power supply. More often than not, whenever I complain, the peoples’ defensive mechanism automatically comes into play. They try to rationalize why the problem is there, not proffering a solution, or demanding better infrastructure from the government. We folks seem to have got used to the horrible state of things, in this part of the world: erractic power supply, poor waste management, dirty streets, inadequate water supply, high utility tariff despite poor service delivery, bad roads, bribery and corruption in high places, etc. Thus we hardly ever complain, talkless of agitating and demanding for our rights!

Could it be a result of inadequate education about how democracy works? Could it be fear? Could it simply be as a result of ineptitude and lack of love for one’s country? For all I know, it could even be a combination of all the above reasons, and more!

Today I came across an article on NigeriaVillageSquare.com by Ikechukwu Amaechi and titled: A Country And Its Strange Citizens. The author, a fellow Nigerian, highlighted some points and asked pertinent questions on why he thinks we are the way we are.

But Ribadu could well have saved his breath. Nigerians are a special breed of people. They have the incomprehensible and bizarre capacity of being happy in the worst of circumstances. A Nigerian could even applaud a man, contemptuous enough of him, to rape his mother in his presence.

Ribadu was wondering why any human being with any sense of self would perceive Chiefs Lamidi Adedibu and Bayo Alao-Akala as leaders.

In any decent society, Adedibu would by now be spending his thuggish life in jail. But not in Nigeria! Here, he is applauded, even by those at the highest reaches of government, as the issue in Oyo, if not Yoruba, politics. And you wonder what calibre of human beings populate this country.

He is not done yet. He goes on to pour out his heart even more:

You can hardly see any other people than can endure the humiliation, degradation, deprivations, squalor and ruin that our so-called leaders visit on us everyday. Rarely can you see any leadership elsewhere, treat its citizens with so much contempt, scorn and condescension without having a revolt on their hands.

Revolt does not necessarily have to be violent. But there comes a time in the life of a people when they cannot but protest against the attitude of their leaders towards them. Why are Nigerians not revolted by the salacious confessions of the two highest ranking public office holders in the country?

He then goes on to ask many questions about why Nigerians tolerate things as they are. Well, one thing is for sure – so long we tolerate greedy and insensitive leaders to treat us the way they do, we will continue to pay dearly for it with our lives, and livelihood. It is time for us as a people to stand-up and demand our rights. We should hold our political leaders to ransom. Afterall, they promised heaven, when they were campaigning. Political office should not be a means of self-enrichment in Africa. Not any more.