By Tochukwu Ezukanma<\/p>\n
In one of her gossipy moods, my flibbertigibbet sister-in-law talked
\nabout me, \u201cHe is so full of himself\u201d. To her, it was a disparaging
\ncharacterization, but to me, it was something of an accolade. Actually,
\nI am full of myself, and thank God Almighty that it is obvious in my
\ndeportment. I refuse to cringe before anybody or quake in trepidation of
\nanyone because I am in complete agreement with Fela Anikulapo Kuti when
\nhe sang that \u201cMan must be man for im land\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, a Nigerian, as the \u201cson of the soil\u201d should be proud and
\nself-confident in his own country, knowing that he is the subject of the
\nconcerns, policies and actions of elected and public officials and all
\nthe institutions of government. He should be at peace because his rights
\nare guaranteed by the constitution and protected by the law. He should
\nbe smug because his entitlement to partake in the enormous wealth of his
\ncountry is sacrosanct.<\/p>\n
That the Nigerian system failed to guarantee the rights of Nigerians,
\nand give us a sense of worth and entitlement is an aberration. Although
\nthe law assures us immunity from despotic acts of government and abuses
\nfrom government agents, we are abused and exploited by government
\npolicies and the actions of government agents. The government operates
\nin scornful indifference to the welfare, and legitimate concerns, of the
\npeople. The ruling elite deny the generality of Nigerians the
\nopportunity to equitably share in the enormous wealth of the country.
\nTrigger happy policemen routinely shoot and kill the innocent, and
\nsoldiers, supposedly, confined to barracks, foray into civilian centers
\nto brutalize, maim and kill hapless civilians. Most of the times, they
\ngo unpunished. Life is merciless with the average Nigerian. It is a
\nreality succinctly captured in another of Fela\u2019s song, \u201cHe go be
\nslave for im land to make ends meet\u201d.<\/p>\n
A system that effectively stripped the \u201cson of the soil\u201d of his
\nrights and self-worth, and reduced him to a cringing, quaking \u201cslave
\nfor im land\u201d is unconscionable; it thrives on the systematic
\ndegradation and exploitation of the majority by a conscienceless elite
\nminority. Was Apartheid in South African not the methodical degradation
\nand exploitation of a Black majority by a White minority? Although
\nNigeria joined the global rally to end Apartheid in South African,
\nApartheid continues in Nigeria. The differences between the two versions
\nof Apartheid are that in South African it was based on race and coded
\ninto law. In Nigeria, it is based on socio-economic class and not
\ncodified into law. Yet, there is no evidence that the Nigerian rendition
\nof Apartheid is less severe in its thoroughness and systematic
\napplication than the South African.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the Buhari administration worsened the problems of
\nNigeria. It visited increased extreme poverty on Nigerians. It worsened
\nthe state of insecurity and brought about an alarming debasement of
\nhuman lives by pandering to banditry and Fulani terrorism. A number of
\nnarratives (some with fictional qualities) traced the origin of the
\nbandits to President Buhari. The bandits are having a field-day; they
\nare being financially rewarded for robbing, killing and kidnapping.
\nBizarrely, northern politicians and clerics are ingratiating the bandits
\nand paying them staggering amounts of money as ransom. In their
\ndesperation to re-define criminality and exculpate the bandits from
\ntheir multitude of crimes, they make statements that reek of the
\nprattling of senility and imbecility.<\/p>\n
The Buhari administration places more value on bovine (cow) life than
\nhuman life, and has made it unequivocally clear that the Fulani
\nterrorists are the lords of Nigeria. And therefore, have an
\nincontestable right to every inch of the country, and the license to
\ntraverse the country, triumphantly and defiantly, flaunting their A47s;
\nand raping women, murdering the innocent, sacking villages, and seizing
\nthem, with the explicit support of the federal government.<\/p>\n
It has been written that, \u201cThe root of bondage is poverty, and the
\nroot of poverty is ignorance\u201d. It is these twin scourges, ignorance
\nand poverty, that reduced the average Nigerian to \u201cslave for im
\nland\u201d. It is high time Nigerians forced the levitation of the Nigerian
\nfrom \u201cslave for im land\u201d to \u201cman for im land\u201d. This can only be
\ndone through a re-distribution of power (knowledge and wealth). An
\nenlightened and economically secure citizenry cannot be held in bondage.
\nThe redistribution of power demands courageous, collective, sustained,
\nand strategically-directed protests and mass actions. It will take
\ncoordinated efforts of the labor unions, and professional and business
\nassociations to paralyze the economy, as hundreds of thousands,
\npreferably, millions, in a peaceful protest, march on Abuja, and besiege
\nAso Rock and that bastion of grasping avarice and legislative
\nmediocrity, the National Assembly, for an indefinite sit-in.<\/p>\n
We will demand the immediate resignation or impeachment of President
\nBuhari; accountability in governance; principled distribution of the
\nnational wealth; the restructuring of Nigeria; public execution for
\negregious acts of corruption; end to police and all official brutality;
\nend to banditry and Fulani terrorism; the upgrading of our educational
\nand health systems and the tripling of the budgetary allocations to
\nthem; etc. We will remain until our demands are met.<\/p>\n
Even, at the risk of death, with tanks deployed against this sea of
\nunarmed and peaceful humanity, and soldiers aiming their guns at it, we
\nwill stand firm. For we will be emboldened in the knowledge that: the
\n\u201cmoral arc of the universe bends towards justice\u201d; the greatest
\nforce on earth is an idea whose time has come; the transformation of a
\ncountry, and the turning of \u201cslaves for dem land\u201d into \u201cmen for
\ndem land\u201d must involve some bloodshed; and it is better to shed some
\nblood and attain freedom, justice and equity than for millions to
\ncontinue to vegetate endlessly in the throes of economic strangulation
\nand social degradation.<\/p>\n
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tochukwu Ezukanma In one of her gossipy moods, my flibbertigibbet sister-in-law talked about me, \u201cHe is so full of himself\u201d. To her, it was a disparaging characterization, but to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n