Nigeria
is almost certainly the only nation on earth where citizens are ostensibly
docile and are daily waiting for God to construct good roads, make electric
power supply stable and build world-class healthcare centers for them.
Also,
Nigeria is in all probability the only nation where the citizens are not
objectively and daily engaging their paid public servants—in order to truly
move the nation frontward. In Nigeria, once you begin to ask questions why
things are not working as they are working in saner climes, people would start
to see you as an enemy of those in power.
The
question is; is it possible to objectively criticize the government and be
patriotic? The answer is yes. Infact, objective criticism is the only
foundation for change and an enduring national progress.
Once
you make suffering and backwardness wear the unsightly faces of religion and
tribalism, most of our people would lose their corporate and shared-voice. Our
politicians know how to play this game and they have been beating the masses to
it since 1960.
In
recent times, Olusegun Obasanjo said that Nigerians should be patient with the
current administration. This is what the ruling elites have been saying since
1960. They keep pushing forward—decency of life—while they are daily smiling to
both local and international banks.
If
you do not wake up and start holding your leaders accountable within the
confines of our constitution, you would wait forever for the day that you would
have constant supply of electricity, world-class healthcare services and roads
without ‘tribal-marks.’ No nations work productively when the citizens either
go to bed or become blind, deaf and dumb.
The
reality is; supporting an administration should even be the more reason why you
should be daily criticizing it objectively. In Nigeria, when you criticize an
administration, you have become the enemy of Mr. President, but when you keep
quiet even when you should talk, you are madly in love with the man of
integrity from Daura. Kindly understand that when you keep quiet, it is a sure
sign that you detest the person in power and if I were President Buhari, I
would not allow you to access my inner circle.
You
are a citizen, not a subject and you have the right to criticize government
without embracing fear as a man would embrace his newly wedded wife.
Nigerians
need more access to what the government is doing in their name. And that
requires increasing freedom of information and transparency in the corridors of
power.
Remember,
there is a bright distinction between citizens, who have rights and privileges
protected by the State, and subjects, who are under the complete control and
authority of the state. Once again, you are a citizen, not a subject!
The
government consists of human beings and to err is human. Sometimes the
government does things that go against the constitutional, social and moral
foundations of the country. Other times, the government’s actions spoil the
international image of the country. The government then must be constructively
criticized for its various mishandlings. It is utterly patriotic to take a
public stand against an administration within the confines of the law of the
land.
When
you are in power, everyone who is feeding fat on the crumbs that fall from your
table will praise you (this happens in every administration) even for every
dim-witted mistake you make and this will put an end for you to improve. People
in power should always welcome objective criticisms to improve their self. The
questions; why break the mirror which shows your ugly face, when you need it to
improve?
The
only way to a successful government is when all its institutions are open to
critics. It is our duty as citizens to question everything that can possibly be
questioned. And it is our responsibility to look into matters that involve us
and every law, regulation, war, and policy that affects us as a people. Without
individual thought, there can be no democracy and to not question our president
would make him a dictator. Remember, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism
(Thomas Jefferson).”
On
the condition that apartheid was to come about in Nigeria, our religious
leaders would have told the people that it was God’s will for them. And if late
Mandela were to be a Nigerian, we would have told him that he was kicking
against God for fighting to liberate his people from an ancient blood-spilling
oppression. Some religious leaders are certainly misrepresenting God to the
people. The truth is; it is not the will of God for Nigeria to be where she is
today. It is not the will of God for our people to be in total darkness. It is
not the will of God for our roads to be killing us daily. And it is not the
will of God for us to be bald-facedly traveling abroad to be treated medically.
Lastly,
as an effect of a nation that isn’t working, our people are daily being sold
into slavery. Go to Libya, Egypt and Oman, our people are being sold into
slavery in 21st century. What a shame! A few days ago, 26 precious
Nigerian ladies were murdered in cold blood and till now, the president of
Nigeria is yet to address the whole nation on it. It shows that we do not value
human life in Nigeria. When we do not care a hoot for the people, how do we
expect them to care for the country? We need to stop treating our people as
slaves and start treating them as citizens.
Culled from The Cable
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