I have been pondering on this topic for quite sometime now, reason been that, I hear Nigerian politicians when they construct a road or sink a borehole, they remark that they have ensured that the dividends of democracy get to the people. These are some of the little things they were elected to provide and citizens’ taxes are drawn to pay them salaries and allowances for same. What is now the big deal about that?
Let me start off by way of retrospection, drawing our memories back to how we got the democracy we proud ourselves with today. It should be noted that the military did not willingly give up power because they wanted to, they did because certain persons were on them to do so, these persons were activists as individuals and as groups like CLO, NADECO etc. These persons fought the military regime. The fight to oust military regime out was not because the military were not providing infrastructures for the people, as a matter of fact, most of the infrastructures the military provided then are still what this present democratic dispensation still operates on, the schools, hospitals, roads, airports, seaports, aviation system etc, just name it.
One thing that had baffled politicians about activists is that, it appears they (activists) are so hard to appreciate those things majority of the masses jubilate for, some have concluded that activists are difficult people to please no matter what level of infrastructure they try hard to provide for the people. They fail to realize that the activists seldom care about those things because if it were those things they intend to see, they wouldn’t have been any need fighting for democracy and the removal of military rule.
The activist wants to see a situation where both the child of the poor and rich will attend same school, get same Medicare, where everyone will have equal rights to justice, where the rule of law will be the order of day, where freedom of speech and expression will not be gagged, where the poor man’s voice will be heard by the Governor or the President, where the political leaders will respect the smallest voter after election and be accountable to same, where the judiciary will not be bias in judgment due to the caliber of personality, where the legislature will make laws that will protect the vulnerable than making laws for the benefit of the executive arm and already mighty in the society, where a policeman or a soldier will not abuse citizens’ human rights, where citizens can truly elect who represents them not the selection by a few cabal, I can go on and on with an almost endless list.
Our society today is unjust and unfair to the commoner, the weak and vulnerable. The people want to have a sense of belonging, they want to be respected as citizens of the country, they want to feel that power truly belongs to them, they are not happy when a leader uses siren and mobile policemen to intimidate and chase them away on the roads that their taxes were used to build, they are not happy that when they are oppressed, the government or its agencies are not there to listen and protect them. They are not happy seeing government officials’ children attend the best schools abroad while their children learn in classes without chairs, tables and most times without roof. They are denied the benefits of social justice. These are the things that attract an activist not the provision of infrastructure because the military provided better ones than the ones we see today yet activists still fought them out of power.
DEAR POLITICIAN, DON’T BLAME AN ACTIVIST IF HE DIDN’T JUBILATE BECAUSE YOU BOUGHT A BRAND NEW TRANSFORMER FOR A COMMUNITY, HE KNOWS THAT ACT DOESN’T FORM DIVIDEND OF DEMOCRACY. AN ACTIVIST WILL COMMEND YOU FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU STAND FOR A POOR WIDOW THAT IS BEEN OPPRESSED DAILY BY AN AGBERO IN EKIOSA MARKET. THE ACTIVIST WANTS TO SEE YOU TAKE ACTION AGAINST CRAZY ELECTRICITY BILLS AND DARKNESS.
THAT IS HOW WE ROLL…ANYWAY, YOU CAN'T GIVE WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE.ACTIVISTS DON’T CELEBRATE INFRASTRUCTURES:
I have been pondering on this topic for quite sometime now, reason been that, I hear Nigerian politicians when they construct a road or sink a borehole, they remark that they have ensured that the dividends of democracy get to the people. These are some of the little things they were elected to provide and citizens’ taxes are drawn to pay them salaries and allowances for same. What is now the big deal about that?
Let me start off by way of retrospection, drawing our memories back to how we got the democracy we proud ourselves with today. It should be noted that the military did not willingly give up power because they wanted to, they did because certain persons were on them to do so, these persons were activists as individuals and as groups like CLO, NADECO etc. These persons fought the military regime. The fight to oust military regime out was not because the military were not providing infrastructures for the people, as a matter of fact, most of the infrastructures the military provided then are still what this present democratic dispensation still operates on, the schools, hospitals, roads, airports, seaports, aviation system etc, just name it.
One thing that had baffled politicians about activists is that, it appears they (activists) are so hard to appreciate those things majority of the masses jubilate for, some have concluded that activists are difficult people to please no matter what level of infrastructure they try hard to provide for the people. They fail to realize that the activists seldom care about those things because if it were those things they intend to see, they wouldn’t have been any need fighting for democracy and the removal of military rule.
The activist wants to see a situation where both the child of the poor and rich will attend same school, get same Medicare, where everyone will have equal rights to justice, where the rule of law will be the order of day, where freedom of speech and expression will not be gagged, where the poor man’s voice will be heard by the Governor or the President, where the political leaders will respect the smallest voter after election and be accountable to same, where the judiciary will not be bias in judgment due to the caliber of personality, where the legislature will make laws that will protect the vulnerable than making laws for the benefit of the executive arm and already mighty in the society, where a policeman or a soldier will not abuse citizens’ human rights, where citizens can truly elect who represents them not the selection by a few cabal, I can go on and on with an almost endless list.
Our society today is unjust and unfair to the commoner, the weak and vulnerable. The people want to have a sense of belonging, they want to be respected as citizens of the country, they want to feel that power truly belongs to them, they are not happy when a leader uses siren and mobile policemen to intimidate and chase them away on the roads that their taxes were used to build, they are not happy that when they are oppressed, the government or its agencies are not there to listen and protect them. They are not happy seeing government officials’ children attend the best schools abroad while their children learn in classes without chairs, tables and most times without roof. They are denied the benefits of social justice. These are the things that attract an activist not the provision of infrastructure because the military provided better ones than the ones we see today yet activists still fought them out of power.
DEAR POLITICIAN, DON’T BLAME AN ACTIVIST IF HE DIDN’T JUBILATE BECAUSE YOU BOUGHT A BRAND NEW TRANSFORMER FOR A COMMUNITY, HE KNOWS THAT ACT DOESN’T FORM DIVIDEND OF DEMOCRACY. AN ACTIVIST WILL COMMEND YOU FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU STAND FOR A POOR WIDOW THAT IS BEEN OPPRESSED DAILY BY AN AGBERO IN EKIOSA MARKET. THE ACTIVIST WANTS TO SEE YOU TAKE ACTION AGAINST CRAZY ELECTRICITY BILLS AND DARKNESS.
THAT IS HOW WE ROLL…ANYWAY, YOU CAN'T GIVE WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE.
Execepts from an African Activism