By Habeeb Olokooba
Silence is a virtue, yet the same silence could mean danger. It saddens my heart to watch Nigeria go into ashes as protesters set ablaze different investments across the country, both public and privately owned. Yet our steerer, President Tinubu, remains sullen. He has always been. He was quiet during gubernatorial tussles across the country and the court processes that followed. He chose silence during the Kano chieftain clash.
Firstly, he chose to remain silent on the NNPC/Dangote saga as well, however later spoke when he sensed the mess was beyond what silence can handle.
Should Akpabio be like Tinubu, Nigerians might have spared him. His waging lips, however, landed him in the backlash of so many Nigerians. He said what he said as calmly and silently as he could, but the mass of the people understood him ebulliently well.
Videos of smoke in Abuja surfaced on the internet, and tear gas was everywhere. Yet there is an ebullient chant of ‘End bad governance’ from these protesters.
A video that caught my attention was that of the controversial very dark man, who has been affected by the poisonous smoke from the tear gas. But what caught my attention more was his statement despite his lingering pains “Wike this is not the Abuja you promised,” he was chanting. Well, I think it should rather be: Tinubu, this is not the Nigeria you promised us.
It is sad how security agencies that cannot protect the country against bandits and Boko Haram, now use the angry protesters to stage what a war looked like. The fight should be for all, but some of them are still behind the exploiters.
How do we build a nation on greed and excessive corruption? Futile.
Nigerians are furious. Surprisingly, they are encountering serious restraint in the process of peaceful protest. I doubt the Senate President will be able to eat as promised. In the past twenty-four hours lives have been lost in different parts of the country.
The police are still brutal. The people are not soft either. Just this morning, I saw a video of an argument that ensued between a protester and a supposed policewoman. It was in Lagos and the woman was telling the guy that a court had passed a judgment preventing them from protesting in that area. However, the guy quoted sections 39 and 40 of the Nigerian constitution and further asked if the court order was above the Supreme law of the land. The Lady remains quiet and insists that they won’t protest.
Well, this is just a minor segment of how rotten the system had become. Imagine a police officer who is meant to safeguard the law doesn’t even know the law. If you are an ally of President Tinubu, tell him silence cannot work when the system is not working.
There is one answer to their questions and the demonstration: A Nigeria for Nigerians, where everyone subsidizes if need be. They want a system that works, a leader who feels their pains, and not the one who intermittently speaks with his people.
A governance that is cheaper. We are in a tribulation beyond what the president’s sullen trait could solve. Why not talk to your people? Assure them of a system that works. Beyond silence lies a better life for Nigeria.