Reflections Without Mirror—- Niyi Aborisade
Before it gets ‘Darker’
Nigeria is a land of intellectuals and some of the best minds in the world. The country has produced the best for the rest of the world, we are everywhere in any field in the world; name it , medical field, scientific field, sports, music , literary and academic, etc. We excel outside the shore of our father’s land than in our own land . The brilliant and best minds are sneaking out of the country in search not only of the greener pasture but of security, which is now in abeyance in Nigeria.
We had many veteran journalists who were referred to as ‘ left wing elements , those who were using their pen to expose the atrocities of the government. The fourth estate in Nigeria had contributed immensely in defence of truth and justice without fear or intimidation. We had the likes of Ebenezer Babatope, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, Dr. Dokun Bojuwade , Late Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu etc. The Tribune ‘ Periscope’ then was a fountain of knowledge and truth. It stood against injustice and oppression. The editorial board then was ‘super ‘ those were the days of ” the pen is mightier than the sword.”
In human rights sector, Nigeria has produced the likes of Gani Fawehinmi, Bola Ige, Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana , Beko Ransome Kuti, Michael Adekunle Ajasin Anthony Enahoro, Alfred Rewane, Abraham Adesanya, Kanmi Isola Osobu, Ebenezer Babatope from the 60s to the 90s. They inspired many either through their writings or their deeds. They were known for what they stood for, they stood against evil in our society. They resisted the evils to the end. There was no force that was able to silence them.
Nigerian human rights Activists by their interventions had stopped many unpopular decisions of government starting from the Anglo -Nigeria Defence Agreement of 1962 under Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The proposal, if successful, would have conferred an unusual power to the British military to have a base in Nigeria with unrestricted access and power to many things. It would have meant that our independence was just on paper and even if they should commit any crime, including murder in our land ,they can not be tried in Nigerian courts. They can only be tried in the UK. The only thing they promised us was that they would protect us from ‘foreign aggression’. When it was clear that there was no foreign aggression in sight. The only foreign aggression we had then was the British government herself, who was unwilling to give us complete independence.
Nigerian students and human rights activists got wind of the plan and resisted it. The government of Balewa was forced to withdraw from the plan.
In 1974, Dr Tai Solarin , some university dons and students by their activism, forced Gowon’s government to release the prisoners of war who were capturedfrom the failed Biafran regime and had been detained since 1970. Dr. Tai Solarin was arrested many times for crying out loud against injustice.
From 1993- 1999, the NADECO, Afenifere, Campaign for Democracy, Civil Libery Watch, Civil Liberty organisation and other Human rights group fought hard to resist the military junta of the maximum ruler , General Sanni Abacha. Many of them put their lives at risk, including the current President ‘ Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who ran to London and lived in exile until the expiration of General Sanni Abacha. How time changed. Some of us in the Civil Liberty Watch then were detained at Heathrow Airport in the UK as terrorists under the instructions of General Sanni Abacha, thanks to Chief Anthony Enahoro who intervened in time and secured their release. I was then the AGS for the Civil Liberty Watch.
But today, there are few of us around to challenge and demonstrate against evil from the government. The government is now operating freely without fear of the activists who appear to have been sleeping since the handing over to the Civilian government in 1999 and we have been operating quasi -democracy since then.
Last year, (2022) the compulsory vehicle insurance jumped from Five Thousand Naira to Ffteen thousand naira for no reason, this is an insurance that you can not make any claim whatsoever. Yet no human rights Activist raise his voice against the system, the government did it successfully and we are all complying like sheep. ” As a sheep is dumb before its shearer , we opened not our mouth” against injustice. The fire in us is dying under too much oppression. The younger generation is not interested, and many have opted for ‘ yahoo yahoo’.
Recently , there has been a removal of fuel subsidies, and we were fed with the news that it was not part of the budget from the previous government. This is ridiculous because the new president has the power to reverse the decision of the previous government or make a supplementary budget . Let us accept that it is overdue and the subsidy should be removed , what are the provisions made by the current President to cushion the effect of the removal as the price of petrol is now more than double . Whenever there is a rise or increase in fuel price, all other sectors of economy will go up astronomically. The transport fares, the food, because definitely they will use transportation to ferry the goods to the market and so food price will increase, the House rent or cost of building material will also go up since everything depends on transportation. The freedom of movement will be seriously restricted because of high transport fares.
In all the above, the wages of the civil Servants remain the same and so how will they cope with the minimum wage of 30000 Naira.The government is using the prices of fuel in the UK or US as a yardstick to measure the price without considering the standard of living in those countries and the provisions of government to help their people. Access to public funds in the UK is for all the citizens who are not able to meet their essential obligations. Is there any provision for that in Nigeria? The answer is no, and capital ‘No’. The minimum wage in the UK is £10 per hour and so an average person of the lowest income will make £ 80 per day, equivalent of almost Eighty Thousand Naira per day.
Our government are insensitive to the plight of the people and yet no strong voice to condemn them anymore. The few of us that remain are so small in numbers to the extent that our voice is not even heard beyond the roof top. Nigeria is in a deep crisis that we can not afford to remain silent for long. Whilst the removal of the subsidy may appear laudable in accordance with what we are being fed about ‘ fraud’ in the oil sector, the consequence of the astronomical increase of fuel price to over 500 Naira will spell doom for the country
It is really getting dark in Nigeria, and before it gets darker, there is a need for rebuilding our nation with the strong voice of human rights activists. We need to re- organise ourselves to a formidable voice like in the past when even General Sanni Abacha shivered at the mentioning of the name of ‘ Ajasin’.
Albert Einstein stated and I quote ‘ This world is a dangerous place to live not because of those who do evil but because of those who watch and let it happen.
Let us all rise up and resist the evil in our society and cry for justice. The sufferings are too much, it must not continue. The cloud are gathering, it is getting dark and before it gets darker.
Niyi Aborisade is a lawyer, a Human Rights Activist and a Historian
