BY NIYI ABORISADE
AFRICA IS A PARADOX WHICH ILLUSTRATES AND HIGHLIGHTS NEO – COLONIALISM. HER EARTH IS RICH, YET THE PRODUCTS THAT COME FROM ABOVE AND BELOW HER SOIL CONTINUE TO ENRICH, NOT AFRICANS PREDOMINANTLY BUT GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO OPERATE TO AFRICA’S IMPOVERISHMENT—-KWAME NKRUMAH
This is a continuation of my Article that was published on 03 January 2019.
There are seven citizens responsibility that can make a country better. I have written about one last week and this week, I will discuss only two.
1.Responsible citizens are agent of change that act out against social, economic and environmental injustices.
2. Voluntary activity in your community
I entreat the readers of this article to replace the above statement of Kwame NKRUMAH with Nigeria instead of Africa. This will show reasons why we as citizens of Nigeria must be alive to our responsibilities to deliver this country from the hands of few individuals that have and are plundering our resources.
One of the citizens responsibility that is very important and that can deliver our country today is to become agent of that change that will speak and act out against our politics and politicians that are going through tragic process of abhorrent defilement and decay. The citizens must speak against lack of clear vision of our leaders, ineptitude, corruption of the highest order and those who have turned our politics to the politics of the opportunism of those who have the means and resources.
To have a better Nigeria, the citizens must be alive to their responsibility by resisting the scheming and the machinations of politicians that are imposing candidates on them not based on merits at all but the will and the desire of the godfathers. The words of Fidel Castro still rings true “there is nothing bitter in the world as the spectacle of a people that goes to bed free and awaken in slavery” – Fidel Castro (1952).* There is no doubt that our people have almost been turned into slaves in their own country in that they have been silenced by the principalities and power of the ruling elites.
Late Human Right Activist, Tai Solarin was one of the foremost responsible citizens of Nigeria , he did not allow his voice to drown amongst the enemy of Nigerian and the hostility that followed. After the Biafran war in 1970, General Gowon (now retired) still refused some soldiers who fought for Biafran including some if the surviving soldiers of the 1966 coup which he Gowon cashed on, Late Solarin threatened to lead a protest and walk from Ibadan to Lagos against the continue incarceration of the soldiers despite the fact that they have not been found guilty even after they had been investigated. He continued to speak out without fear and was prepared to lead the protest which eventually forced Gowon to release the soldiers.
It is our responsibilities as a citizen of this country not to keep quiet against injustice and corruption. The recent invasion of the Daily Trust newspapers’ offices in Abuja, Maiduguri, Lagos and other branches in the country by the soldiers is a gross injustice that must be condemned by all good citizens of this country.
The founding fathers of Nigeria, Sir Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, Ahmadu Bello and Chief Anthony Enahoro did not keep silent but spoke against the injustice and undesirable colonial rules. They did not fold their arms but fought tooth and nail until independence was achieved.
Steve Boko, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo resisted the apartheid regime in South Africa and risked their lives, some died in the process, some were imprisoned yet they continued to speak against the system until they saw the end of apartheid. They did it because they were alive to their responsibilities as citizens of their country.
Joining a voluntary organization such as National Movement for Positive Change (NMPC) and others to help the community is a responsibility that can make our country better. The country cannot move forward when people sit on the fence. It is time for us to reclaim our country from the hands of few individuals who have put us on sub- human bondage and lack in the midst of plenty. The Forces of reactionary have dominated our political landscape to the extent that only the concerted efforts of the citizens can dislodge them from the occupied position.
Measures to make a better Nigeria
- Use your votes wisely in the coming election. Let your votes speak against injustice and oppression.
- Protect your votes by ensuring you stay back at polling station until the votes are counted and announced.
- Encourage others to go and vote.
- Vote with your conscience.
We will see a better Nigeria.
- Niyi Aborisade is the President, National Movement for Positive Change (NMPC) worldwide and writes from the United Kingdom (UK).
