In late 2010 ,Mohamed Bouazizi a street vendor in Tunisia ended his life by setting himself ablaze, this singular act would spark a series of anti-government protests from the streets of Tunisia to the deserts of Egypt and beyond. What started in Africa would spread like wildfire to the Middle East. Dictators ran away like prey from the claws of its predator. The hunter became the hunted and regimes came crashing down like a house of cards. The world had its eyes on Africa, and for a good reason. A ray of hope was slowly illuminating the dark Continent or so it seemed. However, back in Nigeria eagle square remained quiet despite the fact that the Boko haram menace was gaining momentum by the day. What keeps Nigerians indoors when others are outside in the snow or heat protesting? why haven’t we had the much talked about revolution till date? Why haven’t we moved with the times? Why haven’t we made that giant leap from third world country to a developed nation?
It seems antithetical to put silence and Nigeria in one sentence. After all, our music is loud .Our costumes speak in high decibels and we are very articulate in Queen’s English with a loud accent to match. You need to hear us when we pray in churches and mosques-very loud, and we can shout enough to stir our English and Spanish clubs to victory despite been hundreds of miles away. With the foregoing, one can be tempted to say Nigerians are not silent people. Agreed! although we can also agree that we make a lot of noise instead of making our voices heard.
Today in Nigeria, the government of day is introducing very questionable policies, but only a few people are challenging the status quo.The Ruga scheme seems like a plan to please a certain sect. Leah Sharibu is still in captivity, but the average Nigerian is busy arguing whether Donald Trump deserves a second tenure or not.There is widespread insecurity and discontent with how the affairs of our nation is handled, but unlike our neighbor Sudan,we are not in eagles square making our voices heard,at best we are cowards behind screens retweeting.Whenever there is call for public protest and you’ll not be surprised to see only a handful of people.
Throughout history, societies that have progressed were those that were vocal about their situations. The oppressed had to stand up and demand for their freedom, because as Martin Lurther King Jr once said “freedom is not voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”. After 59years as an independent nation, we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place,not sure if we are better off than we were before 1960. Employees are molested by their bosses in the office and they are mute. Pensioners must pay bribes before they are paid and people are not filing complaints at the servicom office. We have so pampered and tolerated our gullible politicians that the rest of the world is also treating us with utter disrespect.
Nigerians are so quick to forgive-which is noble, but we are also in a haste to forget the lessons that came with the pain. We must abandon the thought that government exits to cater for our needs. We must not wait to be given what is ours by right. We must raise our voices and demand for it.
Perhaps our predicament is not entirely our fault. We have been programed since childhood to hold back our opinions under the guise of morality and skewed discipline. We claim it is not right for a child to speak where elders gather-even when the child has better things to say. In our schools the line between discipline and abuse is crossed on a daily basis .Recently ,a student of my Alma Mata was disfigured by a staff for simple offence that had not yet been proven to be true. The boy never opened up about the incident. Lucliky, someone was able to bring it to the schools attention before action had to be taken. These kind of stories live with us every day. Some of us have similar experience
It is understandable why many Nigerians don’t speak up in the midst of oppression. For example, most men in “uniform” harass law abiding citizens daily. Only a few of such people have the courage to report the case to the police, however , in the end nothing positive is usually done about it. Therefore,we have become a people that would rather face oppression in silence than speak up. We cry in private and smile in public.This is why our problems are always with us.
Recently, a very sacred table was shaken. The wife of celebrity singer Timi Dakolo came out publicly to accuse Pastor Biodun of The Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly ,COZA of rape. While I don’t know the truth, a lot of people wondered why it took her many years to bring it to public notice.. Rape is a very traumatizing event and culture does not help either. Those who open up about rape are thought to bring shame to their family and are ridiculed. Many are even accused of lying. And because we not a very listening society, most people live with their pain .From house helps who have become slaves under the care of their supposed guardians to boys and girls that have been abused by “men of GOD”. The catholic church too has been hit with accusations of pedophilia which the church only recently admitted. While we are a religious people, we must not use religion as an excuse for ignorance. The average Nigerian Christian does not want to “touch God’s anointed or do him harm”, however we must not shy away from telling them the truth when the need arises. We admit we are all sinners, but there is a difference between telling people the truth and judging them.
If ever our country must succeed beyond the Red Queen’s race, we must learn to speak up despite the consequence than live in a pseudo comfort of silence. We must join our voices together and shout for justice. Christians, Muslims and atheist must hold hands and match in the streets. We must pick sides and not remain neutral in the affairs that concern the soul of our nation. We must allow government or the Gestapos to bully us into silence.
If Malcom X, martin Luther King Jr, William Wilberforce, Rosa parks and the others didn’t speak up, slavery might still be in practice today. If Mary Slessor didn’t take a stand, nobody will be praying to God for ejima. The little freedom we enjoy today is the collective sacrifices of those who came before us. We owe it to future generations to do more. If we don’t learn to speak up as a nation, we might as continue suffering and smiling !
The Nigerian story!
In late 2010 ,Mohamed Bouazizi a street vendor in Tunisia ended his life by setting himself ablaze, this singular act would spark a series of anti-government protests from the streets of Tunisia to the deserts of Egypt and beyond. What started in Africa would spread like wildfire to the Middle East. Dictators ran away like prey from the claws of its predator. The hunter became the hunted and regimes camWHEN SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN; The Nigerian story!
In late 2010 ,Mohamed Bouazizi a street vendor in Tunisia ended his life by setting himself ablaze, this singular act would spark a series of anti-government protests from the streets of Tunisia to the deserts of Egypt and beyond. What started in Africa would spread like wildfire to the Middle East. Dictators ran away like prey from the claws of its predator. The hunter became the hunted and regimes came crashing down like a house of cards. The world had its eyes on Africa, and for a good reason. A ray of hope was slowly illuminating the dark Continent or so it seemed. However, back in Nigeria eagle square remained quiet despite the fact that the Boko haram menace was gaining momentum by the day. What keeps Nigerians indoors when others are outside in the snow or heat protesting? why haven’t we had the much talked about revolution till date? Why haven’t we moved with the times? Why haven’t we made that giant leap from third world country to a developed nation?
It seems antithetical to put silence and Nigeria in one sentence. After all, our music is loud .Our costumes speak in high decibels and we are very articulate in Queen’s English with a loud accent to match. You need to hear us when we pray in churches and mosques-very loud, and we can shout enough to stir our English and Spanish clubs to victory despite been hundreds of miles away. With the foregoing, one can be tempted to say Nigerians are not silent people. Agreed! although we can also agree that we make a lot of noise instead of making our voices heard.
Today in Nigeria, the government of day is introducing very questionable policies, but only a few people are challenging the status quo.The Ruga scheme seems like a plan to please a certain sect. Leah Sharibu is still in captivity, but the average Nigerian is busy arguing whether Donald Trump deserves a second tenure or not.There is widespread insecurity and discontent with how the affairs of our nation is handled, but unlike our neighbor Sudan,we are not in eagles square making our voices heard,at best we are cowards behind screens retweeting.Whenever there is call for public protest and you’ll not be surprised to see only a handful of people.
Throughout history, societies that have progressed were those that were vocal about their situations. The oppressed had to stand up and demand for their freedom, because as Martin Lurther King Jr once said “freedom is not voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”. After 59years as an independent nation, we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place,not sure if we are better off than we were before 1960. Employees are molested by their bosses in the office and they are mute. Pensioners must pay bribes before they are paid and people are not filing complaints at the servicom office. We have so pampered and tolerated our gullible politicians that the rest of the world is also treating us with utter disrespect.
Nigerians are so quick to forgive-which is noble, but we are also in a haste to forget the lessons that came with the pain. We must abandon the thought that government exits to cater for our needs. We must not wait to be given what is ours by right. We must raise our voices and demand for it.
Perhaps our predicament is not entirely our fault. We have been programed since childhood to hold back our opinions under the guise of morality and skewed discipline. We claim it is not right for a child to speak where elders gather-even when the child has better things to say. In our schools the line between discipline and abuse is crossed on a daily basis .Recently ,a student of my Alma Mata was disfigured by a staff for simple offence that had not yet been proven to be true. The boy never opened up about the incident. Lucliky, someone was able to bring it to the schools attention before action had to be taken. These kind of stories live with us every day. Some of us have similar experience
It is understandable why many Nigerians don’t speak up in the midst of oppression. For example, most men in “uniform” harass law abiding citizens daily. Only a few of such people have the courage to report the case to the police, however , in the end nothing positive is usually done about it. Therefore,we have become a people that would rather face oppression in silence than speak up. We cry in private and smile in public.This is why our problems are always with us.
Recently, a very sacred table was shaken. The wife of celebrity singer Timi Dakolo came out publicly to accuse Pastor Biodun of The Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly ,COZA of rape. While I don’t know the truth, a lot of people wondered why it took her many years to bring it to public notice.. Rape is a very traumatizing event and culture does not help either. Those who open up about rape are thought to bring shame to their family and are ridiculed. Many are even accused of lying. And because we not a very listening society, most people live with their pain .From house helps who have become slaves under the care of their supposed guardians to boys and girls that have been abused by “men of GOD”. The catholic church too has been hit with accusations of pedophilia which the church only recently admitted. While we are a religious people, we must not use religion as an excuse for ignorance. The average Nigerian Christian does not want to “touch God’s anointed or do him harm”, however we must not shy away from telling them the truth when the need arises. We admit we are all sinners, but there is a difference between telling people the truth and judging them.
If ever our country must succeed beyond the Red Queen’s race, we must learn to speak up despite the consequence than live in a pseudo comfort of silence. We must join our voices together and shout for justice. Christians, Muslims and atheist must hold hands and match in the streets. We must pick sides and not remain neutral in the affairs that concern the soul of our nation. We must allow government or the Gestapos to bully us into silence.
If Malcom X, martin Luther King Jr, William Wilberforce, Rosa parks and the others didn’t speak up, slavery might still be in practice today. If Mary Slessor didn’t take a stand, nobody will be praying to God for ejima. The little freedom we enjoy today is the collective sacrifices of those who came before us. We owe it to future generations to do more. If we don’t learn to speak up as a nation, we might as continue suffering and smiling !
e crashing down like a house of cards. The world had its eyes on Africa, and for a good reason. A ray of hope was slowly illuminating the dark Continent or so it seemed. However, back in Nigeria eagle square remained quiet despite the fact that the Boko haram menace was gaining momentum by the day. What keeps Nigerians indoors when others are outside in the snow or heat protesting? why haven’t we had the much talked about revolution till date? Why haven’t we moved with the times? Why haven’t we made that giant leap from third world country to a developed nation?
It seems antithetical to put silence and Nigeria in one sentence. After all, our music is loud .Our costumes speak in high decibels and we are very articulate in Queen’s English with a loud accent to match. You need to hear us when we pray in churches and mosques-very loud, and we can shout enough to stir our English and Spanish clubs to victory despite been hundreds of miles away. With the foregoing, one can be tempted to say Nigerians are not silent people. Agreed! although we can also agree that we make a lot of noise instead of making our voices heard.
Today in Nigeria, the government of day is introducing very questionable policies, but only a few people are challenging the status quo.The Ruga scheme seems like a plan to please a certain sect. Leah Sharibu is still in captivity, but the average Nigerian is busy arguing whether Donald Trump deserves a second tenure or not.There is widespread insecurity and discontent with how the affairs of our nation is handled, but unlike our neighbor Sudan,we are not in eagles square making our voices heard,at best we are cowards behind screens retweeting.Whenever there is call for public protest and you’ll not be surprised to see only a handful of people.
Throughout history, societies that have progressed were those that were vocal about their situations. The oppressed had to stand up and demand for their freedom, because as Martin Lurther King Jr once said “freedom is not voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”. After 59years as an independent nation, we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place,not sure if we are better off than we were before 1960. Employees are molested by their bosses in the office and they are mute. Pensioners must pay bribes before they are paid and people are not filing complaints at the servicom office. We have so pampered and tolerated our gullible politicians that the rest of the world is also treating us with utter disrespect.
Nigerians are so quick to forgive-which is noble, but we are also in a haste to forget the lessons that came with the pain. We must abandon the thought that government exits to cater for our needs. We must not wait to be given what is ours by right. We must raise our voices and demand for it.
Perhaps our predicament is not entirely our fault. We have been programed since childhood to hold back our opinions under the guise of morality and skewed discipline. We claim it is not right for a child to speak where elders gather-even when the child has better things to say. In our schools the line between discipline and abuse is crossed on a daily basis .Recently ,a student of my Alma Mata was disfigured by a staff for simple offence that had not yet been proven to be true. The boy never opened up about the incident. Lucliky, someone was able to bring it to the schools attention before action had to be taken. These kind of stories live with us every day. Some of us have similar experience
It is understandable why many Nigerians don’t speak up in the midst of oppression. For example, most men in “uniform” harass law abiding citizens daily. Only a few of such people have the courage to report the case to the police, however , in the end nothing positive is usually done about it. Therefore,we have become a people that would rather face oppression in silence than speak up. We cry in private and smile in public.This is why our problems are always with us.
Recently, a very sacred table was shaken. The wife of celebrity singer Timi Dakolo came out publicly to accuse Pastor Biodun of The Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly ,COZA of rape. While I don’t know the truth, a lot of people wondered why it took her many years to bring it to public notice.. Rape is a very traumatizing event and culture does not help either. Those who open up about rape are thought to bring shame to their family and are ridiculed. Many are even accused of lying. And because we not a very listening society, most people live with their pain .From house helps who have become slaves under the care of their supposed guardians to boys and girls that have been abused by “men of GOD”. The catholic church too has been hit with accusations of pedophilia which the church only recently admitted. While we are a religious people, we must not use religion as an excuse for ignorance. The average Nigerian Christian does not want to “touch God’s anointed or do him harm”, however we must not shy away from telling them the truth when the need arises. We admit we are all sinners, but there is a difference between telling people the truth and judging them.
If ever our country must succeed beyond the Red Queen’s race, we must learn to speak up despite the consequence than live in a pseudo comfort of silence. We must join our voices together and shout for justice. Christians, Muslims and atheist must hold hands and match in the streets. We must pick sides and not remain neutral in the affairs that concern the soul of our nation. We must allow government or the Gestapos to bully us into silence.
If Malcom X, martin Luther King Jr, William Wilberforce, Rosa parks and the others didn’t speak up, slavery might still be in practice today. If Mary Slessor didn’t take a stand, nobody will be praying to God for ejima. The little freedom we enjoy today is the collective sacrifices of those who came before us. We owe it to future generations to do more. If we don’t learn to speak up as a nation, we might as continue suffering and smiling !
Parkwat Walkyes Parky
July 6,A.D 2019
Scalpeldiary 