It may be simplistic to aver that the events in Egypt and Tunisia will now happen in Nigeria. My take, sad as it is, is that the ripple effects of those events won't necessarily take root here. Our climate isn't ripe for it. And it isn't because Nigerian youths are all cowards, chicken or lily-livered. Do the Boko Haram and MEND militants appear pusillanimous? These youths willingly put their lives on the line in their violent agitation.
The reason the mass revolts won't happen in Nigeria is because of our culture of avarice and corruption, our sham religiousity, ethnic and religious cleavages.
Nigerians are deeply polarized along ethnic and religious lines. These cleavages do not allow for a common front or unity in dealing issues of common interests. There is a huge distrust and it is passed down from generation to generation. A heavy baggage of deep seated prejudices, mistrust and bias regarding our fellow countrymen. We have derogatory and insulting names for other tribes and religions within our own inner circles which we delight in affirming at every opportunity. We often play the ethnicity card. Viewing events from a pair of tribally tinted glasses which we refuse to adjust. The animosity we carry in our hearts for other tribes is like a simmering cauldron of deeply seated emotions which frequently boils over in fights between groups: Ife and Modakeke, Ijaw and Itsekiri, settlers and indigenes in Jos, Hausa and Igbos, Christians and Moslems claiming thousands of lives. It is estimated that about 218 people are murdered in senseless killings in Jos in one month!
The Niger Delta environmental degradation and sundry issues, for instance, do not evoke much sympathy from other regions of the country. It isn't their problem even if the oil wealth of the nation has turned the region to a wasteland.
Nigerians have also earned a reputation as the happiest people on earth. There is the suffering and smiling mentality as Fela Anikulapo Kuti sang about. We believe it will "somehow" get better one day. One day it will be our turn to “chop” too or our children's turn. If not, something supernatural will happen to change the tide. Note that our often envisaged change is not necessarily by our effort but usually by some miraculous spiritual means that does not need our input. We also have the reputation of being one of the most corrupt people on earth. A confounding paradox. A highly religious and highly corrupt people!
Therein lies our inability to build the critical mass necessary for the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia or even move forward as a country in any positive direction. We just do not have the right soil to sow the seeds of such revolutions or mass revolts. It is usually every man, religion or tribe to his own tent. Even the coalition permutations and voting alliances in the forthcoming elections are tinged by such considerations.
We can't rule it out completely in the distant future though. A time when the citizens will arise and with one voice speak up against tyranny and bad governance. But a lot of work on achieving true nationhood, such as mass enlightenment to provoke attitudinal change and integration of our body polity will have to be done. There is a need to bridge our cleavages and arrest our confounding paradoxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment