Manifesto for a Nigerian Revolution
Good morning, fellow serfs, bondsmen, bondswomen and slaves on this southern slave plantation called 9ja. Before it was named Nigeria, our land used to be called the Slave Coast by European expansionists seeking to enrich themselves by all means possible. They succeeded in enslaving us, body, mind, and spirit.
Within the five centuries of our enslavement on this inhuman slave plantation, we have gone through several masters. They have all exploited us, destroyed our bodies and wrecked our minds. They have turned us all into Mumus who obey and hardly question.
Our present yokes are clapped on our necks by people who look exactly like us, talk like us, walk like us, but whose yokes are not less painful than those devised by European slave owners.
I salute you all, as you continue your slavery on this difficult plantation where “monkey dey work baboon dey chop.”
I salute your fortitude as you smile under the whip of humiliation; as you bear your bondage without flinching; as you labor relentlessly, with bad compensation, poor food, impoverished, in deplorable housing; as you shift from place to place on ramshackle Okada bikes, the better to serve your callous masters.
I salute you as stumble from post to post with a blank stare on your face; as you look on, helpless and hopeless as your children study in substandard schools; I salute your fortitude as you fall sick daily on this plantation where no one cares whether you live or die.
I continue to salute you, but when will you refuse to bear this yoke around your neck, even as you aid your masters in placing the same yokes around the necks of your own children, and the children of your children, from generation to generation, family to family, village to village, city to city, from one ethic group to another? When will you wipe this stupid grin off your face, embrace the challenge of your time, and take control over your destiny?
What a torture to be in Nigeria! How frustrated I feel! For the first time in a long while, the things one takes for granted--24/7 electricity, hot water bath, internet connection at will, a laptop that functions all the time--all these basic items become luxury commodities.
Yesterday I went to Akure. In a city where there is no regular pipe-borne water, they have a water fountain displayed in the city center. And the people are happy. They say their town is the "Little London." What a load of hogwash.
Nigerians take these denials as a matter of fact, and think you're crazy for complaining. A dear friend even said "Go back to America if you don't like the way we live here." Is it morally right for anyone to accept these degrading living conditions in the 21st century? When will Nigerians realize that it is their right to insist upon a decent and dignifying way of life? Who wants to live in a dump like this! And why isn't everyone up in arms against the authorities, and taking it meekly like a sheep? "Suffer, suffer for world, enjoy for heaven?"
Why are they raising our kids in darkness? What are they hiding under the shade of a blackout? Please turn on the light and let the people see what is going on in this country!
Most of the problem is with the people who sit around and accept the situation as it is. The solution lies in making a serious demand, standing by that demand, and not going away--however long it takes--until the demands are met. We are not asking for too much to demand electricity, and portable water on our tables.
What can we do at this point? Are we to just sit down like Mumus while these clueless politicians continue to discuss matters that are irrelevant to our fundamental needs and desires?
They expect that you will simply grumble and fold your hands after you've said your bit. But you are not as powerless as you imagine. You are not alone. You are part of millions of people in the same plight as yourself. You are part of the suffering and silent 99% of the people being strangled by only 1% of the citizenry.
The system needs to be swept into the dumps where it belongs. Do whatever you need to do to ensure that this system does not abort your future.
In a country that produces one of the largest volumes of crude oil in the world, in a country that flares gas 24/7, what excuse does the government have for not ensuring that we have electricity? But more than anything else, why are people just sitting down, buying generators, and rubbing their hands together like they are Mumus? Did someone drug us into a stupor here?
When will you realize that your masters are not going to free you from this slave plantation, and that only you can free yourselves?
The fact is that there are many organizations in this country that are empowered to mobilize members who belong to the oppressed 99%. We have the Labor Union, Student Union organizations, Road and Transport Workers Unions, Associations of University Teachers and other tertiary institutions, Associations of Doctors, Nurses, Radiographers, and other medical workers, Civil Service associations, Market Women organizations, Associations of Teachers at the secondary and primary school levels, Christian and Muslim organizations, Associations of Traditional Healers, Associations of Bank workers, Association of Okada Pilots.....There are many organizations whose members are suffering and belong to the 99% of suffering masses.
As members of these organizations and associations, you must ask your leaders to mobilize members to ask for the right to enjoy electricity supply 24/7, and without any compromise. You deserve it. You must ask your leaders to mobilize members and demand for portable water 24/7. It is your right, and you deserve it. Your country is wealthy enough to afford these basic amenities. But your politicians think you are too stupid to ask for your right.
If the leaders of your organizations are too docile, scared, or intimidated to ask for these rights, impeach them and elect those who are bold and courage to fight for your rights.
The leaders of your organizations will not act and make these demands unless you, as a courageous follower, insist that they act.
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