Photo credit: Legit
I can boldly say that the farce of a nation called Nigeria is nothing but a tragicomedy.
I’m insisting the nation is a farce because history tells me so. Apart from that, except for the first republic election, which the British duly supervised, which produced a prime minister, which other head of state is not military or influenced by the military?
The first republic itself is under a big question mark!
If my position is correct, it means we’ve been under military domination for about fifty-three years out of fifty-nine years of nationhood.
I would then be correct to say we are a militarized people. Democratizing a militarized people is not easy.
It’s like attempting to set slaves free without their self-esteem being intact. Our people’s hearts have been so traumatized as a result of the brutality and dehumanization suffered by their tormentors – the military.
Many of us still have an inferiority complex regarding our abilities. This is especially true when it comes to taking the reins of leadership in the nation.
The result is that we believe only our tormentors are good enough to rule us. The military, on its part, doesn’t fail us.
It further injures our sensibilities. It continues to, more or less, rape us! It knows we can never unite, and it cheats us of our birthright.
The people are usually and deservingly, too, left at their mercy. No thanks to the few amongst the non-military elements who find it comfortable eating the crumbs that fall from the military’s tables. Unfortunately, these civilians would have been sitting at the dining table if they had insisted.
But they would rather explain away their dictatorial tendencies and brush them up before the undiscerning public. According to them, Nigeria needs discipline.
They hardly talk of the need for justice!
And the average citizen Muda is sadly inept. As long as he gets something that’s not worth his while, he’s satisfied. Most of us believe in miracles.
We believe that we need to pray to God for basic amenities like electricity, water, good roads, and others to function!
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