HOW NIGERIANS PERMIT THEIR LEADERS TO TREAT THEM INSIGNIFICANTLY

    My encounter with Nigerians some days ago in Madrid, Spain, during the shameful police character report exercise showed me some of the reasons why it would be difficult for our leaders to do the right thing. I observed that Nigerians are very afraid of constituted authorities, afraid to ask questions, afraid to demand their rights…. So, most of the times, they resort to side talks instead of coming forward and formally making their grievances known and seeking a redress for any infringement on their rights.

   I realize that most Nigerians do not like their faces or names to be associated with any struggle or disconformities with constituted authorities. And what is even worse is their ease at applauding the sweet talks of their leaders who are experts in telling them just exactly what they love to hear but never versed in doing what needs to be done; A new person steps into power or prominence and he begins to promise heaven and earth and immediately you see naïve and impetuous Nigerians applauding him for promising to do what he should and will eventually end up not doing. Even when you are bold in their midst to stand up and ask the questions, you see other Nigerians looking at you as if you´ve just farted in public or as if you have done the abominable by having the guts to ask their Oga sir or Oga Madam a question.

  What Nigerians do not know is that they are the Oga sirs and the Oga madams and that the persons they are afraid to come close to or even ask a question are just their chosen servants. In fact, some Nigerians try to discourage and even impede you from asking any question…. They immediately begin to say it is enough even before the government official has had enough time to convincingly answer your question. Those of us who are bold enough to remind the government and its agents of their responsibilities are immediately made to appear as anarchists and even booed sometimes.

  In a country like Nigeria where it becomes a luxury and a privilege to have the opportunity to be in the midst of those who run the affairs of our country, no stone should be left unturned in the effort to get them to answer the many yawning questions regarding their offices. If you are not clear about any issue, you should insist in its clarification. Sometimes, the masses are the cause of their own injustices and the ones who permit their leaders to treat them insignificantly.