#NaijaBlackMonday and #NaijaCallOfShame
What a week! From the conviction of Orji Uzor Kalu to the release of Omoyele Sowore and then the invasion of the courts by Department Of State Services (DSS) and subsequent re-arrest of Sowore barely 24 hours after being released, to the denial by DSS of invading a court and then reports of DSS apologising to the judge whose court they invaded. It is not fiction. It is Nigeria. Nigeria leaves one cringing daily. When you think that it cannot get worse they take it to another level.
DSS invading a court and trying to effect an arrest got Nigerians displeased at the flagrant disobedience of the rule of law. How can such sacrilege happen in our country? Even in the most brutal military regime such was never witnessed. We are supposed to be progressing and not retrogressing. After twenty years of uninterrupted democracy one would expect that Nigeria would have rule of law as the norm with strong systems and separation of powers fully recognised. Alas that is not the case. We seem to be drifting from civilisation and slowly moving to being a jungle where anything goes.
One wonders how all the people who fought hard for Nigeria’s democracy feel at the travesty we have in our Nation today. After all the sacrifices they made and the trauma of losing some of their colleagues to the fight for Nigeria. They must feel highly disappointed at what we have allowed our Nation to be.
The generation they handed the hard earned victory to was not been able to hold onto it nor protect and build upon it. Instead they have a sense of entitlement and still expect those who fought before to still be the ones fighting today. Some have been calling out without shame those who have fought for Nigeria’s democracy for over half a century to still be the ones coming out to speak for them. Many with their microwave mentality and feeding bottle syndrome do not want to do anything. They want quick result with others doing the work for them and so would wait upon those who fought before to fight for them while they sit in their sanctimonious thrones calling out everyone except themselves.
How is it even comprehensible that citizens are once again fighting for the fundamental human rights that were fought for before and gotten? How are citizens being taken away by the State? Many that are thought to be missing are later found in DSS camps. What is our country turning into? What happened to good governance, accountability and transparency? What happened to freedom of speech and freedom of association? What happened to dividends of democracy?
This led to the call for #NaijaBlackMonday on the 9th of December 2019 a day to wear black to show displeasure at the state of the affairs of our Nation. The invasion of a court and subsequent re-arrest of Sowore became the catalyst for this call. Citizens were called upon to take a stand and wear black against what displeased them the most about the Nigeria of today. This call is being looked upon to be monthly. Every first Monday of the month will be dedicated to wearing black to signify our displeasure at the state of affairs in Nigeria.
Another call being made out is the #NaijaCallOfShame. This is the shaming of non performing public servants. The era of laughing with public servants who fail us is over. Actions must speak louder than words. We cannot take pictures with them, smile and hail them when they do not deserve such. What is the worth of seeing them? What is the worth of the pictures we take with them? Can you pay your bills with the pictures you take with them? Enough! We must let them know exactly how we feel!
Any public servant that is not deserving of standing ovation should not be given one at events. Where a public servant comes into a place and people are called upon to stand up as a sign of respect they should refuse if the public servants are not deserving of such respect. When you have opportunity to talk where they are, challenge them on what they are not doing well. Call and send them text messages. Engage them on their social media platforms. Wherever you see them let them know of your displeasure. Wear inscribed T-shirts if you can, to places they would be at. Let the inscription on the T shirt carry the message you want to convey.
There is no divinity attached to leaders. Those who say they should not be challenged because they are ordained by God should also know that it is also ordained that they will be held accountable. We must break the yoke of mental captivity
