Yes demons!!! But not Yoruba demons

….. A call to youth participation in 2019 elections.

Tobi Oyeniyi ACA

Yes, Yoruba Demons, a popular phrase on the lips of Nigerian ladies used to describe the numerous Yoruba men who will use their sugar coated lips and charming aura to win the fragile hearts of volatile ladies to fall for their admiration whereas they may not necessarily have any good intentions for the innocent lady.

The world of dating have tagged them DEMONS because by the time ladies who fall their prey realize how unserious they are, it’s a heart disaster.

So I thought within myself “demons” and took a look at Nigeria and how terrible things have turned out for us and I concluded that indeed beyond Yoruba Demons, we have greater demons in this country. They ripped us off our innocence; they took our hearts, trusts and inheritance, shattered our dreams, destroyed our hopes and left us in complete nakedness, lack, want and absolute penury. They silenced our voices, we’ve cried to that extent we run out of tears and our cries are not even noticed anymore.

Folks, yes in the North thousands are massacred daily, our girls kidnapped, raped, killed and turned into virtues of violence. There’s hunger, starvation, modern day slavery and a very noticeable social stratification that you can close your eyes and differentiate the haves from the have-nots. Thousands sleeping in IDP camps supposedly under government protection yet the same government and her officials rape the girls, treat the people like slaves, and even bombed them like terrorists. They said it was an error but we’ve not seen anyone punished.

Herdsmen and Farmers clashing, scores murdered daily. Farmers have abandoned their farms yet we’re told that importation of farm produce in Nigeria has reduced, that we’ve closed down rice mills in Thailand because of our local production, they say millions have returned to farming when even a top notch politician with all his might and powers was not only kidnapped at his farm, herdsmen took the far by storm and did what they do best. So what happens to my defenseless grandmother a farmer by blood? Killer herdsmen have been on rampage all across the country, they’ve crossed borders and regions, unleashed havocs and terrorized the innocent at a rate so alarming than we ever experienced before this government came to power. Why are we lying to ourselves?

Nigerians think we’re alright in the South. No!!! far from it. I make bold to say the South East has one of the highest rate of unemployment in this country when you consider ratio of unemployed to the population of the employable. Thanks to the ever entrepreneurial poise of an average igbo man, our unemployment rate could have doubled. Yet someone is busy erecting statues all around and spending hundreds of millions to decorate the city in the name of Christmas every year. He even gave us is sister as Commissioner for Happiness. What happened to us?

We think things are fine in the South but I’m sure civil servants in Osun State know better. Worse still this same state where civil servants are starved of their salaries is ranked one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria. Oh no!!! I see doom, because natural laws of living tells us that an hungry man is naturally angry so if there’s peace in that state it’s only a tale of an enraged ram that has taken few steps back to strategies for a forceful and brutal attack.

In Lagos its modern day robbery, they have covered up the oceans, reclaimed the lands as they call it and these same guys have bought the lands from Government with Government money. I think a masses friendly government would at least use a portion of it to construct low cost housing for the ever rising working population and give it out on rent even if we can’t buy it. At least that way we can say our Government has given an alternative and provided tangible competition to the far expensive buildings beyond the reach of the average worker on the Island. Yes, they constructed 21 roads in Alimosho to help uscommute from Sango Otta into Oshodi and then we can make it to VI every working morning. Can you see how they’re thinking? Why is this government not masses friendly?

Is it not pathetic that from 1999 till date the same agent has facilitated collection of Lagos State IGR, they will tell us it has helped improve IGR by over 1000%, scam. Markets have been demolished and privatized to the disadvantage of the poor and middle class. Housing projects are now been executed that even level 14 officers of the same government cannot afford. Yet they say it’s “low cost”. What is government’s business making profitfrom the same people whose taxes are supposed to be usedprovide these amenities? Why are all the projects handled by developers? No, these weren’t the type of housing Baba Jakandegave us!!!

All across the country these guys have destroyed our lives. They’ve mortgaged our future for their children and grand children. They’ve deceived us enough. They’ve put barricades around political offices that we’re too busy chasing daily bread and seeking our individual future that we can’t even aspire anymore. Life is so difficult for the Nigerian worker that he sees every public holiday a time to relax, even Election Day. Worse still, the elections are so poorly organized and swiftly rigged that we are not even sure the exercise is worth our timing.

My dear Nigerian youth this is a call to action; babes please let that Yoruba Demon be, if you can’t tell him off give him what he wants and move on, there’s more serious business right now. Yoruba demons and counterparts from everywhere else, common these girls aren’t going anywhere, they’re here even after 2019 so please let’s take a pause. We’ve turned up enough, wardrobes filled with “asoebi” from the Dubai weddings to the ones we attended at Mbaise and Minna.

Right now, it’s a race for victory in 2019. Get your PVC, it’s your power. Come out, contest, vote and be voted for, that’s true intelligence. Stay, defend your vote, and ensure it counts, that’s our main job. We can do it. We can get rid of these guys, yes we can get rid of these POLITICAL DEMONS.

Tobi Oyeniyi is a young Chartered Accountant and a strong optimist that a better Nigeria is possible.tobioyeniyi@gmail.com twitter handle @tobioyeniyiACA