“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.” – Abraham Lincoln
Are you displeased at the outcome of the 2023 presidential polls as announced on the dawn of March 1? Also, are you pissed off about how the petitions turned out? Has your annoyance intensified after November 11 isolated gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi?
You better brace up for more annoyances.
Last year, after his Chatham House, London, outing, Tinubu told the world on video that power was not served à la carte…it is to be snatched. Many Nigerians did not get the hint until Hope Uzodinma (Imo State) and Yahaya Bello (Kogi) proved to be good disciples of Tinubu. The worst is coming unless you, not anybody else, say no.
The 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln (1861 to 1865) left a huge legacy of his momentous achievements of successfully waging a political struggle and civil war, ending slavery, and creating the possibility of civil and social freedoms for African Americans. He tells us in the opening quote of this piece that citizens of a free country have two rights, constitutional and revolutionary. They can deploy either to effect a change in society. Do Nigerians enjoy these rights?
Does Nigeria even exist as a country in the real sense of it and are there any institutions in Nigeria that belong and are answerable to the people? If the answers to the two questions above are in the affirmative, then the next question will be, can they exercise such right either to amend a government that does not serve their end or to overthrow it? The other question is, have Nigerians grown weary of their government, and if yes, why can’t they exercise their constitutional or revolutionary right for their own good? This is the crux of the matter to discuss this week.
The main reason a revolution or putsch cannot work for Nigeria is that this is not a country. If it were a country, an amendment of bad government or revolution to overthrow it would have been possible.
All the revolutionaries in this clime who tried to turn things around had hit the wall because they misread their environment, thinking we were in a country. Less than 10 years into our nationhood, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, and his team, pissed off with politicians, attempted a turnaround to reset this country early but failed; it instead became the foundation of today’s problems. Since then the leaders have been lording it over our citizens, taking advantage of poverty, religion, and ethnicity, the same variables that are fueled by systemic corruption and unethical leadership.
The closest Nigerians came to revolting was the #EndSARS uprising of 2020 but was crushed by very divisive sentiments that have been our name from time immemorial. But before its suppression, it exposed the Nigerian youths to how much-untapped potential they have in them.
Another reason the revolution is a far cry here is that the people wait to be sponsored to act in their interest. It’s only in this country that the injured, writhing in pain, would be waiting for someone else to pay him to fight back.
Over the years, I have not met two out of 10 Nigerians who are not complaining against the government in power, but about seven of them wait for another person to hire them to take action to remedy their situation. For a peaceful march, the participants are hired, for violent protest, the people are paid to come out and expectedly the gratification is the fuel and everything ends when the money ceases to come.
A country like that will not see any fundamental change in its political life until such a gullible generation fades out. That is why people should perish the idea of grumbling for change because they do not have what it takes. What does it take, you may ask? It’s like iron going through the furnace to emerge gold or carrying the cross to get salvation. We are a nation that wants victory as a team but avoids practice. Revolution is not a supernatural phenomenon; it’s a product of provocation for those who have the liver to say enough is enough.
Revolution is action-oriented; it does not come by murmuring. Throughout history, revolution is rarely planned, most of it is spontaneous, what drives a revolution is usually from inside of its operatives and its goading comes from outside. The anger to act must come from within the revolutionary, not by inducements from anybody or quarters.
In most cases, revolutionaries feel they are working for themselves and the future of their children, not for any individual or group…ethnic, religious, political party, or candidate. The real reason a revolution is still distant in Nigeria is that Nigerians who are dying of anger from multiple injustices are still waiting for someone to push them to act. They think that in carrying out any turnaround, they would be doing it for someone else who is expected to either remunerate or appreciate them.
After the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi caused a stir by helping to galvanize Nigerian youths to come out to be counted for their future and take their destiny into their own hands, the docile youths are still waiting for him to buy them AK47s and feeding money before they can ask for their rights or of their stolen mandate. The stolen mandate belongs to Nigerian voters, not just Peter Obi and Yusuf Ahmed-Datti.
All that is happening is enough to catalyze Nigerians to work towards resetting their battered land. Those expecting Peter Obi to march on the streets do not understand what is involved. Obi has done his best, unveiled the evil in our polity, and given direction that can help our mindset. But we are still in our cocoons listening to our Imams and pastors telling us about God’s intervention while they keep extorting corrupt leaders and amassing wealth from our commonwealth. Do not leave your house door ajar because you are a child of God and He will protect you. When the marauders come, after God has blessed you with the resources to own a home and the wherewithal to protect yourself from brigands, you are likely to be punished for the misapplication of the gifts and talents. That may be the punishment Nigerians of good conscience are facing today.
Some people, especially the Obidients, have been blaming Obi for not ordering them to the streets on March 1st when Prof Mahmoud Yakubu made the ill-fated, dawn announcement, on September 6 when Justice Tsamani and his team read the jankara judgment, or on October 26 when the Supreme Court affirmed and sealed the fraud. Even If Obi has failed on this score, should we wait to die?
A revolution is a turnaround action, making a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization of polity.
In most cases, it involves a revolt against the government due to perceived oppression whether political, social, or economic.
Anywhere a revolution takes place, it comes with results that include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions, usually in response to perceived overwhelming autocracy or plutocracy. What is unanimous about revolution is that the people who started it have determined that the institutions currently in place in society have failed or no longer serve their intended purpose.
All the great revolutions in history had similar characteristics of changing the failed society for the better, namely the English Revolution (1649), American Revolution (1776), French Revolution (1789), Russian Revolution (1917), and Chinese Revolution (1949).
When is the Nigerian revolution coming? Will revolution ever come in Nigeria? Today, our selfish political class prefers their ninth or 10th luxury cars rather than repairing our children’s classrooms or buying drugs in our public hospitals. Who will contemplate having yachts for recreation and holiday partying while multidimensional poverty is ravaging the land? If we have not been provoked enough to exercise our constitutional or revolutionary rights, so be it. If we have adapted to liking our body odour, let’s stop bemoaning the smell of our farts or the nasty stench from our armpits. I like to leave you with these words from the Wonder Diary, “If you don’t take risks, nothing will change” God help us.