The protest in Ibadan and Niger state perhaps provides a glimmer of hope that the masses can unite in their suffering too, taking a cue from the rich. The masses can do more. We should intensify our outcry against this hardship metted on us.
We should raise a collective voice against this calamity because we don’t know where and when it will stop.
The economic hardship average Nigerians are facing is brutally binding to the extent that the blind can perceive it in the atmosphere. Little wonder,youths in Ibadan came out in their numbers to protest against the skyrocketing price of commodities,and the sorry state of the economy,approximately a fortnight after residents of Minna did same. The situation is getting worse with the passing of each day,the light at the end of the tunnel is increasingly becoming dimmer.
However,what impressed me the most in the midst of this turmoil is the uniformity with which the masses are raising a collective voice against this brutality,which is largely connected to the removal of fuel subsidy and the inability of the government to control the economy.
The youths that protested in Minna and Ibadan apparently belong to different ethnic groups,but they now have an intersection, and what is that intersection?
Economic hardship!!!
You see,that is what we were talking about when we were advocating for Peter Obi during the electioneering period,we wanted Nigerians to look beyond ethnicity and religion,because if a credible leader doesn’t emerge,we will suffer and the suffering we will face will have no respect for religion and ethnicity. Obviously, our projection was true.The prices of foodstuff in the market is not cheaper in Yoruba land,compared to the South-east,and vice versa.
If you go to the market to buy a cup of sugar,the seller will not give you a discount because you are Yoruba or Muslim,you will still buy it at that exorbitant rate. But, during campaigns,politicians and their puppets used lame propaganda to decieve people.
Let’s vote our own brother, they told Yoruba people.
Let’s vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket,they told Muslims in the North.
Is the situation any better for Yorubas or Muslims?
Absolutely No !!!
I dare to say that this calamitous economic whirlwind is a national disaster,it affects all Nigerians as long as you belong to the lower and middle class.
Our elites and politicians have always been united,forget about their gimmicks and toxic divide and rule approach, they are still friends. Their children mingle and intermarry. These people meet at exotic gardens in Maitama,Asokoro,Wuse and Gwarinpa,where they chill irrespective of party and religious affiliations. They do not only chill,they also laugh at us because their card is playing out well;fanning the embers of religious and ethnic hatred so that they divide and rule us. Why should it be different for the masses? Have you ever asked yourself this question; If there is an incidence of religious or ethnic crises in a town or city,why are rich and affluent neighbourhoods not affected? It is because the rich are united in their affluence. A rich Muslim will not carry a matchet and attack a Christian in his neighbourhood and vice versa,on the basis of religion.
The protest in Ibadan and Niger state perhaps provides a glimmer of hope that the masses can unite in their suffering too, taking a cue from the rich. The masses can do more. We should intensify our outcry against this hardship metted on us.
We should raise a collective voice against this calamity because we don’t know where and when it will stop.
Hausa,Tiv,Idoma,Urhobo,Igbo,Kanuri,Ngas,Yoruba and hausa people are all suffering and we should speak up with a united voice.
Nr EZEKIEL ISAH DATSOK is a concerned Nigerian,who want the masses to unite just like the rich.