The fuss about the utterances of an official of the NSCDC still lingers in the air, and one tends to wonder why this is different and taking this long to clear up. The “showdown” was handled by various channels of expression with each one clinching to the issue long enough for it to be noticed. Now I know how much a customised T-shirt costs and that in music, there are no limits to creativity, it all depends on you.

Why then the much ado about nothing? Nigeria unarguably has had its own share of bad leadership, and this has evidently taken a toll on the genetics of its people, youths in particular. A careful observation will reveal that more Nigerian youths have become more involved and informed about the politics of this country. They have become more radical, desperate and rigorous for a change, and with the advent of social media, even those that are disinclined to politics have now become attached. These few channels and others have made the contempt for the leaders more confidently expressible, and through this, getting back at them have become at little cost. The feeling of contempt and frustration usually gives much of its task to any of its tools of expression, but this time, mockery came in handy. It is quite amazing how wild this frustration is growing and how well it has masked the manners and composure of the youths, killing one of the vital elements of the African culture ,“respect for the elderly”. But can their action be said to be unjustifiable? Maybe the impact of the economy is felt differently and what others have been made to pass through due to the inefficiency of some individuals is unimaginable, hence, reason for differences in reaction and response. Or maybe they don’t see them as elders after all and have recognised the circumstance in which the term “elders” applies. Or maybe the pain and suffering has become so excruciating that mockery doesn’t only have to be for children.

A perfect understanding of this will require that we know how many times we have been hit and to what extent it is the damage that has been done to this country. A peep into the judiciary system should get us started. It is not really “how much corruption” you find inside of it but rather “that which is corrupt”. Approaches to some economic problems appear to be ridiculously simple, so much so that you wonder maybe there is more to it, but the government is found busy with some other issue of irrelevance. Billions of Naira is spent on projects yearly, yet no effect is felt in the standards of living of the people except that they get worse, and the leaders, they have rather chosen to fasten themselves to the treasury of the country instead of getting to the real work. These people are much closer to the grave than are the youths, yet they are more willing to cling to life than is a day old baby. So one tend to wonder if there is something we don’t know.

Branding everybody in government as corrupt and incompetent may not be too reasonable but understandably; Nigerians can’t be blamed for being hypersensitive either. Yes maybe they went too far and were rash, unreasonable and inconsiderate, and maybe they were jobless too. But why would they vent their anger and frustration on him? Maybe that’s his own share of what the country throws at everybody, he should deal with it as some other individuals are dealing with things much worse. At least he didn’t become “incompetent” by mistake.

The situation of this country may require that we move our tolerance to negligence from zero to negative, where government officials should be criticized for doing something good when in fact they could have done it better. His “mistake” was close to unforgivable and I hope the leaders are considerate to understand why Nigerians were inconsiderate. You became silly first, and then we laughed. You can’t blame us for being natural. The obvious cure for our laughter is for you to “stop being silly”.


https://www.facebook.com/notes/ahmed-oladipupo-olusesi/maybe-we-cant-be-blamed/10151344610891778