NIGERIANS AT THE PEAK OF BUHARISTIC SHEGE....
Some days ago, I was robbed. You can imagine how a wealthy man is robbed at the middle of the night or the way a retired soldier is kidnapped; suddenly and without any warning! The robbery was in the same manner the ever struggling and striving Nigerians have been swindled recently. Now in Nigeria, citizens are denied of spending their possession and never possess more possessions, it is far worse than any recession! Notwithstanding, I will chronicle the pains that I share with my fellow countrymen. Figuratively, I have been robbed of words to describe the exact panic and pandemonium existing like a pandemic in my country.
However, I have chosen to voice out through my loud pen, emulating one of my best writers' philosophy. Niyi Osundare, in one of his interviews had stated that he would rather speak out than to be suppressed by the silence of others and keep silent. Even a Yoruba proverb states that “oro kin tobi titi, ki a fi obe bu", meaning words are meant to be spoken no matter how complicated they are. Writers such as poets, columnists, dramatists, novelists have been and are still exercising their freedom of speech in the most creative way ever. Writers have done their best to chronicle and/or correct the problems of the past as they have recaptured historical events in such a way that they have become part of our present and they there for other generations to meet in the future. Literary works like Niyi Osundare’s Snapsong, Chinua Achebe’s Civil Peace and Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman are few of those works that explore the history of Nigeria. This paper will also follow suit, it will present the present story of Nigeria for future readers by discussing the cause, effect and a solution to the current trials of Nigerians in Nigeria.
Following the ‘no fuel’ crisis that that has left many citizens with little or no choice, it was announced by our dear president, President Muhammudu Buhari that the spending of the 1000 naira and 500 naira old notes is illegal. This decision made by the president counters the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Ever since this powerful decision was made, Nigeria and Nigerians have been literarily flipped from the frying pan into the fire itself. So sad!
A day before, a woman with three kids approached me. Two of the children claimed her left and right hand and one was strapped behind her back. Her worried face revealed that she was in a great need of help.
"Anti abeg, Shey you fit give me five hundred Naira new note make I give you one k?” she pleaded.
I laughed inwardly at her offer but at the same time, I pitied her.
“No ma, dem no fit collect the old note from my hand,” I declined her offer.
“HA. Na dis last card dey for my hand. Wetin my pikin go chop? she lamented before dragging her kids with her and moving away.
She had offered to give me a thousand naira note if I could give her a new note of five hundred naira. Unfortunately, the circumstances of the country has forced me to reject what could have been a ifa, as the Yoruba’s would say which means an opportunity for me to gain extra amount of money. I also wanted to narrate how I also struggled to get the cash with me at the ATM stand but she was already some distance away. What I had experienced that morning was far worse than Jonathan Iwegbu’s struggle to get the egg rasher money in Chinua Achebe’s Civil Peace. Later, I tried to fight back my tears when I discovered that I could not get to my destination as transport workers are on strike due to the shege that is faced in my country.
Now the questions that should be up for debate is that: Why is the giant of a whole continent faced with giants of problems? How did Nigeria become a place that gathers citizens, citizens about to scatter through hunger? What is the root of these problems? The people? Government and/or commoners? Or the people’s beliefs and personalities which affects their unrealisable decisions they make?
It is very evident that our government never weighed the pros and cons before executing their perfect plan to curb recession and inflation in the country. Sadly enough, instead of every citizen to be the brother keeper of the other, they turned out to be the brother eater. The POS agents that were able to dispense cash added extra charges to every transaction, defiling the order of the Central Bank of Nigeria that every transaction should be charged with the normal amount of money. Some of them were asked the reason for the extra charges and they simply stated that it is the money to compensate the stress they passed through getting money from the bank. It is the money the Yorubas will call owo gba mabinu. It is now the case of the hunted hunting the hunted.
The only solution that can dissolve this problem is a change of mindset. It is believed every action was once a thought, simply put, we think before we act. This means that if every citizen in the country (the government officials and the commoners) is able to think rightly then we would be able to act rightly. Acting rightly will lead to making the right decisions and the right decision by everyone will ensure the right living. We would all be able to live, alive and not dead with poverty and other vices.
It is just a matter few days , Nigeria and Nigerians will make a decision to choose another set of leader amidst INSECURITY, NEW NAIRA PALAVA, FUEL SCARCITY, CORRUPTION et cetera. The right decision should be made. We should all vote for a real change and not more shege.
MTWRITES ? ?