NIGERIA PROTEST HYPOCRISY
People expect me to say something about the upcoming national protest against bad governance, but I won’t comment on whether you should protest or not. I’m just observing the nation and relating it to what I have known in the past. We protested, others protested, all kinds of protests were held while we were in the university. Now, Nigerians have become very hypocritical. I’ve noticed that all those clergymen and politicians who protested against Goodluck Jonathan for bad governance remained silent throughout Buhari’s era.
Dangote, who is now complaining about this administration, kept quiet throughout Buhari’s era and all previous administrations because he was benefiting. Now that he is affected, he’s crying foul and wants to reveal secrets he has known all along because they were mutually beneficial to him and others. When the price of cement was high, no one cried foul because it benefited a group of people. An Igbo man is perceived as deserving of any punishment and accusation in this country, just like the accusations against certain individuals for sponsoring this protest. I’m not an Igbo man, note that.
The next thing I want to say is that the same Nigerian youths who are craving to protest now, who are suffering the most, and who are unemployed—some of them have collected money, are looking for positions of authority and relevance, and are coming on television condemning and antagonizing their fellow youths. Nigerians are hypocritical, not straightforward, and are the most difficult people to advise, relate with, and analyse. I wonder why a clergyman, whose name I won’t mention, who was all over the place condemning Goodluck Jonathan, has suddenly kept quiet. If you know his name, he has suddenly kept quiet.
The next thing I want to say is that you had an alternative to this government—a man of honor, dignity, experience, and record contested the elections. Even though he won, you should have protested then, not now. Even though he won, there were people who fought against his emergence using tribalism, religion, regionalism, and all that. These same people are now the ones crying. When I was watching NYSC members carrying ballot boxes, policemen carrying ballot boxes, and youths in Lagos fighting over ballot boxes, I told myself that these people don’t know what they’re playing with.
Listen, I don’t watch all these Arise TV and TVC channels. I don’t watch them because I don’t want to be irritated. I have lost interest in Nigerians and their approach to life. I’m building my life because I have limited time here on Earth. I’m building my life and my family so that my own economy and system will be insulated from the Nigerian system, just as your politicians, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and youths have built a cocoon around themselves. The pain you are experiencing, they are not experiencing. When they want to die, they die in London, and then they bring their dead bodies to Nigeria. Whatever you want to do, do it. I have played my part; it is up to you to play yours.
I remain your friend, Dr. Charles Apoki. God bless you.
