POWER DRUNK

Statement 1: “If you are a widow do you want more people to be widowed? You are a widow, go and die!”

Statement 2: “... But when I said ‘go and die,’ that one was said in a fit of anger. And I am really sorry.”

A governor, when ordering the seizure of some goods belonging to a resident of the state, who was allegedly a street trader, made the first statement. The same governor, while hosting the same victim at the Government House, made the second. The difference between these two statements is one person’s awareness and bravery, among the scores who chose to look on whilst a leader was inflicting emotional and monetary pain on one of his subjects. Had the initial statement not made it to the social media, the injustice would have gone on unchecked as it does every day of our lives here in Nigeria.  It definitely wouldn't have been the subject of public debate.    

There can be no doubt that our leaders are all bullies who turn our mandates against us once in power. According to the online reference book Wikipedia, “Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively to impose domination over others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behavior used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets…Bullying ranges from simple one-on-one bullying to more complex bullying in which the bully may have one or more ‘lieutenants’ who may seem to be willing to assist the primary bully in his or her bullying activities.”

If we replace the word “bullying” with “our leaders” in the above definition, the meaning is not lost. It doesn’t matter what political party or region they come from, they all share the same trait, the same DNA of being emperors who rule but do not govern. Our individual and collective rights are daily undermined, while the laws of the land are subverted at the will and whim of those who should be their custodians. Before our eyes, the ongoing crisis between the government and ASUU has degenerated into the display of brute power. It is nothing short of institutional bullying for the government to order striking lecturers back to work or be sacked for insisting on a validly endorsed memorandum of understanding to prevent the blatant and arrogant denial and non-implementation which necessitated the strike in the first place.

The government is being exposed. They are being shown in a very poor light. This strike has been wonderful as it has shown that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities are ready to sacrifice themselves, even as the minister who should be saddled with improvements in a failing sector believes that the answer to the problems is to sack his very constituents who are standing up for what he will ultimately get glory for. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with the staff union and not allow the Doyin Okupes of the land to confuse us. Our universities are in a poor decrepit state and this is the time to make a stand and insist on the corrections and improvements.

The Government should appreciate that they are no longer trusted. They have made too many empty promises and whatever they say now, we do not believe. Their words are too cheap and they continually move the goal posts. At present, our universities are grossly understaffed and underfunded, isn’t it then comical to want to sack ASUU members as they devise fictitious conspiracy theories?     

In this age of people-power (as is the case presently in Ukraine, Thailand and Egypt) we should demand accountability and insist that those who fall short be stripped of the leadership robes we bestowed on them. Or maybe we should borrow from PDP chairman Bamanga Tukur’s definition of a leader as a necessary virus. Viruses are tiny organisms that may lead to mild to severe illnesses in humans, animals and plants. This may include flu or a cold to something more life threatening. This is why we need to protect ourselves from them. Thank you ASUU, we stand with you.