Sitting on the fence has been the common protest of the people. A culture and people that seek lasting change must be ready to fight for it. Freedom from oppression and tyranny is not won by “Sidon look” attitude. It is won with pain and tears and if necessary blood. Good things never come easily.

Protest and revolutions are concomitant, a distinction without a difference. Protests have grown into revolutions and vice versa. The aim is to alleviate a present predicament that is not working.

In the past, protests have rarely yielded any factor in the numbers that make the day. This is because most of the purveyors of such protests have been known to be selfish and often surrender or give up the protest at the slightest incentives or threats to cut short the mutiny, and with many casualties, and no result to show for the loss, hence people have become more and more weary of jumping into the protests boats. Or should we say that the lack of unity among the regions is the reason we can never have a successful protest. The North do not trust the South and vice versa. The South East do not trust the South West and vice versa. These assumption might sound good enough as a deterrent factor, however, given the overall gain, we have to rise above our basal state of bigotry and form a formidable force against this lingering threat.

                                   

Perhaps our complaisant nature was handed down to us by our ancestors, who do not see the need to challenge the leaders. The hope that better days will come keep surpassing the need for a deliberate move for change. Or is it the cryptic belief that God will come down to earth and save us from the leaders that we elected by ourselves? If the prayers of our fathers have not changed the course of the country for the better, isn’t it time for us to move for a change. When I was a kid, I remember my parents used to say “we look forward to a better Nigeria” Today we the children now long for the good old days. Jokingly, Even Andrew who asked us not to check out of the country, checked out long ago. Almost all The Artiste that joined in singing The popular Nigerian Song “Lift up Nigeria “composed by  Sunny Ade have left the country for greener pasture. This appear funny and irrelevant but sometimes truth are hidden in ridiculousness. Our forefathers handed us a failed country. Are we going to do the same injustice to our descendants?

If revolution or deliberate move for a change of government is not the solution because of the associative violence, please let’s have a solution. I agree protest and revolution often escalate into unforeseen larger scale. Perspectives drawn about revolution, using African revolutions as references has shown that it never really solves the problem. However, if we need to look outside the shores of our continents on how it is done, I think we should. Or should we just say we are not yet ripe for a revolution or demand for change because our body language speaks evil of it and as a result remain in our doldrums?

Or do we agree that we are just a rotten set of people who cannot actually make meaningful representation and change the course of our lives. The vicissitudes that govern or control our lives are complex but not that different from other countries that do better than us. Even though we know that there are cases of foreign influences to repress our growth, we nevertheless will benefit more from our growth than foreign powers and must come together to fight it tooth and nail to have it.

In the wake of Sowore’s call for a revolution (which in hindsight, a more politically acceptable tone or lexicon would have sufficed) the gusto and expected support was very low. One would have expected at least a handful of protesters (not revolutionists as the pie context might have it) on the roads with placards chanting at least “enough is enough” “Liberation at all cost” “Change the Change” but none of these happened. The turnout was very low but not because of the headline ‘revolution’ but because we are too comfortable with our state of penury, and that nonchalance is the bane of our choice for change. And to make matters worse, after Sowore was arrested, millions criticized him for wanting to burn a country where he has no filial commitment, especially nuclear. How many of our so-called leaders have filial commitment in Nigeria. They all have their kids, wives and even siblings abroad. They don’t even school in Nigeria or receive medical care in Nigeria, yet you vote for them every four years. How are they any different from Sowore who has his nuclear family abroad? 

We took to Social Media to beat down his integrity and sense of patriotism by reflecting on his past actions. Yes, Sowore is not a saint, likewise our so called leaders. But here is a man who has brought forward the common challenges of our government that we have all spoken about in secrecy of our homes but all we do to him is castigate him publicly. Shame on us!!! We think these leaders will change if they do not see the need to change. I see people bicker on social media over the better party between PDP and APC. I laugh in derision when I read their wrangling. It’s either they are ‘too blind’ or ‘too stupid’ to know that the battle is between US (the ruled) and them (The rulers). PDP and APC contain the same set of people with similar mindset. It is an illusion that has constantly moved behind the scene that the leaders cared about our welfare. We will continue to tolerate this political hegemony and feudalized government until the country breaks. Remember the story of the toad that refuses to leave the pot of water on fire. It continues to acclimatize as the water temperature increases until it was too hot and too late to leave the boiling water.

I remember when we protested in 2012 the increase in pump fuel price of petrol from N65 to N141, we got N75 out of it. What baffles me is that in a repeat of same scenario in 2016, we refused to protest and the pump price was jerked up from N65 to N145 more than a 100% increase in price. The reason for the increase is to stop fuel subsidy. Today fuel is still being subsidized and we are still paying for the excess. I don’t understand the cause and effect hitherto the need to inflate petrol pump price

I can go ahead and share with you several nations that have made meaningful impact in their societies by standing for their rights by revolting but I guess you can check the internet for that information

We are all in agreement with the fact that we have bad leadership and have shown regrets about this but still haven’t agreed on how to make that wanton aspect a thing of the past in our lives rather we remain silent in our referendum for a change. I have learnt in life that life is a continuous struggle. That nothing really gives if we do not demand it or fight for it. We fought for our independence from our foreign colonist and got sovereignty, now it is time to fight for freedom from our elite colonists and end the madness that has since ruled our lives