It is no doubt that politicians are becoming
quite the talk of the town these days, but what is even more worrisome is the acts of their so-called supporters. How far will innocent political support go before it turns into extreme chaos?
When some irate youths, evidently supporters of General Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, went on rampage burning the campaign buses of the president, Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Jos, Plateau State, we all put it down to a bleep. There was the usual condemnation and pledge to bring the perpetrators to book. And as usual also, that has not happened. And like a wound untreated, it festered into a sore; one we now seem clueless on how to handle because all sides are now involved. Emboldened by the inaction of the Jos debacle, the president’s motorcade was attacked by stone-throwing youths in Katsina during a campaign stump allegedly by supporters of General Buhari. What these youths failed to realise was that their very action was treasonable and had the security persons detailed to protect the president opened fire on them, nothing would have come out of it but condemnation for not dealing with the situation with tact.
Rivers State is today the theatre of the absurd. Political rallies have been reduced to scenes you only see in the movies; sporadic shooting, maiming and even killings. And then Lagos picked the gauntlet. Scores of people have died and properties destroyed as a result of fracas between members of both the PDP and APC; the most recent being the mayhem that took place around Oshodi area just last week. One becomes a target in certain parts of town if you belong to an opposing party especially where the other party has dominance. Yet this is supposed to be a country where the ethos of democracy dictates that everybody has a right to free association. A few weeks ago the manager of a friend’s company was going about distributing political leaflets in support of Goodluck Jonathan and he was attacked by people who told him that area was for APC. The gentleman almost lost an eye and still undergoing treatment in the hospital, incurring huge bills all because some people were intolerant of his right of free choice! One begins to wonder if it is not the very same democracy the US is practicing that we are. Over there you see young and old going around freely distributing support materials for their preferred candidates without molestation or fear of intimidation and often times done voluntarily. Yet we claim we are a civilised people who must come to table with the comity of nations.
READ ALSO: PVC’s For Sale In Kaduna
The social media has turned into a sour experience for some. A medium that is supposed to bring people together and foster bonds of friendship and unity has driven wedges between people. The degree of hate, vitriol and insults being hurled on all sides at one another is mind-numbing. Topics that are supposed to foster intellectual discourse are reduced to name-calling and what not. Nigerians have become hugely divided along party lines to the point of being repugnant and disagreeable. People who do not even know you or belong to your list of ‘friends’ on Facebook come to your wall or timeline to spew vile at you attempting to re-write your family history simply because you do not support their candidate. I do not know anywhere in the world where support for a candidate is one hundred percent even in cases of sole candidacy. Dissenters are still given a chance to express themselves.
Sadly,
there does not appear to be any sign of this abating because those who
ordinarily should show wisdom in both their utterances and actions are
busy tearing party cards and writing highly incendiary letters and
books. Statesmanship has been taken to a whole new level Nigeria-style.
My worry is that we have not learnt from our very recent history to nip
what is clearly a cancer spreading slowly to ravage this country in the
bud. The Niger Delta militancy began as banditry and kidnapping and
before we knew it, even the fire-power of the Nigerian Military could
not stop the militants in the creeks. An amnesty programme, effectively
begging them to lay down their arms against a hapless nation-state, was
put in place.
What is Boko Haram today began as mere political thuggery which snowballed into extremists taking over part of our territory declaring an Islamic State. Today Nigeria is spending huge sums of money fighting a supposed rag-tag terrorist group in the North-East alongside our neighbours. Once again, we are treating this issue of political extremism and radicalisation with kids gloves believing it is a phase that will pass. I am of the opinion that if concrete steps are not taken now to deal with this issue decisively, Nigeria as a nation will regret her inertia because we would have succeeded in breeding a new crop of politicians and office seekers intolerant of opposing views such that unlike what happened in the past where assassins were paid to eliminate political opponents, people will do it for free, gleefully going forward.
READ ALSO: A Fresh Assassination Plot Uncovered In Kaduna
As we head towards the general elections, Nigerians should call themselves to order as our so-called leaders have fallen short. We should ask ourselves what kind of country we want to live in and ultimately bequeath to our children. One where there is harmony or one riddled with mistrust and intolerance; one where at the end of it all, we are all worse-off because no one has a monopoly of violence and hate to spread around or that which fosters harmonious co-existence. Prejudice is simply ignorance and we must as a matter of urgency begin to try and see things from the other person’s perspective and deal with these issues respectfully and disagreeing without being disagreeable. After all, let us face it. The politicians amongst us are but a mere one percent of the populace so why put the future of the other ninety nine percent in jeopardy? Think Nigeria, think! God bless this Federal Republic.
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/396168-between-political-support-and-extremism.htmlquite the talk of the town these days, but what is even more worrisome is the acts of their so-called supporters. How far will innocent political support go before it turns into extreme chaos?
When some irate youths, evidently supporters of General Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, went on rampage burning the campaign buses of the president, Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Jos, Plateau State, we all put it down to a bleep. There was the usual condemnation and pledge to bring the perpetrators to book. And as usual also, that has not happened. And like a wound untreated, it festered into a sore; one we now seem clueless on how to handle because all sides are now involved. Emboldened by the inaction of the Jos debacle, the president’s motorcade was attacked by stone-throwing youths in Katsina during a campaign stump allegedly by supporters of General Buhari. What these youths failed to realise was that their very action was treasonable and had the security persons detailed to protect the president opened fire on them, nothing would have come out of it but condemnation for not dealing with the situation with tact.
Rivers State is today the theatre of the absurd. Political rallies have been reduced to scenes you only see in the movies; sporadic shooting, maiming and even killings. And then Lagos picked the gauntlet. Scores of people have died and properties destroyed as a result of fracas between members of both the PDP and APC; the most recent being the mayhem that took place around Oshodi area just last week. One becomes a target in certain parts of town if you belong to an opposing party especially where the other party has dominance. Yet this is supposed to be a country where the ethos of democracy dictates that everybody has a right to free association. A few weeks ago the manager of a friend’s company was going about distributing political leaflets in support of Goodluck Jonathan and he was attacked by people who told him that area was for APC. The gentleman almost lost an eye and still undergoing treatment in the hospital, incurring huge bills all because some people were intolerant of his right of free choice! One begins to wonder if it is not the very same democracy the US is practicing that we are. Over there you see young and old going around freely distributing support materials for their preferred candidates without molestation or fear of intimidation and often times done voluntarily. Yet we claim we are a civilised people who must come to table with the comity of nations.
READ ALSO: PVC’s For Sale In Kaduna
The social media has turned into a sour experience for some. A medium that is supposed to bring people together and foster bonds of friendship and unity has driven wedges between people. The degree of hate, vitriol and insults being hurled on all sides at one another is mind-numbing. Topics that are supposed to foster intellectual discourse are reduced to name-calling and what not. Nigerians have become hugely divided along party lines to the point of being repugnant and disagreeable. People who do not even know you or belong to your list of ‘friends’ on Facebook come to your wall or timeline to spew vile at you attempting to re-write your family history simply because you do not support their candidate. I do not know anywhere in the world where support for a candidate is one hundred percent even in cases of sole candidacy. Dissenters are still given a chance to express themselves.
What is Boko Haram today began as mere political thuggery which snowballed into extremists taking over part of our territory declaring an Islamic State. Today Nigeria is spending huge sums of money fighting a supposed rag-tag terrorist group in the North-East alongside our neighbours. Once again, we are treating this issue of political extremism and radicalisation with kids gloves believing it is a phase that will pass. I am of the opinion that if concrete steps are not taken now to deal with this issue decisively, Nigeria as a nation will regret her inertia because we would have succeeded in breeding a new crop of politicians and office seekers intolerant of opposing views such that unlike what happened in the past where assassins were paid to eliminate political opponents, people will do it for free, gleefully going forward.
READ ALSO: A Fresh Assassination Plot Uncovered In Kaduna
As we head towards the general elections, Nigerians should call themselves to order as our so-called leaders have fallen short. We should ask ourselves what kind of country we want to live in and ultimately bequeath to our children. One where there is harmony or one riddled with mistrust and intolerance; one where at the end of it all, we are all worse-off because no one has a monopoly of violence and hate to spread around or that which fosters harmonious co-existence. Prejudice is simply ignorance and we must as a matter of urgency begin to try and see things from the other person’s perspective and deal with these issues respectfully and disagreeing without being disagreeable. After all, let us face it. The politicians amongst us are but a mere one percent of the populace so why put the future of the other ninety nine percent in jeopardy? Think Nigeria, think! God bless this Federal Republic.
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