ALL THE POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

I am angry, and for good reason.

The Nigerian people have no say in how they are governed and this pisses me off.

On paper, yes, we have the power. “We the people…” BUT. ONLY. ON. PAPER! In reality, the relationship between the Nigerian government and its people is that of a Master and his Slave where the Master enjoys all the benefits of the Slave’s industry, and the Slave; none

Remember the social contract theory as espoused by the likes of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau which forms the basis for most governments today? Particularly Rousseau? Remember where Rousseau posits that we the people, have come together to donate our collective rights — which he calls the general will — to a sovereign who exercises that power towards the protection of our remaining rights and collective good? In Nigeria, our Constitution is that social contract or so they say.

Remember Marie Antoinette? Remember Louis XVI? Remember what happens where the sovereign does not make judicious use of the power donated to him by the people under the social contract theory? Where the sovereign breaks the contract?

In Nigeria, we say “We The People…”, but going about our daily activities to make a decent living has us hunted, hounded, profiled and battered by our own government and its agents. We say “We The People…”, but election violence discourages us from exercising our suffrage and even in times when we manage to do so, they rig it. They fucking rig it. Bastards all of them all.

We say there’s a pandemic, we say we’re suffering. But instead of the bastards we’ve surrendered our power to, to make our lives easier, to ease our burden, they’re increasing our suffering. Petrol, Light, Tax. Like Rehoboam, they continue to yoke our oxen rather than give us succour. Does Canada that’s giving its citizens COVID-19 cheques and benefits have two heads?

They say governance is for public good but what good are in these policies?

They say governance is of the people, for the people, by the people. But how is this tone-deaf sham of a government of the people, for the people, by the people?

If we say the government is of the people, for the people, by the people, then it shouldn’t be that hard to recall all the bastards misrepresenting our voice in high places, it shouldn’t be that hard to impeach a clueless, ineffective and inefficient executive running the country on autopilot from office. But no, the Nigerian state is only a vehicle for accumulating wealth into the pockets of a select few.

The Nigerian government is deaf and will continue to remain so if we do not flip the script and go rogue on them. The established grievance remedial methods are designed to enable them to continue ignoring our voice. They are not designed to bring us succour, they are not designed to bring us justice.

Femi Kuti sings, on The Way Our Lives Go, “one day the people will rise, and say to the suffering goodbye” that day is today, that time is now. The Nigerian government has broken its social contract with the Nigerian people and now, it’s our turn to withdraw our obligations to obey.

Long have we remained docile, and now is the time to take back our power. Take it back, all of it! ALL THE POWER TO THE PEOPLE! If it ends in chaos, it ends in chaos. If it burns, it burns. We will dance in its ashes and we will build it up again!

I’m done ranting.

#ENDSARS

Originally published at http://femiojosuwrites.wordpress.com on October 9, 2020.