The response by some in our country to criticisms of their preferred candidate’s or political party during the last general elections has not on only been shocking, but quite unfortunate and alarming given that we live in a pluralistic and democratic society, where the right to hold a differing view should not only be respected, but welcomed and defended. The recently concluded presidential elections in Nigeria was an eye opener to many about the high degree of political intolerance and authoritarian streak that is gradually permeating our society and if not checked and eliminated could pose serious dangers down the road to our nascent democratic experiment. How can one explain for instance the fact that a clergy of repute was harassed, reprimanded and suspended for mildly criticizing an aspect of one candidate’s conduct as it relates to church offerings? Similarly, it was shocking to observe the vernom poured online on everyday Nigerian who dared to go against the “herd mentality” relative to their presidential candidate of choice not to mention the near universal condemnation by “the herd” of a renowned play write and Nobel laureate for daring to disagree with one of the presidential candidates in the last general elections. There were countless incidents of harassment, intimidation and threats of violence even amongst the public in their various platforms and groupings all related to the elections. The elections have come and gone now, but the ugliness unleashed has not abated and those who seek the highest office in the land must not only embrace all tenets of democracy, but must as a duty implore their supporters to imbibe such democratic values and discontinue the war not only against those who disagree with them politically, but also against every institutions in Nigeria. The elections are indeed over and the time to build the nation is now, for Nigeria is on the move and all who love Nigeria and wishes her well must stand and be counted.
The free exercise of thoughts and the rights to freedom of speech and association are some of the basic pillars of any democracy and Nigeria as a practicing democracy cannot be an exception to this rule, nor can we as citizens stand idle by and watch this basic rights be trampled upon by zealots, fascists and would be authoritarians in the name of trying to win an election. The ignominious acts that were committed against many of our fellow citizens who held contrary view and refused to be part of “the herd”, must therefore be rejected, condemned and those behind it called out and repudiated. The idea of employing disinformation, fake videos, deliberate falsehood, cyber bullying and intimidation of those with opposing political viewpoint is not only wrong, it is draconian, despotic and tyrannical and however you look at it, this type of actions must be denounced by all lovers of freedom and democracy. This is not Nazi Germany, USSR, North Korea or China for crying out loud for that matter or is it? Diversity of opinions is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society and we cannot lay claims to been democratic, if we all are compelled to agree on a political point of view as some would want us to during the last elections, forgetting that freedom of thoughts means that different people can view or read the same information or contents and draw different conclusions and no amount of shouting or intimidation can change that.
The above are some of the reasons that I stand strongly opposed to the idea of state police, which though sound good and responsive in concept, but will ultimately be turned into a political apparatus of sitting governors to intimidate, harrass and suppress their political opponents within their various states. Nigerians better beware of this disingenuous push by the political class as we can fight crime, banditry and secure our nation by reforming and retooling the existing security structures in partnership with the public to ensure actionable intelligence are regularly received from the public and executed without creating any state police force. The call for state police force frankly is a red herring that has nothing to do with serious crime fighting, but more to with creating a force at the becon of governors which they can deploy to fight their political battles. However, we do need to invest more in the men and women of the Nigerian police force and security services including their welfare and procurement of relevant equipments like computers, drones and the creation of a fully functional and integrated national database.
I am hopeful that with all said INEC, the government and the nation can now carry out an after action review to identify lessons learned, successes, failures and unforeseen challenges to enable the nation better prepare for future elections.
However, I have taken some time away since the elections and from the daily grind and used the opportunity to engage on a broader level and to speak to the Nigerian people on critical issues affecting our nation. While I congratulate the government and people of Nigeria for the smooth and orderly transition to a new administration, we are aware that challenges remain and they are enormous and requires concerted and collaborative efforts by all who love our country and would like to see her do well. In the light of the transition to new government, the return of petroleum product marketing to market forces terrain is a wise decision notwithstanding the initial challenges and consequences on our people, which in due time will be less harsh. We are glad that the official exchange rate is on course to be aligned with the parallel market rates as the president said in his inaugural remarks, as this will help free the Naira from the unholy manipulations of the corrupt bureaucrats, business leaders and others who were milking the Naira dead with their bogus and phantom demand for forex. The discontinuation of the official rate as it were and return to single exchange rate market must be tied to the implementation of the new PMS marketing policy for our nation to maximize the full benefits that will accrue, including reduction in fuel prices resulting from appreciable value of the Naira relative to the U.S. Dollar over time. Furthermore the policy initiatives by some of state governors to optimize their state’s official work schedules in the light of the new realities is quite responsive and commendable as long as they develop and execute the new schedules properly by implementing flex scheduling of three 12hrs work week with workers assigned to variable days and covering Monday’s to Friday’s.
Excuse my digression a little, but now going back to my contention here, the best response to an opinion you disagree with is not yo demonize or bully the individual espousing the view, but to contest the point of view intellectually or by writing a rejoinder and critique while advancing your position to the contrary. This is a far better option than calling for the opposing view to be muzzled, eliminated or harassed and those behind it penalized or stigmatized. Contrary to the baseless innuendos, campaign of calumny, dissinformation and intimidation Nigerians must continue to stand firm and speak the truth to power no matter whose ox is gored. Over the last few months of reading the numerous Newspaper publications on the last elections and more, has not only reaffirmed my position that the failures of society is one of the challenges that must be addressed and that culture change is the silver bullet and panacea to what ails our society and nation and the effort must begin from from the ground up to arrest the mess in our nation. In this regard we are at the formative stage of think tank that will speak to some of the broader issues in our country and continent and help profer solutions to the myriad of problems bedeviling our nation and continent. African Council for Cultural and Economic Renaissance is a non ideological, non partisan and non sectarian organization and have aired some public enlightenment campaigns on radio in Lagos and Abuja thanks to the generosity of some Nigerians who believe firmly in the importance of bringing about transformation in Nigeria through culture change.
Finally, it is an outrage and an overkill to attempt to silence opposing or critical views which are not inflammatory, calling for violence or inciting one group against another, but merely exercising the right to freely express an opinion. This type of responses condoned by the Nigerian people stinks to high heavens and betray a whim of intolerance, hypocrisy and authoritarianism by many in our country and thus presents a prima facie case for indictment of the nation for its role or lack thereof. The concept of leadership in a democracy or any organization for that matter according to my world view is the amplified expression of the will of the collective, exercised on their behalf by an individual or group of individuals so appointed or elected. Consequently, if many of the cyber abuses, intimidation and more were condoned by our people then by implication this was a decision of the collective and thus we stand guilty as charged of intolerance, political extremism, dictatorial tendencies and authoritarianism. Where was the voice of reason? Where was the voice of those who claim to be apostles of democracy when dissenting voices and differing opinions were been harrased and maligned?
I have watched and read with total shock and amazement the writings and statements by many individuals in our country during and after the elections and the destructive angers conveyed which is capable of exacerbating an already combustible situation, hence my decision to pen this writeup. It is a shame that as a people we cannot have elections without litigation of results and accusation of rigging. One of the feather’s of democracy is the willingness of contestants to accept and abide by results win or lose. Finally, in a pluralistic society the right to hold a dissenting point of view is sacred and this cannot be curtailed, tampered with, discarded or muzzled under any guise.
I wish you all and my beloved country the best in the days, months, and years ahead for tough times don’t last, but tough people do. Nigeria is on the March.
Nosa Osaikhuiwu is an unapologetic advocate for culture change in Nigeria and Executive Director of African Council for Cultural and Economic Renaissance (ACCER)
