Desmond Elliot’s political summersault and what makes every politician have insomnia

Ten (10) days after live bullets were fire at a sea of faces of nonviolent young citizens of Nigeria at Lekki Toll Gate, Buhari is yet to dim it fit to fly to Lagos, showing that he truly cares and respects our people. If we talk about the obvious lack of respect for the citizens of Nigeria by President Buhari, his offline and online bootlickers would quickly attack us, saying that he’s been busy attending to the affairs of the state. Nigerians elected him to serve them and not to turn Aso Rock to both Mecca and Jerusalem—where he only receives visitors.

This recurrent—unwanted and annoying attitude—shows that those in government do not value our people one bit and it is so sad. In nations where their citizens are being valued, presidents would stop important-trips to return home or stop everything they are doing at home and fly to everywhere their nations are being challenged. Here, the fad is not the same. Those in government do not value their fellow citizens, but they always want those they do not value to build shrines in their homes, worshipping them.

Six (6) days after some nonviolent young protesters were shot while singing our national anthem, holding our flags, Buhari’s minister; Babatunde Raji Fashola came all the way from Abuja to discover a camcorder, playing on the collective intelligence of our people. It was a show of infamy that made social media world to go wild. Fashola was able to find what LAWMA could not find, what Sanwo Olu could not find, what other independent bodies could not find and what fire could not burn!

And ten (10) days after live bullets were fired at non-violent-young-Nigerians, who were singing our national anthem and holding our flags, ENDSARS panel set-up by Lagos State Government (LSG) was able to find five (5) shells of bullets! After ten (10) days! That was both hilarious and theatrical! Remember, once those in power do not want to get something done, they are fond of setting up a panel for it. I hope they are able to prove us wrong this time around.

This week, before a plenary-session in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Speaker led the whole house to observe a minute of silence to honor those who died during the move that shook the wonky-bedrock of Nigeria. He said and I quote verbatim, “shall we rise to observe one minute silence for patriotic Lagosians people who died, not miscreant killed by the police). What an insensitive statement from Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly!

As far as Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly was concerned, the so called miscreants deserved to be shot by some of our trigger happy men. To start with, who mass-produced the so called miscreants? Are they (politicians) not the ones breeding them, using them to snatch ballot-boxes during elections, winning elections, using guns and cutlasses? When politicians call some Nigerians hoodlums, they have forgotten that it takes political-hoodlums to mass-produce citizens who are hoodlums!

Furthermore, everyone in the corridors of power believes that everyone who marched on them was either a hoodlum or miscreant. This is why they are fighting tooth and nail to bring social media under their control. I call it a futile effort and a move that will never see the light of day. No one can gag this generation. And no politicians can control how this generation communicates and interacts.

Those they (politicians) are calling hoodlums and miscreants are those who cannot take oppression and poverty anymore in Nigeria. It was bad for anyone to destroy public and private properties, but beyond all that, we need to pay a rapt attention to the reason that made them become uncontrollably enraged. Have we made them happy as citizens of our greatly valued country? Have we been oppressing them over the years? Are we helping them to fulfill their dreams being a Nigerian living in Nigeria? Do they have access to good governance?

What made some youths burn some police stations while they kept vigils to protect some police stations? What made them beat some policemen while they fought to protect some policemen? Why didn’t they go to Femi Gbajabiamila’s house at Surulere? Could it mean that he takes a good care of his people? No matter how mad people are, no one harms those who are taking a good care of them. I do not know Honorable Gbaja from Adam. I am just addressing a very important issue here, if we do not want a repeat of the little wind that just blew across the length and breadth of our promising nation. If our politicians do not change, what is likely going to happen in the days to come is going to be greater than what we experienced for a few days in our nation.

Going forward, we all need to start thinking about those who are barely surviving in Nigeria. Being exceedingly rich amongst those who are extremely poor is dangerous. Where we are going, if our political servants do not start governing as they should, fairly and impartially distributing the profit of the land to every citizen of Nigeria, none of us will be able to walk freely in the days to come. We will start parking our posh-cars at home, because of the rage of poor folks.

During same plenary session in the Lagos House of Assembly that I earlier mentioned, Desmond Elliot rose to say that “if nothing is done about social media that there would be no Nigeria in five (5) years.” It was an unfortunate stance that angered and maddened virtually everyone in Nigeria. I have told those who cared to listen that the solution to the varied problems we are having in Nigeria will not come from the so called young folks. The reason is because most of those plundering Nigeria today started when they were young. And what difference has Desmond made in Lagos State? Remember, the youngest governor in Nigeria today is as a round-peg in a square-hole!

If Desmond did not know, it is our responsibility to tutor him. He needs to know that without social media, Nigeria can never truly become a great country. And without putting those in the corridors of power under consistent and intense pressure, we all should forget about Nigeria fulfilling her true destiny in the comity of nations. Elliot, it is not social media that will annihilate Nigeria in the next five (5) years; it is lack of good governance, heavy presence of nepotism and injustice that will push Nigeria into the pool of extinction.

Lastly, Alhaji Lai Mohammed also said that if social media is not controlled that Nigeria would go up in flames real soon. He revealed that the headache of the ruling-class is smart-phones and data. This is what makes them (political class) lose their sleep, cuddling insomnia as a newly wedded wife. But the truth is; there is nothing those in power can do about it. Whatever we try to control in a context of nation building, we end up losing control of it. The only way out for those in the corridors of power to be sble to sleep with their eyes closed is to govern our people with love. Currently, it is conspicuous that they detest our people. They (politicians) began to murder sleep the day they began to govern our people with so much venom of hatred.