Take time to explore. Take action. Photo: Uche Okeke.
Be Inspired , Change is coming. In Nigeria talking about political change is very risky due to long period of Autocracy. Till date free speech is under threat. We are currently witnessing the arrests and intimidation of individuals using government secret police. Today, technology has now empowered ordinary people as never before, to talk about obstacles that limit them and make development impossible.
According to David Howell : "No government, no administration, no political party can afford to neglect these new forces to which the digital age has given birth to. The power is now in the network and the network is driven by billions of individuals who connect to it everyday, every hour, every minute. The politicians cannot wish it away." -(People Power : The New Version; David Howell).
When we look at events around us, one sure way to make change happen is to take action. Campaigning on the internet can make a real difference in the world, especially now that internet population is ever growing. Post photos and videos of events around your territory. Publish your opinions . Anyone can make a difference. Change happens when we take action not by participatory obedience, even when we are sinking. When we take action, they listen.
We must change our world view and change the way we think about issues that affect our lives and welfare. The truth is that the government can also be the root of our collective problems. Governments can also lie to win public support when in reality they don't have solutions or ideas about how to solve the issues that affect our lives. It is happening now right under our nose. They employ opinion and community leaders to manipulate people and use thugs and secret police to brutalise those who wish to speak the truth. Even in online space, they have invaded the space with their die hard supporters using a combination of smear campaign, lies and propaganda to endorse and win public support for their paymasters.
We must be bold to talk about issues that cause inequality and poor growth in our society. Issues like corruption, poor governance, security, better public services including infrastructure for development. In Nigeria, security takes bulk of our budget,and other white elephant projects instead of investment in education, healthcare, etc. Our government spends more money to fund religious pilgrimage, pay traditional rulers, and fund unproductive federal agencies just to create jobs for friends and associates or a particular group and other wastes in patronage politics.
We are now witnessing the greatest social division and exclusion in history, where provision of public services is no longer citizens right. It is now determined by the total number of votes obtained by regions. We need to ask important questions about why the government cannot build refineries,etc. We need to talk about inclusiveness and greater citizen engagement, as participation in democracy is not limited to elections only.
There is urgent need for a political structure that guarantees inclusiveness, building strong institutions and leveraging global partnerships for development including the myth of diaspora.
We have emphasized that the greatest enemies of democracy are ignorant people united only by what they hope to gain. We wouldn't say that they are deficit in knowledge, rather they are constrained by their immediate enviroment and the promise of riches and power given the status-quo. These are very ruthless sycophants, merchants of untruth spreading lies to win public support for their paymasters. We must be careful in listening to their silly narratives about social justice.
If we succeed in confronting social issues that stare at us and mock our daily existence then we will begin to understand that change happens not by the herds mentality. Change happens whenever the people decide that enough is enough, that they have now had enough of that bad situation. Change does not happen by celebrating tyranny and seeking for a scape goat. Change happens when we decline to listen to what other people say about us, or what we can gain. Together, we can change the way things are.
In the words of distinguished Senator Shehu Sani,from Kaduna State, Nigeria: "the danger we face when we speak is nobler than the tragedy we are befaced with when we remain silent''. This is why you must be one of those who think different.
Keep up with great Insight and Opinions about our democracy. Leave your comments and opinions to help improve our research work. Read http://www.theleadprojectfoundation.com/, wherever you are. We can change the way things are.
Uche Okeke is a Social Entreprenur.
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