By Oluwaseyi Bangudu
It was one of the fierce riots in Lagos. A certain candidate had won (though not declared) one of the ‘adjudged freest and fairest elections’ in the country with a land slide victory as they say but was denied his mandate. The election would later be annulled.
but he had gone ahead to declare himself and was subsequently arrested and died under controversial circumstances. This was a trail of events, and I wouldn’t be able to say at what point of these events this particular riot was.
“Mummy, one-side of my head is aching me,” I told my Mum in our Lagos home. I should have been about 8 or 9 years old at the time. I think my mum would later tell me she didn’t take me so seriously because how would a child be talking of one-sided headache?
But I think she said to me to just rest a bit while she went downstairs. By the time she came back upstairs to see me, the half of my face was swollen and my eye on that side had swollen so much that it had closed. She would then inform my dad of the development and the next thing was to get me to the hospital.
Do not forget that there was heavy rioting going on outside. Things had gone haywire. As a child, what I could remember seeing were young men in their numbers, fire and fire, fire from burning tyres, sticks and leaves… No movement. The youth had taken over the streets in protest.
But here was my Dad having to face these people. As we left our street and hit a major road with tyres burning and fire all over, they would surround the car and my Dad would talk to them. They would look at me and talk to themselves and allow us to move…
We would get to a gathering and fire and scary looking protesters armed with different items and they’ll stop the car. My Dad would explain to them, and they’ll look at me and talk to themselves and make way for us to pass. We would finally reach the hospital. At that age, I already knew something was not right with the nation and its electoral processes.
It’s been over 25 years my Dad passed and this was the Nigeria he left… I had thought that if the older generation missed it at some point, my generation would make a positive impact. They would see where our fathers had fallen and make amends. How wrong were my thoughts!
Who would believe that in 2023, we would still be struggling to have credible elections? We are still struggling to have safe elections, elections free of violence, thuggery, ballot snatching, assault, maiming, killing, bribery, vote buying, threats, rigging, tribalism and so on.
For my mental health and peace, I have been on a snoozing spree…Once I see a greenlight of an approval of unrest, or I sniff a gloating of any of these vices, I snooze.
Yes, I agree everyone has a right to their choice of party and candidate, but you should be ashamed if your party or candidate exhibits or exhibited any of the vices mentioned above and experienced in these elections.
Is this the Nigeria you would like to pass on to your children? A Nigeria where they cannot guarantee that they would return home if they went out to perform their civil responsibility? A Nigeria they cannot guarantee that their vote will count? If you are not concerned about these vices now, when would you? When you have grey hairs? (You probably have already) When you can no longer walk? When you pass on? What do you tell your children when they watch these things? When they ask, Daddy, why is that woman bleeding on her head? Mummy, why are they stealing these ballot boxes?
Do you say, don’t worry, our party won, that is what is important? I lost a colleague this week, one of my greatest fears… This colleague, I saw her as my office daughter, you know how we use to have school mother and school father in secondary school? I saw her as my office daughter. A young girl trying to earn a decent living for herself…
My little comfort is that I was able to show her in my little way that I cared. Maybe a little birthday gift here, maybe lunch here, a little random gift there…
Of course, we have been working remotely so it’s possible you don’t see a colleague for weeks. And we are not on the same floor, so even if go sometimes, I still may not see her. I think the last time I saw her was sometime last year when her husband came for her, and I was pulling his legs like please, take care of her oh, we are not joking with her on this office oh, and all that.
Rest peacefully, dear Monica. I looked forward to celebrating your other milestones… May God grant your husband, family, and colleagues the fortitude to bear this heavy loss…So, you see, I am already going through a lot… it will be terrible to be going through all of these offline and then come online to see some insensitive posts.
My timeline is as beautiful as the picture below… you can even sleep there. There is no gloating. People of different parties going about their businesses… making mature comments and contributions here and there…If you have been gloating, especially after the results were announced, be rest assured that I did not even see it, not like I am mature and saw it but scrolled, I didn’t even see it…
This app is my favourite social media platform, so you see why I need to protect it…
When the snoozing expires, I believe by God’s grace, I would have had a clear mind to know what next to do, but one thing I know is that if someone does not see a problem with these vices, it means that that someone can also engage in these acts to achieve his or her own purpose or ambition in the present or future, and I would not want to be associated with someone who has the capacity to bring these vices to life.
