by Saatah Nubari

We complain too much! We expect magic from people who are not magicians.

I have tried to keep mute on happenings both past and present, and I have also tried to pretend that the ratio of intellectuals to credulous people in Nigeria is actually high. But seriously, let’s be realistic. Our ability to be stupid somehow outweighs our ability to be sensible. In a country where when the leaders speak fire, the average Nigerian speaks petrol, let’s just shut up! It might save the situation.

THE APC SHOULD SHUT UP!

Nigerians will always have something to say. The average Nigerian is an economist, political analyst, human right activist, saint, power generation expert, developmental guru and much more. We all happen to understand every single facet of life at the comfort of our bedrooms that I sometimes wonder why we can’t change our immediate surrounding with our so called “expertise”.

The APC will have 50% of my distributed “shut up” today. This political party always has something bad to say to Nigerians and the government. I’m yet to see a press release from this party that is rather positive. The APC always claim elections are rigged, but you wonder how they won the ruling PDP in some states. When they win an election, it is free and fair, if they lose an election, it was rigged. Apart from Lagos state, I have really not seen anything spectacular in the other APC led states. Let’s not forget that Lagos State was once the capital of this country and as such was quite developed before the APC came into power. In Edo state for example, the labour leader turned governor is still unable to stop workers from going on strike. One would have expected him to give in to their demands, but it just doesn’t work like that and he is realizing it now.

Known for criticizing the ruling PDP, this party actually has more PDP members than PDP itself. With their former flag bearers either being former PDP members or former PDP employees, you can’t help but wonder.

The APC should concentrate on their states, stay out of PDP affairs, advice the government when the need arises and make constructive statements. If they can’t do these, they should SHUT UP!

GENERAL BUHARI, SHUT UP! (With all due respect)

Compiling a list of inflammatory and unpatriotic statements from this former General within the last six years alone can cause a war. It is appalling that he does not show any remorse for the statements attributed to him. He recently likened the Boko Haram to the Niger delta militants. In as much as both groups should be condemned, there is nothing that can be used to compare both groups except for their use of sophisticated weapons. The Niger Delta militants were agitating for resource control (so they said) and at no time did they destroy mosques or kill innocent citizens. Buhari even went as far as saying that the government was killing and burning the houses of Boko Haram member while their counterparts in the South were enjoying amnesty.  On the other hand, the Boko Haram sect has made it known publicly that its plan is to Islamise Nigeria and in the process has waged a religious war against Christians. Despite the fact that General Buhari has continued to show support for this group indirectly, the Federal Government has kept mute.

I think Buhari knows that arresting and prosecuting him for his statements and actions will heat up the polity hence the continuation of his show of shame.

It was only during Obasanjo’s tenure that winning elections was a do or die affair, so I thought , until Buhari decided to throw his hat in the ring. With his stance that the North “must” rule the country come 2015, I’ll advice the retired General to build his political campaign, and while doing so if he doesn’t have anything meaningful to say or contribute to the growth and development of Nigeria, he should SHUT UP!

THE SOUTH SHOULD SHUT UP!

The division in Nigeria is getting wider and wider by the day, across religious and ethnic lines. The South must also receive their fair share of “shut up” for heating the polity.

Asari Dokubo and Kuku have at one time or another made utterances that can start a war. With the statement that Goodluck Jonathan “must” be re-elected come 2015, to threatening war if Goodluck does not emerge as president in 2015. It’s really sad that as a country, we now elect public office holders based on their tribe and religion and not based on merit or vision.

Well, even if the South has only made a few of these silly utterances, I’ll still advice the likes of Asari Dokubo to try as much as possible to first of all write down their utterances and read it before letting other Nigerians hear it. If they find it difficult in doing so, they should just SHUT UP!

THE NORTH SHOULD SHUT UP!

Seriously, I don’t think the North should “shut up”, I think their mouths should be tied or maybe glued. From the ACF, AYF and NEF, the north has continued to show their un-patriotism and their vague belief that the office of the President is their birthright. It should be noted that the North were behind the push to grant amnesty to the members of Boko Haram.

The president in trying not to look bad and unsympathetic to their plight decided to grant the sect amnesty. Shockingly the sect said they should be the ones offering amnesty to the government and not the other way round. In the good spirit which the amnesty was declared, the president still went ahead to set up a committee to help in the amnesty process. The sect despite the efforts by the government went on a killing spree and even established “governments” in some parts of the North. With the continued destruction of lives and properties, the President saw it fit to declare a state of emergency in three Northern states.

The state of emergency declared was greeted with support from Nigerians. In the National Assembly, the opposition parties voted in favour of it even when General Buhari had told senators from his party not to vote for it. This to me was a little beacon of hope.

With the North’s claim of being marginalized, we have to call into question the number of years they have ruled Nigeria and of what benefit it has been. Even if it seems the North has no plan on ending their quest to regain their “birthright”, they will also be advised to either support the present administration or criticize constructively. In as much as I don’t expect them to do any of the afore mentioned, I expect them to SHUT UP! If they don’t have anything meaningful to say.

EVERYBODY SHUT UP!

Even if Houdini were a Nigerian, he wouldn’t have been able to perform the kind of magic that we Nigerians want. The average Nigerian wants to go to sleep and wake up with uninterrupted power supply, but that’s not possible. Very few people really understand that for Nigeria to be what we want it to be, it will take time.

All through the military regimes, Nigerians were screaming for civil and democratic rule. In 1999 everybody was happy, democracy has come. In 2003 moods changed, now we no longer wanted Obasanjo again, we wanted somebody else. Although he tried, we all know he could have done better. Now we have Goodluck Jonathan but we are still not satisfied. We have called him a dictator, slow, fool, idiot and so much more but I sometimes wonder how he has managed not to reply the insults. Our current electricity generation is the highest since independence, our railways are beginning to function; our elections are getting to be really free and fair. I agree that somehow he has come short of our expectations but he still has about one year plus to go.

Before the president declared the state of emergency, Nigerians said that he was not working, that he should grant the Boko Haram sect amnesty. Immediately he granted them amnesty, there was an uproar that he should not have granted amnesty to terrorists that have destroyed houses and killed people. The next agitation was that he should declare a state of emergency, which he did. This time around, the Northerners said that the declaration was a sign of “war” on the North and kicked against it.

The President just recently proscribed Boko Haram and Ansaru and issued a ban on them, the North also came out saying they are against the decision.

The thing with us is that we all pretend to be saints. We always say the leaders are corrupt, but we fail to realize is that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The police officer takes bribe, the WAEC officer takes bribe, the University lecturer takes bribe, the student takes bribe, and the Nigerian abroad is pushing hard drugs and yet protesting that the president is a dictator. The leaders are laundering state funds while the civil servant is putting ghost workers on payroll. The parents are sponsoring youths into illegal refining business and giving their children money to go write JAMB exams.

The first step in solving our problem is not criticizing our leaders; it’s only a crook that will lead a crook. The first step is to accept that we have one way or the other contributed to the destruction of this country, and then the next step is to change and be good citizens. In as much as I don’t expect us to change so soon, I want us to exhibit patience as we pray for Goodluck Jonathan or better still, SHUT UP!

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.