by Lamide Akintobi

It is a thing of rage not to be able to be at peace with what your tomorrow will bring.

It is a thing of sheer frustration to live in a place where hardships come quick and fast, like a series of storms, ceasing briefly, only to come again when you’re just coming to terms with the destruction the last one brought.

It is madness to wake up each day with dread, because “what are they going to do to make life harder and screw us over today?”

Who do they REALLY think they are?

Who do they think WE are?

We watch as fuel prices increase, electricity gets worse, foreign exchange gets higher and higher, and the small comforts some of us used to pacify ourselves become further and further out of reach,

We look as the price of pure water, gala, indomie, small fish in the market continue to rise, so even the most basic of meals become a struggle for the non-smartphone toting, regular (wo)man on the street.

 

Aso Rock is a fortress, protecting only those who have access to it by hook or by crook – and many of them are crooks to the core.

They pontificate over the things that don’t matter, and avoid the things that do. It is almost as though they take delight in seeing how much they can drag people down and kill their spirit.

They kill businesses each day. Honest people can’t make a living. Crime is on the rise. Sadness and anger are the default emotions for many.

WHO DO THESE PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE?

What kind of leader has a heart and mind so impenetrable that the suffering of the masses doesn’t prompt him to listen to voices of reason, and change his thought pattern?

What kind of man ignores what’s happening as those who make the laws push ONLY the things that benefit them, so they can continue to rake in the benefits and money this country DOESN’T EVEN HAVE, while the most vulnerable are forced to suffer more and more daily?

It is a thing of shame that this my country is bent on making life so hard.

It is a thing of shame that this is who we are. That there is no arm of government which is truly FOR THE PEOPLE. That the laws you make in that Senate house are for your own gain. That daily we have to wonder “how are they going to kill my joy today?”

Shame on you, Nigeria. Shame.

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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

Lamide Akintobi is an award winning journalist and television personality with several years of experience in TV, in front of and behind the camera. She has worked as a news anchor, producer and reporter at Channels Television and Television Continental, and joined Ebonylife TV,a Pan-African Entertainment Network, as a Presenter/Producer in early 2013. She co-created, co-presents and produces “The Spot,” one of the channel’s most popular shows, and has produced and presented several other shows and programming on the channel, including EL Now, The Calabar Jazz Festival, The Calabar Carnival, With Mikel – a special interview program on Chelsea F.C player Mikel Obi, and Travel/Documentary Specials in Rwanda.

This article was first written here

*Pictures courtesy of Tobi Tejumola – Instagram @BadmanTej*