May Nigeria not happen to you is no longer a prayer point

Words continue to fail me for the past couple of days. I have tried to avoid reading the news and threads on social media. Anytime I read the sad stories. I think about people who have been Nigerianed.

I used the word Nigerianed because it's no longer a prayer point that Nigeria will not happen to you, it's now a norm happening every single day. From people being repressed by speaking up to rape, children being kidnapped, killed and sexual abuse of all kinds.

In every of this situation, is poor systems, poor policies and poor policing.

People are failed because of the system, because of people who are meant to do their work but failed to do it. People who think about their political parties before Nigerians. People who have failed not to create jobs for young people and for young people who have created jobs made life miserable for them.

“Nigeria will not happen to you” is not just a prayer point, it is deeply rooted in systems and policies. Every individual has the right to be protected and good life. Every individual has the right to justice. That I can go to school knowing that I am protected and safe. The school should be an oasis that protects children from the danger of the society but today children live in fear, not knowing whether they will be Nigerianed the next day. It's so unfortunate that sometimes policing favours the so-called powerful people and political elites and I am worried about who is policing created for and who is meant to be protected.

I watched a video of a political representative calling for support from the foreign governments and I wondered how that would help in anyway. The truth is, we need to move from rewarding bad behavior and incentivizing it. When thugs walks freely on the street and extort ordinary citizens. We need to question that. When thugs carries weapon all around and walks freely and the police decided to look away. We need to question that as well. When people steal and embezzle public funds, we need to seriously question them. We need to give room for people to hold us accountable. That we might be in power of positions but people voted us in and they have the right to ask questions, if we are not doing well or the economy is not favoring them. They have the rights.

Until we get the policies right, until we understand that it isn’t foreign support that will get us there but addressing key policy issues and working together to fight insecurity heads on. Then, we will wake up tomorrow and as a Nation continue to pray that we will not be Nigerianed.

Sometimes, I can't fathom or understand what people are going through currently but I am constantly proud of those who are holding up during these hard times to replicate true democracy. Those who are giving and offering their time to make the lives of others better. As much as the bad things are happening, they are hoping by creating educational solution, health access, fighting against gender based violence and just working every single day to make the country better. They are the ones who have always been preventing the ticking bomb. Thank you for staying and standing strong. Someday, we will be proud that we weren’t just a bystander but we did something.

Hammed Kayode Alabi (c) 2021