Words That Kill Democracy By Olusegun Adeniyi If citizens of France, Italy, Belgium, Indonesia and numerous countries across Europe, Asia and South America can be so burdened by the rising cost of living that By Olusegun Adeniyi If citizens of France, Italy, Belgium, Indonesia and numerous countries across Europe, Asia and South America can be so burdened by the rising cost of living that they troop to the streets in protest, one can only imagine how Nigerians survive the level of deprivation we are experiencing today.
Yet neither the people in power (whose minions are dashing out brand new SUVs for campaigns) nor those who seek to displace them are offering practical solutions to these existential challenges.
All that we hear is “I will return fuel subsidy” which–even if true (and I doubt)–amounts to digging when already in a hole or “I will not take Nigeria back to Egypt on subsidy”, whatever that may mean.
To compound the problem, the real quotable quotes that seem to be defining this season can be found in the threats of violence should results of the coming 2027 general election not conform to certain expectations.
A state commissioner pledges to cut off the finger that thumbprints their ballot for candidates of a party different from the ruling one. One governor reminded Nigerians that ‘Operation Wetie’ (the political violence that engulfed the Western Region in the First Republic) was incubated in his state. Even when the Coordinating Minister for the Economy is confessing in London that most Nigerians now borrow money to eat, a state party chairman says that whoever stands in his way of manufacturing millions of votes for the incumbent president would have to contend with AK-47. And then an opposition politician charged Nigerians that “during the elections, whether I am alive or dead, go to the polling centres with your bottles and jerrycans of kerosene.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with THISDAY.