Nigeria: Enough With The Silence

By Queen Inih Ebong

“One of the most potent behaviours for driving change is influencing people to speak up about a previously emotionally or politically risky issue”.

–        Genny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan and Sitzler

Nigeria is a great nation. We are so blessed in every aspect that we often take these blessings for granted.

It’s no longer news to people all around the world about the incessant bombings in the Northern part of Nigeria and the constant crisis that torments the nation yet nothing has been said or done to put the constant rising tolls of death to an end. It is reported that in 2011, Boko Haram was responsible for at least 450 killings in Nigeria alone. It has also been reported that they have been responsible for over 620 deaths over the first 6 months of 2012 and since its founding, they have been responsible for about 10,000 deaths! Sometime in March this year, we all heard about the bombing in a commercial bus park in Kano that killed dozens of people. I read that the majority of those affected were the Easterners. I also read the stories of the survivors. I recall reading one which one of the survivors recounted what they experienced during the bomb blast where he said that he had to stand up and run with his intestines in his hands before he was rescued and taken to the hospital for proper treatments. Another survivor recounts his experience where he said that he had a chat with the suicide bomber before he crashed his vehicle into the park. But here we are, silent….the government is silent and people continue to die every single day. Wives mourn their husbands, mothers mourn their children and children mourn their parents every single day…still here we are….silent!

Our educational system has fallen apart, there are incessant strikes which traps students at home for long period of time and even at that, students pay their way through examinations just to move on to the next level without frustrations while the government loot the funds that has been allocated for the purpose of making education a fun experience for the students. They say we are the leaders of tomorrow, but how can we be the leaders if we cannot have a steady and peaceful educational system? Still we are silent…

Our elections are being rigged right before our very eyes. Every time we are promised free and fair elections, every time, we get the same results. Some months ago, I read a report that stated that a governor openly admitted that he rigged the previous election simply because he wanted his friend to come out as the winner of that election. We all read it, we all heard it but what have we said or done about it? Absolutely nothing. We have remained silent….

Corruption is on the increase every single day. We have been denied our constitutional rights which is the freedom to speak and be heard. Do we continue to keep mum to all that is happening around us? How do we proffer solutions to the vast issues that affects us today? These are the questions each and every one of us have to ask as citizens of this great nation. Perhaps, the solution lies within us all. We too can use our voice to bring change in our nation.