STOP joking about THIS!
By Samod Biobaku
I have noticed with pain in my heart and fear on the horizon, a disturbing
trend among Nigerians especially the youths – They tend to handle issues with
levity; even matters that have grave and calamitous consequences for the nation
as a whole.
On several occasions, when matters
that require deep thinking and reflection crop up, many conveniently opt for
the comical way out – handling such matters as if it were a movie script that
could be edited and altered whenever the producer deems it fit.
It is precise references that I
discovered that many tend to disregard the inherent dangers of most serious
matters until it has a direct effect on them or their loved ones.
We must understand the place of
comic relief apart from constructive discussions and actions.
Comic relief originally belonged to
comedians, jesters and cartoonist but today, millions of Nigerians can no
longer draw a line between an issue that should be joked with and one that
should be taken seriously.
Perhaps, this was what prompted a
concerned Nigerian to write the short but precise piece below.
FUEL SUBSIDY:
Matters Arising
When 26 yr-old Mohammed Bouazizi, a
frustrated unemployed Tunisian graduate committed suicide by setting himself
ablaze using petrol on December 17th, 2010, he probably didn’t know
his death was a singular action that would initiate massive chains of
revolution across d Arab nations of Tunisia,
Egypt and Libya.
Throughout these countries, citizens mobilized themselves and occupied the streets to protest in anger, resilience, and courage, for days till they succeeded in forcing their dictator leaders out of power thus letting in a fresh wind of change.
Today, petrol sells for 141 naira/litre in Nigeria (a country richer but with a worse economy than any of d aforementioned nations).
Throughout these countries, citizens mobilized themselves and occupied the streets to protest in anger, resilience, and courage, for days till they succeeded in forcing their dictator leaders out of power thus letting in a fresh wind of change.
Today, petrol sells for 141 naira/litre in Nigeria (a country richer but with a worse economy than any of d aforementioned nations).
Funny enough, our youths choose to
laugh & make stupid jokes about an issue of such magnitude; both on
their mobile (blackberry) phones & online web pages (Facebook and Twitter)
by circulating images & texts that only portray how cowardly, lazy and
unconcerned we are about our future.
A student protesting d removal of
fuel subsidy was shot stone dead today by the police in Ilorin & all we could
say or do was to throw banters at the president's wife or ask for the
assistance of a certain ‘apple lady’ from India. God has blessed us more than
enough as a nation.
Asking for God's intervention now
is not the issue @ all. Our destiny as a nation lies solely in our hands. It’s
time to rise up and battle these muthaf..kers 2 a stand-still. LETS EMULATE OUR
BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN EGYPT.
Bros! This is a hypocrisy! you in r own blog had some wise cracks of your own.
ReplyDeleteI refer you to "Jonathan's New Year Gift" at the following link on your site
http://simplysamad.blogspot.com/2012/01/things-that-will-follow-this-subsidy.html
Dear anonymous reader. I appreciate your power or observation but you'd agree with me that the purpose of the article was not to totally extinguish the flame of relief that we all get from looking at serious matters through a lighter lens. We must however not make a total mockery of real life tragedies by dwelling on the less serious side of these issues for too long. There must always come a time to exit the seat of jokes and replace it with a more serious stance towards searching for a way forward. In essence, there's time to play and there's time to sit tight and take the bull by the horn. Hope this clear the air.
ReplyDeleteThanks.