by
Obododimma Oha
I thought about this and got highly infuriated: let’s assume that my own wife, blood sister, or wife had marched in the streets, demanding from a government that swore to protect the lives of citizens, the whereabouts of an important citizen whose house its forces had invaded with lethal weapons, killing people, an act that led to the abortion of important legal proceedings, and this female relative of mine was picked up and put in jail, denied access to medical and other needs I can offer, facing prosecution of yet-to-be-disclosed “offence,” would I still have the appetite for food or drink? Would I still be able to sleep? What do you think that I would think of such a government? As I write this blog article, my heart is still on fire, even though the women have been freed by a court at Owerri. I would eat my dinner this evening, but I won’t be thinking about the food. I would still not be sure it is the food that is before me. If those British that once colonised Nigeria had treated our women this way, or the Apartheid government in South Africa, one would have said that they were invaders that could do anything to hold their colony. But we are talking of Africans humiliating Africans and precisely humiliating women who embarked on a peaceful and legitimate street protest!
If democracy means an infringement on the rights of the population, especially their rights for free speech, then, it is not desirable. If democracy means that a nation has to pass through the anus of the tyrannical ruler, then it is shitty. If democracy means that the population has to be afraid of the president and not the president being afraid of the population, then it is demonic. If the population can be dispensed with, slaughtered at the slightest excuse, then the government is not providing security but endangering it. I used to quarrel with the views of Frederick Hegel that Africa was not a historical part of the word, that in philosophizing History, we should say goodbye to Africa, for it was populated by tyrants and worshippers of tyranny. Too hard, you would say. But Hegel was writing as an outsider, from the West, and that was an additional minus for him. But if he had been writing as an insider who knew that women peacefully asking a “democratic” government the whereabouts of a citizen who was attacked by that government, who attended a mass burial in Benue where the Federal Government was neither represented nor the president pay a visit to console relatives of victims, or where the National Assembly members are barred by security agents from entering the National Assembly, and all these were tolerated by the population as if under a spell, he would have been hailed as engaging in appropriate self-criticism! Rest in peace, Hegel; don’t turn in your grave.
It is difficult for me to believe that over 100 women waving mere flags and chanting songs in the streets were picked up by security agents and were slated for prosecution in an African country running a democracy in the 21st century. If it is a bad dream, the dreamer should try and lie properly in bed. Yet, some countries have shamelessly become bad dreams in our time! Some countries are moving backwards when others are moving forwards. While some countries try to step into the future, some are retreating into the past and into the jungle! Some countries have become bad dreams and, on daily basis, try to make their citizens miserable. A country that can pick up over a hundred women engaging in a peaceful protest march and showing concern about a citizen (as every mother naturally should), is a country of misery annoying its citizens on daily basis. In short, Republic of Misery!
When I look at the ancient trucks used in conveying the women (to add to their humiliation), a sadistic move that some HUMAN beings are justifying and enjoying, I can see a connection. That country simply does not belong to this time or its political temperament. It belongs to a pernicious long-ago of history, and is a clear case of what a country should not be allowed to be.
There is yet another disturbing angle: the relatives of these women arrested and detained were not allowed to give them food and other necessities, to reduce their suffering.
You wonder, dear reader, what human beings have become. You detain my wife or mother not committing a crime and deny me access to giving her food, saying you are still writing down their names after several days? Are you not looking for trouble? Is this not a continuation of humiliation by other means? Have you not arrested all of us? Are you not desperately looking for a way of escalating the unfortunate humiliation? I think that after this court release, the government that arrested them and violated their rights should be sued and a handsome compensation demanded in each case. Does the country not have oil money and is even extending its projects to other neighbouring countries?
The arrest and detention of these women, the last voices of maternal concern, seems to be the bend in the road. Let us see if the law is not again the law, if it has finally lost out in this age where things are standing on their heads. Let us see whether democracy would still leave a sour taste in my mouth and make me lose appetite and not enjoy my dinner.
Yes, the women have shown clearly that they are in the forefront of the struggle. They did that by having the courage to ask openly the important question that our leaders, even world leaders, are unable to ask about injustice and government terrorism. They have always been and will, more than ever before, be leaders of the struggle for freedom, even from the backseat, even from jail and antiquated trucks.
A democracy without feelings for the population, that thinks we can have a country without a dissenting voice, is a harmful political mistake. It is a fatal error. The political system has only succeeded in proving to the population that it is not for the people, by the people, of the people. As long as over 100 women were arrested in Imo State for carrying out a legitimate street peaceful protest, the country’s democracy that allowed this to happen in the first place is in need of serious overhaul. Please, other countries in the world, help Nigeria your ailing brother.
The court at Owerri acted justly in ordering the release of these women. It remains for Nigeria to profusely apologise to the women. Let’s say that it was a grievous mistake by overzealous security agents and gatekeepers, but those women should initiate a court action to force the government to part with its oil money plus the apology. I wish I were a human rights lawyer!
Obododimma Oha
I thought about this and got highly infuriated: let’s assume that my own wife, blood sister, or wife had marched in the streets, demanding from a government that swore to protect the lives of citizens, the whereabouts of an important citizen whose house its forces had invaded with lethal weapons, killing people, an act that led to the abortion of important legal proceedings, and this female relative of mine was picked up and put in jail, denied access to medical and other needs I can offer, facing prosecution of yet-to-be-disclosed “offence,” would I still have the appetite for food or drink? Would I still be able to sleep? What do you think that I would think of such a government? As I write this blog article, my heart is still on fire, even though the women have been freed by a court at Owerri. I would eat my dinner this evening, but I won’t be thinking about the food. I would still not be sure it is the food that is before me. If those British that once colonised Nigeria had treated our women this way, or the Apartheid government in South Africa, one would have said that they were invaders that could do anything to hold their colony. But we are talking of Africans humiliating Africans and precisely humiliating women who embarked on a peaceful and legitimate street protest!
If democracy means an infringement on the rights of the population, especially their rights for free speech, then, it is not desirable. If democracy means that a nation has to pass through the anus of the tyrannical ruler, then it is shitty. If democracy means that the population has to be afraid of the president and not the president being afraid of the population, then it is demonic. If the population can be dispensed with, slaughtered at the slightest excuse, then the government is not providing security but endangering it. I used to quarrel with the views of Frederick Hegel that Africa was not a historical part of the word, that in philosophizing History, we should say goodbye to Africa, for it was populated by tyrants and worshippers of tyranny. Too hard, you would say. But Hegel was writing as an outsider, from the West, and that was an additional minus for him. But if he had been writing as an insider who knew that women peacefully asking a “democratic” government the whereabouts of a citizen who was attacked by that government, who attended a mass burial in Benue where the Federal Government was neither represented nor the president pay a visit to console relatives of victims, or where the National Assembly members are barred by security agents from entering the National Assembly, and all these were tolerated by the population as if under a spell, he would have been hailed as engaging in appropriate self-criticism! Rest in peace, Hegel; don’t turn in your grave.
It is difficult for me to believe that over 100 women waving mere flags and chanting songs in the streets were picked up by security agents and were slated for prosecution in an African country running a democracy in the 21st century. If it is a bad dream, the dreamer should try and lie properly in bed. Yet, some countries have shamelessly become bad dreams in our time! Some countries are moving backwards when others are moving forwards. While some countries try to step into the future, some are retreating into the past and into the jungle! Some countries have become bad dreams and, on daily basis, try to make their citizens miserable. A country that can pick up over a hundred women engaging in a peaceful protest march and showing concern about a citizen (as every mother naturally should), is a country of misery annoying its citizens on daily basis. In short, Republic of Misery!
When I look at the ancient trucks used in conveying the women (to add to their humiliation), a sadistic move that some HUMAN beings are justifying and enjoying, I can see a connection. That country simply does not belong to this time or its political temperament. It belongs to a pernicious long-ago of history, and is a clear case of what a country should not be allowed to be.
There is yet another disturbing angle: the relatives of these women arrested and detained were not allowed to give them food and other necessities, to reduce their suffering.
You wonder, dear reader, what human beings have become. You detain my wife or mother not committing a crime and deny me access to giving her food, saying you are still writing down their names after several days? Are you not looking for trouble? Is this not a continuation of humiliation by other means? Have you not arrested all of us? Are you not desperately looking for a way of escalating the unfortunate humiliation? I think that after this court release, the government that arrested them and violated their rights should be sued and a handsome compensation demanded in each case. Does the country not have oil money and is even extending its projects to other neighbouring countries?
The arrest and detention of these women, the last voices of maternal concern, seems to be the bend in the road. Let us see if the law is not again the law, if it has finally lost out in this age where things are standing on their heads. Let us see whether democracy would still leave a sour taste in my mouth and make me lose appetite and not enjoy my dinner.
Yes, the women have shown clearly that they are in the forefront of the struggle. They did that by having the courage to ask openly the important question that our leaders, even world leaders, are unable to ask about injustice and government terrorism. They have always been and will, more than ever before, be leaders of the struggle for freedom, even from the backseat, even from jail and antiquated trucks.
A democracy without feelings for the population, that thinks we can have a country without a dissenting voice, is a harmful political mistake. It is a fatal error. The political system has only succeeded in proving to the population that it is not for the people, by the people, of the people. As long as over 100 women were arrested in Imo State for carrying out a legitimate street peaceful protest, the country’s democracy that allowed this to happen in the first place is in need of serious overhaul. Please, other countries in the world, help Nigeria your ailing brother.
The court at Owerri acted justly in ordering the release of these women. It remains for Nigeria to profusely apologise to the women. Let’s say that it was a grievous mistake by overzealous security agents and gatekeepers, but those women should initiate a court action to force the government to part with its oil money plus the apology. I wish I were a human rights lawyer!
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