by Funmiso Babarinde

Some days back, I watched one of our distinguished Senators in Nigeria on national television. He discussed the state of affairs in Nigeria and expressed his concerns. He extensively discussed food inflation, forex issues, and the dwindling purchasing power of the employed population, while the private sector is barely surviving and laying off employees daily to cut costs.

Our distinguished Senator Ndume is worried because when he raised these issues with those concerned, he was met with opposition and assurances that the situation would improve. Meanwhile, I am concerned that time is ticking for us as a nation, currently standing on three legs. The global situation has cornered us, and we must act fast to address the food crisis, economic quagmire, and insecurity.

Recently, we witnessed democratically elected officials being rejected in favour of junta support in West African countries, our neighbours. We thought it was a flash in the pan, but the reality is upon us today and will be for the foreseeable future. Before we could catch our breath from the West African situation, a similar undemocratic experience emerged in the East African country of Kenya.

The people’s power is stronger than constituted authority. The third angle is the democratic experience in Great Britain, where a peaceful political process saw a major party swept out of government, and a minority party formed a government within 24 hours without violence, litigation, or delay.

Considering Senator Ndume’s devil’s advocacy and these three scenarios, do we need a soothsayer to wake us up to the fact that the dawn has broken, and there is work to be done to avoid something untoward in our dear nation, Nigeria? There is no better time to act and do the right thing than now. He who has ears, let him hear.

Funmiso Babarinde Yakooyo,
Osun State
bfunmiso@gmail.com
July 17, 2024