Democracy reportedly has its early origins from Greece and history tells us that the Greeks developed a ‘’three-way Democratic Code’’ which was used to assess the behaviour and eligibility of electors within Athens & Sparta. The groups of people identified, and which would be found in any social area as follows:
- The Idiots: private people who kept to themselves and refused to be part of the Government. Essentially, your complicit members of society, who don’t care much for the goings on in the polity, cavalier, self-centered and don’t feel compelled to participate in the polity.
- The Tribesmen: those with ideologies limited to their tribes or sects and would not take into account goings on in the society.
- The Citizens: educated people who voted for representatives based on their knowledge of philosophy; who respected God and family life; and ultimately put Athens first in everything that they did.
There are reportedly studies implying that Nigeria is made up of 10% citizens and the other 90% fall in the other groups; Tribesmen and Idiots). While prior to now, I would agree with these statistics – something profound happened during the #EndSARS protests.
It is, what I refer to as “The Nigerian Youth Renaissance – Birth of the Citizens”. This was the topic of discussion with Abosede George-Ogan, Co-Founder of ElectHER (a women’s political advancement initiative that seeks to address the under-representation of women in elective office in Nigeria) on the Social Conscience with ‘Nasa talk-show a few weeks ago.
During my conversation with Abosede, she noted that the Nigerian Youth have always had the spirit of the citizen in them, demonstrable by their hunger, eagerness and desperation to make Nigeria better. However, certain factors have stifled this passion and have had to channel their energies into other things. Speaking to the incentives for being a citizen, Abosede said:
“One of the things that growing up in Nigeria will teach you or offer you, is a lot of hope. A vast majority of Nigerians are dealt hope as the currency, and what you decide to do with it is what makes the difference.”
This slightly paraphrased statement from Abosede resonated deeply with me, it seemed like such an apt description of the Nigerian narrative and thus, inspired the topic for this article.
Indeed, ‘hope’ is the currency that many Nigerians, including myself, survive on. If you think of the common reflexive “It is well” responses to any situation, and more recently, to the unbelievable resilience that saw people having parties just a day or two following the mass lootings and killings on the back of the hijacked peaceful protests. The question, however, that I ask is this – how sustainable is ‘hope’ as a currency to trade with, given the deplorable state of our development across the board.
To be honest, the #EndSARS protests marked the rebirth of young Nigerians, or maybe it was the conversion of ‘hope’ to ‘frustration’. Nonetheless, I believe that one day, and very soon, the currency we trade in will have to be much more than hope, and I think we have begun to see the beginning of that shift.
May the souls of the faithful departed, in a quest for social justice and social change, continue to rest in peace. They too have become our heroes past, and we will never forget – 20/10/2020.
Please listen to the podcast with Abosede George-Ogan on episode #5 on our podcast page