Deji Adeyanju and All of Us, By Abdullahi Haruna Haruspice
POLITICS DIGEST – In this clime, in our quest to be politically correct, we go dangerously overboard to undermine ourselves, impede ourselves and obfuscate our rights and privileges. Everyone sits in aloofness, we live in absoluteness to the extent of going extreme. I have seen Nigerians trample on the right of each other and this is not limited to just to those with political interest but almost everyone with the right of expression.
Take the case of Deji Adeyanju for instance, in his quest to have a better society as defined in his article of activism, he goes dangerously overboard spewing invectives, curse words and needlessly been offensive to other’s sensitivity. One tragedy of activism is the illusion of self-righteousness. Nigerian activists are mostly sanctimonious and very intolerant to dissidents stance points. For example, those who support President Muhammadu Buhari are considered morons, illiterates and slaves.
Why support for a cause or person is an invitation for being moronic is a study in the classroom of intolerance. In the runway of the 2019 presidential elections, Deji described anyone who will vote for President Muhammadu Buhari as bastards, ‘Only bastards support Buhari Only cursed people support Buhari, Only people that will not end well in life support Buhari’ and on the birthday of the president, he wrote thus; ‘President Muhammadu Buhari, God will punish you’!
The infested stick of intolerance also rubs off dangerously on the supporters of Muhammadu Buhari who are quick to label opposing voices as wailers, and looters. It should be drummed into the eardrums of these intolerant folks that the right you have to support Buhari is the same right others have to not to support your Buhari. The beauty of life is that of choice, any attempt to deprive anyone of the liberty of choice is a dangerous descent into chaos.
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The wreck of intolerance manifested recently when Deji Adeyanju – a focal frontier of the People Democratic Party youth wing was viciously attacked by pro- Buhari group at the premises of the National Human Rights Commission when the latter went to demand the release of Yele Sowore- the proponent of the Revolution Now Movement. So cruel was the attack that Deji crawled to safety. This is what intolerance can wreak. It denies people the right to life and aspirations.
As Dayo Williams opined; ‘ I suppose Deji Adeyanju got police permit before he organized his protest in Abuja today. Which presupposes that the protest was a legitimate one. So why go there to disrupt and beat him up? Just because the protest is against Buhari and his government? That’s criminal and those behind it should be punished. Only barbarians and vagabonds of inconsequential existence do that. If you are unhappy with the motive of Adeyanju’s protest, go and organize your own; you can carry placards bearing inscriptions like ‘Buhari, keep disobeying court orders,’ among other pro-regime writing. Democracy allows legitimate protest to take place. You can’t shut the civic space just because you feel the government is being criticized. ‘.
Barely days after the barbaric show at the Human Rights Commission, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the release of detained former Security Adviser Colonel Dasuki and Omoyele Sowore and like harmattan fire, the internet went frenzy, attributing the release of the duo as a result of the a letter that came from the United States Congress. Do you know even senior and respected journalists on my timeline gleefully branded the purported letter signed by some US senators as the catalyst that led to Sowore’s release? How daft and misinforming can people be.
So Nigerian senators can write to the US govt and the govt will fret and act in accordance with the dictate of their letter? Take this, not even the US president can write and order for the release of anyone held in captive by the Nigerian government, the highest diplomatic tool to deploy is table diplomacy where emissaries take to lobbying and negotiations to effect demands. Some in their absence understanding on how international relations works are out dancing azonto that Buhari kowtowed to US’s threat. Threat to cut aids, to invade Nigeria or what? The worst that can happen is a strain on diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the US. Inferiority complex is a big problem especially when you arrogate undue influence to another nation over your own.
Intolabrably musing!
