By Bayo Fasunwon
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This piece is being written on the eve of the 2023 elections. In every election, especially in Nigeria, the contest is always one sided. Mostly, it is the contest between the haves and the have-nots. Sometime, yours truly perceive elections as the contest between the immortal deities, whose quest of supremacy had inadvertently recruited the have-nots in their attrition. This inclusion therefore widens the contest, and makes a local contest wear a global outlook. The society if often dived into social classes, which are known by various names, in different societies.
Therefore you have the haves, and the have-nots; the bourgeoisies and the proletariats; the rich and the poor; the Olowo and the Mekunnu; the Maikudi and talakawas. There exists however, those referred to as the middle-class. These civil servants and middle-level business entrepreneurs are neither rich nor poor. In every society, and based on historical analysis, in-depth thoughts, scientific observations, experiments and deductions, it is more plausible for the middle class to join the poor, (and become the richer of the poor), than for the middle class to rise and join the rich (to become the poorer of the rich). According to Biblical conclusions, ‘from those that do not have, even the little they have shall be taken and given to those that have’. Therefore, it seemed normal that the present dispensation of administration had followed the old order, and by ‘Emefieleism’ had made the thumbs of this present regime bigger that the waist of former administrations., and the outcomes are still being felt in this election.
In politics, the Maikudis participate in order to maximize their wealth by gaining power while the Talakawas participate in order to have better probabilities of survival. Therefore, while the Olowos are into politics to control, amass wealth and exacerbate dominion, the MEKUNNUS get involved in order to increase their survival rate, break off from the gulag of death, and create a safer landing for their families. In the Bible, it is said that the bread of the children should not be given to dogs.
That is, the mentality of many that bear rule in many African countries, Nigeria inclusive. Fellow humans, on whose back, they rode to power have been reduced to servants, slaves and worse still dogs; who were born to serve with heart and heart and might; remain faithful loyal and honest, suffer and smile; cuddle the master and save it from his foes, while being fed on leftover bones. The quest of the Mekunnus is also exhibited on the belief that even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. So in order to survive, the Mekunnus are not asking for much, just enough to kill ulcer, enough to keep them going for another day and enough to survive. However, the trickling down is not automatic. It depends on the magnanimity of the master, and intentions for the dogs.
However, for the benevolent masters, hear now the wishes of the Mekunnus. Pushed to the wall, panting for breath and on the precipice of the afterlife, with tears of blood, they cry for survival. They have been battered by impoverishing policies that have made a mockery of the unpaid minimum wages. The promises of better life via sacrificial living had not materialized. Education, the leveler had been taken beyond the reach of many, and their children are fast being programmed into criminality.
Therefore, the State tempts them into criminality (vote buying, stealing and aggression), only to remonstrate them and put them in chains. The Mekunnus are asking improvement in living conditions, so they can in honesty engage in life activities that can assure their offspring of a better tomorrow. They are crying for a system that works, and infrastructures that deliver according to their names. The cry is for health centers that truly save lives, and not murder them so that their organs could be harvested without pay to save the rich. They want good roads on which they can safely travel in their quests to make ends meet. Instead of being killed softly by the viruses and unseen predators in their rivers and well, the cry is accessibility to potable water, within a walking distance. They want assurance that while they slavishly on their farms, at least they would not be killed, and would allow that the harvests obtained by their sweats and pain are enjoyed. That their sons and daughters can go to school without the fear of the building collapsing on them, or they being abducted become slaves to criminal walking free in our bushes.
The Mekunnus are asking for Justice. Justice, against those who would kill them for their vineyards, and then add their little to their much. Justice against the lawful carrier of the weapon of coercion, who kills their children and breadwinner, gets away with it, claiming accidental discharge. They want justice over government who takes pride in withholding the salaries of their workers, while they and their families feed fat at the expense of State treasury. They want justice over those who torture them, takes away what belongs to them with impunity, and claim ‘heaven will not fall’ or ‘nothing go happen’. The cry is for justice against those who despitefully use them, and buy judgment to rub salt into their injury. The justice that ensures that the ‘child of nobody can become somebody, without having to know anybody’. A justice system where merit is not murdered on the altar of politics, and or on the crucifix of wickedness.
The Mekunnus are only asking for a system that works, where every institution would answer to its name. Police personnel responding to distress call, arresting the wicked, and saving the innocent. An accountable power distribution company that gives prepaid meter and bills its customers based on actual power consumed. A power generating company that generates enough power that would increase citizens’ capacity to contribute generously to the nation’s GDP. From religious organisations, they are asking for teachings and preaching that promotes love, righteousness, nation building, and oneness. A Federal Government that operates on the principles of true federalism and State Government that ensures the autonomy of local government for grassroots development. The demand is for educational institutions that truly teaches subjects and knowledge that would engender national infrastructural, technological, and economic development. The Mekunnus are hoping against hope that for once, they in their lifetime can testify of eating the good of the land.
For those favoured by the votes of the Mekunnus, the Talakawas, the proletariats, the poor, and the have-nots, let not your ears be deafened by cabals of destruction. Let the tears on the face of these, (who survived Emefieleism, stood in the scorching sun, defied hunger and stood like soldiers to cast their votes for you) deliver to them joy, peace, happiness and plenty. Even if you had no manifesto, these Mekunnus’ wishes should be your guiding light. Before we hear of ‘to your tents o Nigerians’ on the platform of a ‘tale of two cities,’ please arise and do the needful.
