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A walk down the aisles of shopping malls in Nigeria’s major cities will have your head cracking. The prices of goods look too bad to be true even as the common man ponders on how to survive in an economic climate of rising costs and economic meltdown.
The marketplace is no better as the cost of even the most basic of food supplies can leave a grown man weeping. In time past, pepper and tomatoes were the cheapest of items one could possibly purchase. Present day Nigeria, however, makes these items sit on shelves and baskets like perishable gold. Add to that, the fact that the newly approved minimum wage (N70, 000) is less than the cost of buying a bag of rice (N80, 000) and the picture becomes clearer.
In light of this hardship, Nigerians began the month of August with nationwide protests which they tagged, “Hunger Protest.” It sounded like the perfect name for a horror movie—a scenario Nigerians experience have been experiencing on a daily for the last one year or more since going to the polls.
One striking feature of this protest, though, in stark relation to the previous #EndSARS protest, is the scarcity of celebrities willing to speak up against bad governance and the economic hardship in Nigeria. While the EndSars protest saw hundreds of celebrities turn out and speak up, this hunger protests has seen next to nothing in way of celebrities lending their voice to it. What, then, could be the cause of this?
For starters, it looks clear to the ordinary man that these celebrities have looked back on precedence and seen far more risks than gains in standing up for justice. Hundreds of people were massacred in the last protest. DJ Switch, who famously released live video evidence of the killings is on the run. And while the government denies any role in the massacre, the ECOWAS court already ruled for compensation in favour of DJ Swithc and other pioneers of the last protests.
Till date, many actors of the last protests dare not step their feet on Nigerian soil again. Many of them are on the watch list of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) and branded “terrorists” for exercising their fundamental human rights. What then is the motivation for anyone looking to succeed the movement? Is it worth it?
Peter Okoye of the group, P-Square, has openly stated his noninvolvement in any future protests. According to him, the very people he stood up for in time past, left him to hang dry after taking the forefront of the march.
In concurrence to the Singer’s stance, Actress, Regina Daniels, pointed out, via her Instagram handle, that the ridicule she has experienced from the same persons she once spoke up for has made her back down on any future activism struggle. From her tone, it was clear her activism days are over and who would blame her? It appears that the citizenry do not wish to be rescued, or, so it seems.
However, there is another angle to this and that is the political side to things. I speak of benefits being gained by many celebrities. Only recently, Filmmaker, Toyin Abraham, came under fire for her unwavering support for President Bola Tinubu. There are many other celebrities like that who have received monies from politicians for promotions and endorsements. How then can such a celebrity criticize his or her paymaster? Impossible, right?
Then, there is the case of tribalism. We see social media comments from many celebrities that suggest their unwillingness to support any political candidate who doesn’t represent their tribe. Make no mistake, the tribal segregation in Nigeria is super-heated and, contrary to woke beliefs, many will still favour their tribes, first, before thinking things out rationally.
I personally believe that, a celebrity, is supposed to be a beacon of hope, a role model and one that leads by example. Sadly, owing to a number of these factors aforementioned, our celebrities have suppressed their voice for the call of money, rest of mind, or avoidance of trouble.
This, therefore, means that, should the voice of reason wish to be heard, the commoners have to gang up and do what’s right for themselves—be their own voices. If you wait around for celebrities to speak up for you positively against the hardship you suffer, which they don’t then, you’ll be waiting a long time in vain.
In Burna Boy’s words, “I hand over the baton.” These celebrities have logged out of the activism website. It’s just you and I left. There’s no one else left to champion our cause. The common man should know this and know peace.
