Dingswayo
JF-Expert Member
- May 26, 2009
- 4,019
- 2,931
I find many paralles in this article with the current Tanzania's situation. What do you think?
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By Ayobami Oyalowo - A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. ~John Burroughs
Ordinarily we have been led to believe that a democratic government is essentially a participatory one and as such citizens have inalienable rights to ask questions of their representatives while expecting sensible, reasonable and civil answers, backed with facts. It is universally held that people who get "voted" into political offices are answerable to those who voted them in. But it appears we are practicing something else in Nigeria where it has become a crime for freeborn citizens to ask questions of their so-called government.
It is a known fact that in most third world countries, the mass media is controlled by government or businessmen who are mostly stooges and yes men of those in government. Therefore, the government usually controls what streams out from these media channels. Since the media generally shapes debates and discourse, opposition voices are usually muted. But with the advent of social media, online blogging, twitter, Facebook etc, the various governments in third world countries have been running helter skelter; having lost the monopoly of information. Nigeria as a third world nation is no exception. We have been denied information over the years but suddenly, it does appear, the people have found a voice in social media and are judiciously using it to call their government to order.
One thing is clear though: despite the rants and dissenting voices online, the Nigerian government scoffs at the voices of the people so much so that a presidential adviser once branded some citizens as " collective children of anger". But there seems to be an exception to this rule. The moment certain personalities use the social media to make their voices heard, a horde of presidential minions are unleashed, from the attack dog, to crawling roaches. Like a cackle of hyenas, they are usually out in full force. They do not have to give any intelligible answer or clear grey areas as raised. Their singular aim is to muddle up the puddle, in their usually rambunctious manner. They raise unsubstantiated allegations and mudslinging is their watchword.
The presidential minions have no restraints nor decorum. They don't care about the sacredness of facts or the sanctity of proof. NO, that ain't their turf. All they want is to divert attention and turn the gaze of the masses away from salient issues raised by anyone they perceive as influential. When all that fails, the government, through any of their numerous agencies, may start to pursue spurious court cases against these so called opponents...
Read on:
Re: Abati – The Issue is not Yesterday's Men – the issue is tomorrow's children – Opinion
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By Ayobami Oyalowo - A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. ~John Burroughs
Ordinarily we have been led to believe that a democratic government is essentially a participatory one and as such citizens have inalienable rights to ask questions of their representatives while expecting sensible, reasonable and civil answers, backed with facts. It is universally held that people who get "voted" into political offices are answerable to those who voted them in. But it appears we are practicing something else in Nigeria where it has become a crime for freeborn citizens to ask questions of their so-called government.
It is a known fact that in most third world countries, the mass media is controlled by government or businessmen who are mostly stooges and yes men of those in government. Therefore, the government usually controls what streams out from these media channels. Since the media generally shapes debates and discourse, opposition voices are usually muted. But with the advent of social media, online blogging, twitter, Facebook etc, the various governments in third world countries have been running helter skelter; having lost the monopoly of information. Nigeria as a third world nation is no exception. We have been denied information over the years but suddenly, it does appear, the people have found a voice in social media and are judiciously using it to call their government to order.
One thing is clear though: despite the rants and dissenting voices online, the Nigerian government scoffs at the voices of the people so much so that a presidential adviser once branded some citizens as " collective children of anger". But there seems to be an exception to this rule. The moment certain personalities use the social media to make their voices heard, a horde of presidential minions are unleashed, from the attack dog, to crawling roaches. Like a cackle of hyenas, they are usually out in full force. They do not have to give any intelligible answer or clear grey areas as raised. Their singular aim is to muddle up the puddle, in their usually rambunctious manner. They raise unsubstantiated allegations and mudslinging is their watchword.
The presidential minions have no restraints nor decorum. They don't care about the sacredness of facts or the sanctity of proof. NO, that ain't their turf. All they want is to divert attention and turn the gaze of the masses away from salient issues raised by anyone they perceive as influential. When all that fails, the government, through any of their numerous agencies, may start to pursue spurious court cases against these so called opponents...
Read on:
Re: Abati – The Issue is not Yesterday's Men – the issue is tomorrow's children – Opinion
