By Kemi Yesufu
Nigerian government officials and citizens who are so angry with Kemi Badenoch are just being Nigerian. In Nigeria, we love being conformist, we revel in the culture of silence, we hardly tolerate outspokenness or criticism. In Nigeria, we are expected, by our cultures and adopted faiths to smile and struggle on after traumatic experiences. When pushed to the wall, we are expected to use our hands to dig holes to wiggle our way through to the other side. Surprisingly for Nigerians, Kemi is an anathema to everything Nigerian. She has chosen not to be conformist, she selects not to be silent, stoic or diplomatic about her claimed bad experiences as a child growing up in her former country.
For your average Nigerian, Kemi is not grateful to be born Nigerian, she lacks ‘manner of approach’, as we say here. Her rash and condescending manner of speaking about her country of origin is shocking as it is discomfiting to many of us, some of whom expected the Tory leader to speak about her claimed experiences in typical Nigerian fashion, by begging the question and massaging the egos of our bumbling leaders. There is nowhere else in the world where mediocre leaders (at different levels) are venerated like it is done in Nigeria.
Typical of Nigerian elite, including some of us in the media, we have turned the statements even from Kemi’s old interviews into a ‘yabbis’ competition in which we must win. Also as expected, many are responding to Kemi’s statements about Nigeria along our ever- widening fault lines: ethnicity, political affiliation, religion and social status. Those in government have been on the defensive calling Kemi all sorts of names. VP Kashim Shettima whose public speaking style isn’t any milder than Kemi’s is the most senior person in government to reply the Tory Leader, asking her to drop her Nigerian name.
Yesterday, I read the post of one of the VP’s SAs who used to be a newspaper columnist here on FB. I have also followed the shallow tweets by one of President Buhari’s highly derided media aides on Twitter. This article is inspired by the FB post of the VP’s much more intellectual and commonsensical SA. In his post on Sunday, he narrated how he was robbed for the first time in his life on a street in London and how the Metro Police failed to solve the crime. According to the SA, he feels safer in Abuja than in London. How about nearby Niger State, where he comes from? Niger which is a couple of minutes drive from the FCT is struggling with bandits who are committing atrocities in certain communities. How about the army patrol team that was attacked, with a few soldiers and an officer killed along the Bwari Road leading Niger State? Coming back to Abuja, does the SA know how many people have been killed and maimed as ‘one chance’ survivors/victims? Is the SA oblivious of the billions of Naira paid annually as ransom to kidnappers and bandits across the country? Aside from high-level insecurity and the abundance of organised crime in different parts of the country, can this SA and his bosses compare the funding, organisation and professionalism of the London Metro Police to that of the Nigerian Police? How many cases have the Nigerian police solved in a convincing manner when compared to the London police? Can anyone deny police corruption and brutality even after the #EndSARS protests shook the country to its core?
Beyond insecurity and the unprofessionalism of the Nigerian police, a good friend who survived a car accident in Niger State two years ago, without physical injuries, later died because he didn’t get the right kind of treatment, same for his best friend who succumbed to his injuries from the same accident. Does your average accident survivor in Mina, Osogbo, or Abuja have a better chance of survival than someone in the UK? Nigeria displays majority of the symptoms of a failed state and this is what Kemi Badenoch habitually alludes to. Our leaders love travelling, investing and living in advanced nations, yet, they are never shocked into action by the contrast when they return home. For me, visiting advanced countries or living there are forms of education that could be more enlightening than all the reading and education of a person yet to experience these places. It actually takes a lot of self-awareness and a high sense of egalitarianism not to write-off Nigeria and other Third World countries like Kemi Badenoch readily does with Nigeria, when you have experienced or lived the efficiency of systems in organised nations. Haven’t we read about Nigerians in the Diaspora becoming less religious after periods of living overseas? Haven’t we talked about some of our prayer points in Nigeria being answered by quality (social) services provided in advanced economies?
When some argue that Rishi Sunak doesn’t degenerate India like Kemi lampoons Nigeria, they sleep on the fact that India, despite still showing some Third World traits, has made much more progress than Nigeria from when Kemi left our country to today that she is the opposition leader in the UK. Some have said, KB badmouths Nigeria to stay relevant in her party and politics, but that’s a simplistic argument. In politics and governance, a lot happens beyond the surface and behind the scenes, KB couldn’t have risen to the heights she has attained by just bringing down her country of origin. Besides, brash talk has never really been detrimental to the Conservatives in the UK or the US. For goodness sake, Donald Trump is on his way back to the White House. Trump’s buddy, the former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s brash talk isn’t a major reason for his exit from office. Kemi Badenoch won’t lose the election to No. 10 Downing Street because she speaks her mind especially about Nigeria.
This article is not in defence of Kemi’s style of speaking, politics or her choice of bringing in Nigeria even for questions on governance in the UK, rather it is a call for Nigerians to demand change or even an improvement on the issues for which Kemi mocks Nigeria at will. Let’s not insult and drag Kemi for some days and return to our old ways of doing things. After dragging Kemi and trying to teach her a better ‘manner of approach’, we should remember to confront the problems facing our country starting with demanding action from our leaders.
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