A viral message is making the rounds on WhatsApp and other social media platforms all morning today. Sent with an image of the official seal of the Federal Government of Nigeria as an attachment, it lists 11 new measures allegedly adopted by the Nigerian government to record and monitor all calls, SMS, voice notes and social media posts exchanged by Nigerians on the internet or via national telecommunications networks. It warms that persons sending “any bad post or video against the government regarding politics or the current situation” can now be easily fished out, “arrested without warrant” and prosecuted by the Nigeria Police.
Although poorly written, not signed by any designated government official, and most probably a fake, this is piece of garbage is quite possibly an attempt at scaremongering by regime loyalists seeking to check the growing army of critics assailing the Tinubu government today. It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the country. It bears the imprimatur of a badly damaged democracy or an authoritarian state fast in the making.
If true, that message may represent the most hideous and despicable sign of loss of legitimacy by any Nigerian government since 1999. It is also an affront on constitutionally guaranteed citizen rights.
Those behind such cowardly tactics should be ashamed of themselves. They should prepare to arrest, detain or kill over 200 million “offenders” around Nigeria immediately.
To make their job easier, I hereby volunteer to be arrested by agents of the Nigerian state as a sign of defiance. I will provide at my own cost, evidence of my “critical” comments against the Tinubu administration. So they need not waste time looking for proof. I will not be intimidated by anyone born of a woman in my pursuit of a better country for all. Not even by those who claim they can “make (us) disappear.” Some of us have gone past fear. We are ready to face the consequences of our convictions, words and actions.
Those who can’t stand the heat have no business in the kitchen. Leaders who can’t stand criticism have no business in public office. If this government is worried about what people are saying on phone lines and the internet, it would be horrified by the curses deep in the hearts of hardworking citizens pauperized or marginalized by its mindless policies.
The cries of wretched widows, orphans and ordinary people rendered needy and unable to fend for themselves by heartless politicians and economic policies cannot be recorded by any known devices. But they are real and potent. If Tinubu handlers mean well for him, they should warn him of this impending wrath.
In the past 17 months only, this government has created the most horrible, miserable and unwarranted living conditions Nigerians have ever known in peace time. It has mistaken callousness for courage. It has advertised emptiness in place of empathy. And if it does not quickly reverse its course, the curses of the people, especially the innocent poor, will be irreversible.
