To say this past week has been really depressing for me would be an understatement. So I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my COVID test was inconclusive (like when did that become a thing🤦🏾♀️), when I had to relive the Lekki toll gate massacre thanks to CNN’s investigation and as if that wasn’t enough the same level of violence found it’s way to Uganda 🇺🇬.
So having recently shared the above photo on my insta-stories and gotten a couple of shocking responses such as someone telling me that I am getting over political while another individual decided to point out that several other governments have acted worse than the Nigerian govt and he just couldn’t understand why everyone was making it a big thing. These among other responses really got me thinking. For starters, when did caring for people and asking for basic human rights especially a mere right to not be killed, a right to live become political. For those who don’t know on the 20th of October 2020, the government of Nigeria orchestrated the Lekki toll gate massacre that claimed lives of several Nigerian citizens who were peacefully protesting for the government to put an end to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad popularly known as SARS. This social movement was originally kicked off on Twitter with the hashtag #ENDSARS which people used to call for the ban of this National Police Unit by recounting their unjust and violence filled run-ins with this particular law enforcement unit so as to highlight and put an end to the brutal police oppression the Nigerian citizens were suffering at the hands of these individuals who solemnly swore to protect and serve them. These law enforcers were hiding behind the hands of the law to commit desspeakable that included but were not limited to extortion, kidnappings, armed robberies, murders as well as rape. Soon after the Nigerian citizens decided to take this social movement to the streets where they held peaceful protests as well as a candlelight ceremony to remember all those that had lost their lives at the hands of these unjust officials. So on that fateful day at around 6:50 p.m, members of the Nigerian Armed Forces opened fire on peaceful End SARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos State, Nigeria and fired on all through the night right into the next day. All this transpired after they had removed the cctv cameras, cut off all the lights at Lekki toll gate and made a curfew that they very well people wouldn’t uphold because they wanted to fight for their peace and freedom. As if to add salt to the wound, once the shooting began all ambulances that several Good Samaritans had sent to help in aiding the injured victims were blocked from coming in hence several lives were claimed due to the fact that the victims could not access medical assistance. This led many to believe that this killing spree was deliberately orchestrated by the Nigerian government as a punishment for its citizens which CNN’s investigation highlighted. During this week the same level of absurd violence found its way again on the streets of Kampala and other places in Uganda (This seems to be the norm everytime election season comes around). This all started when one of the opposition’s presidential candidate was manhandled and wrongly arrested for failing to uphold the COVID 19 regulations set in place when campaigning for votes (the same thing government’s candidate and his subordinates are doing but they were not arrested). This caused a major uproar in Uganda’s capital city Kampala and his supporters as well as fellow citizens to take to the streets to protest against this unlawful arrest. The Ugandan government responded by deploying military officials and the police and to beat, arrest, attack and murder anyone that was out protesting hence the senseless bloodshed. You can witness some of this gruesome violence by checking the following hashtags #Ugandaisbleeding or #EndpolicebrutalityinUganda on your social media platforms. It was a heartbreakingly sad sight. Even if one feels indifferent towards all the people that are up for election this year, That doesn’t mean that one should turn a blind eye to the social injustices that are happening around the country.

Majority of these African leaders/ politicians are just out to line their pockets (they didn’t join politics because they really care about the people that voted them into power/ the people they represent but rather they only joined politics to further their personal gain). Case in point a certain member of the Ugandan parliament shamelessly went onto national television to ask people from his constituency to vote for him again in the upcoming elections because his first term in office was just for him to reap, spend and enjoy the taxpayer’s money and he promised that this second term would be different because now he would be willing to share this money with them. I was astonishingly dumbfounded at this revelation like wow how are we just a joke to you 🤔. But that revelation provided an insight to why none of these so called politicians is willing to step down or give up that seat of power after all we have an individual that keeps amending so that he can be a viable candidate everytime election season comes around). Other individuals feel indifferent towards African elections because it’s all smoke and mirrors, just another way to swindle and misuse more of the taxpayers money because everyone already knows who is going to emerge victorious since the election is already rigged from the get go. It is just a facade designed to give the masses false hope and make them think that they really have a say in the politics of the country yet they don’t 🤷🏾♀️. (Like see we have democracy because we let you vote in our already rigged election yay!!!!🎊).
This just goes to show that the so called democracy they claim we have is just a facade to mask and hide the true tyranny and dictatorship that is at play. So much innocent blood has been shed all because apparently it’s currently a crime to have a different political view to the current government.
And as folks were celebrating the release of the PlayStation 5 and debating whether it was really worth hype seeing as it pretty much costs an arm and a leg to get a hold of one, (they were pretty much sold out everywhere). I couldn’t help but be reminded of the fact that the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently going through a silent Holocaust where millions of people are getting killed over the sourcing of coltan, a critical mineral that is needed for electronic devices, aerospace and other technological innovations. And not to be a Debbie downer or anything but fact that children are being enslaved and over worked in these mines had my stomach in knots. Who would have thought that we would still be protesting against child rape in 2020?? (looking at you Malawi though you are not alone on that list) And don’t get me started on #ShutitdownNamibia where Namibian women are marching in Windhoek against gender based violence, rape and femicide. Denouncing the ever present fear they are currently living in and asking their government to help create safer communities for them and their children. These politicians practically turn a deaf ear to the innocent cries of their citizens but they won’t fail to continue to impose heavy unnecessary taxes on their already not so well off to do citizens while they (the politicians)continue to live in the utmost opulence one can imagine.
They use the tax payers’ money to fund their lavish and luxurious lifestyles instead of providing the basic needs the citizens of their countries require. To put it mildly access to medical care is difficult and even if one manages to get to the hospital in time, there’s no medicine in the poorly ran government hospitals and don’t get me started on the shitty public schools. Public servants such as doctors and teachers only receive a penny’s worth of pay while these politicians are sitting on mountains of millions. There is a high mortality rate due to the poorly constructed roads (these roads have potholes just after a few weeks of construction because the contractors use the cheapest materials available and pocket the rest of the money). These politicians have failed their citizens in all capacities but what can one expect from people who can confidently and shamelessly steal over 100,000 dollars from their citizens and then claim that a snake swallowed the money 🤦🏾♀️.
Most of these politicians probably started out with good intentions of truly serving the people but it seems like the power and their greed got the best of them and made them lose sight of what they really set out to do. With that being said, It’s safe to say that this younger African generation is tired😓. Our tired is tired. Like what more do you want from us. Your governments have starved us, brutalized us and slaughtered us like we are parasites that need to be exterminated. Y’all need to do better.
AfroCocktail 