By Vincent G. Uba
I have had serious thoughts as to why a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, who just graduated from the university and about to enter the job market, was so hasty in making a video condemning the federal government and insulting the president of her country, branding him “terrible.”
Instead of her to thank God for making it possible for her to graduate from school, in the face of excruciating economic hardship, and pray to find a good job, she decided to dubiously play smart by unleashing an insulting video that made me begin to wonder about the genuineness of her concern about the country.
As a graduate, I believe she would have acquired some basic knowledge that should make her understand certain things about governance and management of affairs, even though I don’t know her discipline. I also believe she must have been resident in Nigeria over the years, not only during the less than two years of President Bola Tinubu, to be able to make an informed and rational comparative analysis of things in the country.
By her academic exposure, Rita Uguamaye, should have been able to have a grasp of the reasons why things are the way they are currently. She should have known that this government is not given to creating false and fake impressions of the situations in the country, a situation akin to presenting Nigeria as a painted sepulchre, which is what previous governments had been doing.
As a university graduate, she should have known that this government wants the citizens to face the reality, which is that things have been so bad for several years; but have deliberately been swept under the carpet. If this current administration had left it to continue that way, it would have spelt doom for the country in the long run.
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Why wouldn’t this young lady see President Tinubu as one who had the courage to boldly take the bull by the horns, unlike his predecessors who wanted us to continue to live in the illusion of plenty and boom? Why didn’t she see this President as a reasonable leader who would rather let the masses pass through temporary pains and hardship to recover the country, than be afraid of their cries and pains and allow the country to go under?
The previous Presidents were like parents who were afraid that their children would suffer discomfort and would, therefore, not want to administer painful remedies to heal their sickness. But this President is like a responsible parent who knows that it is better for his children to suffer pains and hardship under some bitter pills to recover from their sickness than avoid these pills and so allow them to die afterwards.
Watching and listening to this young lady, some thoughts came into my mind. I feel that she is being smart by half, wanting to make it big, and so decided to play on the psyche of desperate politicians and some gullible Nigerians to draw their sympathy and attention to make some money out of them.
Yes, her bank account would have swollen by now, since this brouhaha. Another thought is that she would have been made a tool by some opposition politicians to create a serious bad image against the government, as already, these politicians are now embracing, applauding and protecting her.
Whichever way, she lacks home training and no reasonable and responsible citizen will not condemn her actions. If her parents knew about their onions, they would have cautioned her by now.
Again, what is the connection between the hardship she is complaining about and the Lagos she alleges to be stinking? All these would make one begin to think that there is more to this than meets the eye. I’m of the strong view that she is looking for cheap money, fame and unmerited attention and so Nigerians should not take her seriously.
