CHANGE

When I log into my Facebook page and post messages that speak truth to power on sociopolitical issues concerning Nigeria, some may feel like “I should keep quiet and who am I to speak that way” while some may feel like “Yes! you are a potent, peaceful revolutionary in the making.”

The point I am trying to emphasize is: I am not better than the next person silently working change without the Facebook “hoopla;” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Rosa Parks both had different roles in the revolution that led to the desegregation of buses in some parts of the United States of America. Though Dr. King had more popularity, Mrs. Rosa Park’s role in that revolution was not less important.

My family and friends that nurtured me in Lagos state, Nigeria knew since I started talking as a child that I had the urge to rebel against not uttering “certain socially incorrect statements;” because “my mouth can be compared to a basket” and that is not a phenomenon I can explain. It is part of my DNA. But the greater challenge for me is not to speak like a drunk man because I can; but to speak in a way that encourages justice, love, and peace among people.

In conclusion, the people that choose to devote their energy solely towards praying for Nigeria, advisers of Nigerian leaders that encourage them to do the right thing by the Nigerian people, the hardworking small and large business men and women in Nigeria, wise and noble elders in diverse communities across Nigeria, and so on and so forth are as relevant as people like me, Seun Kuti, Chinedu C. Ekeke, Shehu Sani, Omoyele Sowore, and a lot of other people that speak fearlessly in diverse public domains about the injustice that men and women saddled with the responsibility of governing Nigeria choose to do against the people of Nigeria.

What is not acceptable is not to do anything because that is suicidal against Nigeria.

Omololu Omotosho is a 2013 Fellow with ex-president Obama's policy organization, Organizing for Action.