I naturally would be in bed at this time of the day considering the number of things I had set out to accomplish for the day. But somehow, fate and PHCN ‘connived’ to ensure things turned out differently which is why I am up at this time of the day, narrating my experience and another lesson learnt.
I have the option of leaving this write up till tomorrow morning but I figured out the blood running through my veins today being the day it all happened would have diminished by the time I wake up tomorrow and as such the excitement of writing would have gone down by at least half.
The Story
As I drove from my house to the office which is almost adjacent LTV {Lagos Television} station at Agidingbi Ikeja Lagos, I noticed the large number of people on the road sharing fliers in their white T-shirts and with the inscription “SAY NO TO PIRACY” boldly written. A copy of their flier was given to me but couldn’t read it as I had to concentrate on driving. On getting to the office, I met my friend who is a lawyer and he coincidentally asked me to look out of my window to the left, I did and it was exactly the same set of people I had earlier seen but now gathering inside the LTV compound. I immediately seized the opportunity to tell him that was exactly what I intended talking to him about as I handed the flier over to him. Being a lawyer, he immediately read and quickly pointed out some loopholes in the flier amongst other things they have refused to do/steps they should have taken in this fight against piracy. We both agreed it was a good cause and they needed someone learned to point out one or two things but on a second thought he was quick to call himself back to order asking if they will be willing to heed these pieces of advice.
Sensing a lot of useful ideas in what he had earlier said, I took it upon myself to convince him on why staying back and pointing out these ideas only to me wouldn’t help anyone as I had little or no use of such ideas considering the fact that I am neither into film production/marketing nor acting. I also offered to escort him there as my own way of supporting the cause. After some resistance, my lawyer friend finally agreed we go together with the intention of looking out for the organisers of the rally and having a word with them/advice on the way forward.
On getting to the LTV compound, we walked around whilst stylishly trying to see if we could identify the organisers. After a short while, we were introduced to Jide Kosoko who was one of the organisers and he asked us to come with them to the Lagos State Governor’s office where they were marching to with the intention of making their grievance known. I developed cold feet immediately as I for one didn’t bargain for all that: My intention was to support my lawyer friend by escorting him with the aim of having him speak and enlighten the protesters being a lawyer who is vast in cases as such. I eventually agreed, reluctantly though that we walk down to the government house being a walk able distance but only on the condition that I walk independent of the protesters.
The Lagos State government house as usual had a heavy security presence and considering that they had a party to celebrate Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 60th birthday, the security presence doubled the usual one. The security operatives initially tried restricting the people but the protesters looked and acted determined. As such, they had their way and got to the entrance of the State House which was when I started seeing things differently.
From the safe distance I stood, I started seeing the word DIVISION being displayed. Starting from the uniforms they wore: Some had on them the green and white, some others just a white T-shirt of good quality whilst some wore the substandard white T-shirts. I also noticed they sort of looked like they had fractions; Some so called ‘big boys and girls’ moved in the company of one another, some ‘bigger girls and boys’ drove in their cars and stayed inside whilst their fellow colleagues slugged it out in the scorching sun. I also noticed some of them were hugging, shaking and talking the time away whilst some others took pleasure in posing and taking pictures. The pressmen also took the advantage of the situation to interview those known faces who took their time in answering questions about what they were out to protest about. Don’t forget these were the same people who had set out to make their grievance known.
Eventually, when one of them {Femi Adebayo} finally decided to address them in a bid of getting them organised, he decided to use the wrong words by saying ‘Please can we have the stars come forward’ and I was quick to ask my lawyer friend if we had anything like ‘star’ in a Country where the average actor/actress still lives in a 2-3 bedroom rented apartment {no harm intended}. That on its own created some chaos as some murmured and others reacted negatively in protest to the words of Femi Adebayo.
Then somehow after wasting precious time in the sun and doing all the ‘paparazzi’ they now figured out it was time for them to go and meet with Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola {who I presumed was at the party being held for Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu@60}.They also were found wanting at this point and my lawyer friend who had all the while been instrumental to putting them through on their approach to the matter was again on hand to speak to the security personnel at the gate and explained to them why the people have to meet with the governor for him to hear them out. At some point, they were asked to choose about twenty {20} of them who will be allowed to go inside and have a word with the governor with the intention of getting him to come out and address the protesters.
Again at this point, I saw a more divided house as everyone started fighting their way to the front with the mindset of the ‘chosen’ ones will be those who can be seen at the fore front. This made me wonder if they properly strategized even before coming. As one of them took up the challenge of compiling the list, some of them who probably were not going to be chosen started quarrelling and questioning the rationale behind writing the names of the likes of Jide Kosoko and Adebayo Salami {who were meant to be the main leaders} since they were not at that spot regardless of they being a stone throw from that spot.
I had to ask myself this time if these people thought the main essence of going inside was to see the interiors and come out telling whoever cares to listen that ‘I entered the Government house’ or for their mouth piece to go and actually present their case before the governor whilst convincing him of the need of come out and address the crowd of protesters. It became obvious some people were seeking self glory whilst some others felt they were in some kind of competition as to who could talk the most not minding the quality of such talk, forgetting they had a common cause they were all meant to be fighting for.
That was when I started seeing a group of protesters who lacked unity of purpose. I saw the typical selfish Nigerian spirit, the show-off spirit, and the spirit of impression as against that of impact. At that point, my support for this cause started declining: A cause I had earlier tried supporting as I believed it was a just one. Of course because they were almost fighting each other, the policeman who started attending to them quickly transferred them to another official who was very civil in stylishly letting them know they won’t be able to see the State Governor. At that point, my lawyer friend stepped in to question the officer who explained that there was no formal letter written to that effect, neither were they on any form of appointment. Some of the protesters who were around replied the officer that they had earlier written to inform the governor about their visit. The officer asked them to produce an acknowledgement copy of such letter or letters but as usual, they could not.
At this point, I had seen enough and just concluded that there was going to be little or no success from these all; It was bad enough that I had wasted precious time in observing, I wouldn’t stay to witness more of this disorganisation. As I reached out to my lawyer friend to let him know I had to leave whilst explaining to him so he doesn’t feel I am trying to abandon him, one of the ‘actresses’ who I can’t even recollect ever sighting in any of the very few Nigerian home movies I have seen just started shouting and trying to make a nuisance of herself because she eavesdropped whilst talking to my friend as to why I couldn’t stay around any longer. Her grouse was because I mentioned that things were not properly organised and they weren’t achieving much due to that. She went on and on about why I had no right to tell them they were not organised.
Two things marvelled me: First was that that singular act was an intrusion into my privacy as she wasn’t invited into the conversation but maybe because I didn’t expect too much from them considering what I had seen so far, I allowed it go. Secondly was the fact that she was shouting and trying to create a scene despite being at a place where they were meant to strictly mind their businesses and face whatever cause brought them together.
It readily brought to mind the fact that Nigerians don’t want to be told the truth, they are ever ready to fight you tooth and nail for criticism; sadly both the government and the people are guilty of this. We detest criticism in all its form and take those who try to criticize as enemies forgetting that criticism is part of what we need to help get better as an Individual, Organisation or Nation.
Also, we get distracted at the smallest opportunity forgetting that those who are bent on cheating and enslaving us are united in their purpose.
On my way out of the place, I asked my lawyer friend if he thought anything meaningful was going to come out of these all and he remained optimistic but I was quick to point out my reasons for believing there was going to be little or no success as regards the protest. All I could decipher from my experience that far to a large extent was that the protesters lacked unity of purpose and a house in division would always achieve next to nothing, that is if anything would ever be achieved in the first place.
In the few hours I spent with them as an onlooker, I could not pick a proper strategy they came with, NO written demand{s}, NO form of coordination, NOT even any specific spokes person. My lawyer friend who has got no business with film making/acting ended up being their PRO for the day.
Finally, whilst taking my walk out of the vicinity, I found the aggrieved lady and walked up to her with the aim of correcting her misinterpretation of my statement and probably use the medium to enlighten her and make her see my point but what I got shocked me to the marrows. As I spoke and tendered my apologies for speaking the truth, you would have thought my words stung her like a bee even as she flared up and started shouting that I should keep my apologies. I stood there speechless and bewildered at how uncivil and saucy someone who was on a ‘positive’ mission could be. As some people wondered who she was talking to as I was just smiling, she had the audacity to tell them ‘See what this idiot is telling me’ and at that point, I stopped being surprised that they all have come this far, yet achieved next to nothing. When you find people who feel they can talk anyhow to anybody just because some people see their faces on the screen, then it goes to show you how shallow minded they are, which is one reason the people exploiting them could have succeeded in doing so till now. Of course one of them apologised on her behalf after all the madness but by then, I had lost more faith both in their cause and the people who made up the crowd of protesters.
When my lawyer friend came back to the office, I wasn’t surprised one bit when he narrated what happened after I had left. Apparently the Lagos State governor who was aware of where the protesters were came out through some other free gate whilst his convoy drove recklessly with the Police/Mopol firing live shots in the air with some flavour of tear gas to supplement it. He left without giving any form of audience to the protesters. He left without giving any form of regard to them including my saucy ‘friend’. I simply told my lawyer friend: ‘that is what happens when the people lack unity of purpose’
This is yet another experience which has taught me the following:
- We must conquer ourselves before we can conquer the world
- In the quest for excellence, you will discover how much people are content with mediocrity
- The need for proper strategy in facing the rulers who have decided to lord it over us regardless
- Never loose focus despite distractions
- Seeking self-glory will more often than not backfire
- The danger in being divided
- The power of UNITY.
Roll call of protesters
Jide Kosoko
Adebayo Salami
Tunde Kelani
Peju Ogunmola
Ayo Adesanya
Muyiwa Ademola
Taiwo Hassan
Funke Akindele
Femi Salami
Sukanmi Omobolanle
Ronke Oshodi Oke
Adewale Elesho
Ngozi Nwosu
Grace Amah
Odunlade Adekola
Ireti Osayemi
Moji Olaiya
Mama Rainbow
Bekky Thomas
Baba Suwe
Olaiya Igwe
Yinka Quadri
Toyin Aimakhu
Yemi Solade
Bayowa Films
Murphy Ray.....................and many more
