 How the middle class circumvents democracy in Nigeria? Before I proceed, I would first like to define what the middle class is in this conversation. And the middle class, of course, would be anyone whose literate, above secondary school level. So, it's not an economic definition, it is a political definition. Nigeria is a very complex nation politically. We all know that. Nothing seems to work normally. What is democratic landscape is made of a massive, politically illiterate group known as this middle class. Though the most literal group in the country, which of course can be fought, it's sad to know that they are the hunters in Nigeria's democratic landscape, planting booby traps for young democracy. Here are some clear-cut parameters to portray this uncommon point, or on popular opinion as some want to think without looking into the mirror. Despite being the channel through which the elite provide stomach infrastructure to the grassroots. Of course, do you see your big politicians in the remote hoods giving stomach infrastructure? No, hardly there. So the middle class is giving that burden to transfer the so-called financial benefits of voting for a candidate to the grassroots. Of course, they would live in self-denial. That's the middle class, that they aren't the conduit for such a bad practice. Now, despite writing and constituting the makeup of the average political party, it is not far-fetched or not uncommon to hear on news media that political parties have no ideology, or it's a tune playing to those who don't even know how many political parties exist, or are registered in Nigeria. Now, this is common within the middle class, but the great question is, who actually writes the constitution for these political parties? Of course, there are lawyers, people that are politicians within the middle class, and usually at the behest of the ruling elite. On social media, it is so simple to watch the middle class attack corrupt politicians. But guess what? On the same timeline, if I was invited to attend some politician's birthday or his daughter's wedding, the same commentators who were on my timeline to harass the corruption of politicians will see this picture with me in a birthday and say, wow, Kunle has really moved up in life, or he has moved up in politics, and that is the truth. But we will choose to ignore that part and just say government has generally been bad. Now, with the voter's register of almost 90 million in 2019, guess who has intelligent, bare parlor discussions? While posting great solutions on social media, on how government could change, on how the local government or state police is better, the arguments are way up. Trust me, I can tell you no parliament in the world will have the kind of discussions we have on social media. But guess what? There were less than 29 million voters in a general election in 2019, and in the recent by-elections in Lagos and other spots all over in Nigeria, less than 5% of total registered voters participated. To make these numbers more realistic to you, I'll tell you what they really are. We're talking of less than 200,000 voters delivering a senator, less than 100,000 voters delivering a federal House of Rep. I don't even want to mention how low local government chairman elections go. Well, we're looking at Lagos. I hope Lagos stands up to his local government elections. But we are on social media forums arguing and talking and discussing and hating. I don't know whether some people are waiting for air-conditioned units to be brought to polling units in Leki, or in Yenegwa, or in Busan. But the truth is, we will always remain so far from democracy and so far from elections, till we understand that we, the middle class, are the problem. Elections are not one on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, or on our WhatsApp groups where we hold our conversations, but in the polling units. 60 million of the middle class mostly was missing in an election in 2019. If this set of people do not start to participate or actually hold the government accountable, and, most of all, actually read the Nigerian constitution, which they call, in quotes, not a constitution. Well, guess what? Most of them haven't read it. The country will continue to dwindle in political thoughts and directions, as they will continue to be the grave diggers of political development in Africa's most populous nation. You know, just simply saying to you, it's, quite frankly, was quite thought-provoking, I would say, on a level. I do think that for a country that is struggling to pay $30,000 as minimum wage to claim to have a middle class, we just might be playing to the fact that it's an illusion of middle class. An educated middle class, as you claim, who is not politically educated or politically literate, is no good to a society. And if you look at the last 20 years or 30 years, we have come through incisant military interregums. We've gone through nascent democracy that we still call nascent, even while it's no longer still that young. But the middle class has not been able to get an understanding of the role of politics. Just a decent enough life, a good enough car, they've removed themselves from the harsh realities of society by building taller fences and driving good cars on broken roads. So there is an inherent sense of selfishness that I think is the main disease of the middle class. The circumversion is actually more a consequence of selfishness. That many of them would rather fly out of this country weeks to election because they are afraid of insecurity and all of those things. And return after election, they've not been able to make the connection that governance and politics affects all our lives. And unfortunately, it is a game of numbers. And if the educated ones are not crystallizing the knowledge, those who are for sale who are more in numbers will always go for school, go for the highest bidder. So whenever we make this statement, those who are for sale, who tells the elite or the political ruling class that those people are for sale? The elite and ruling class are too far away to be able to tell who is for sale or not. That job is also done by the middle class. Now the middle class has built itself a blameless structure. And within that blameless structure, I will say our social media, our so-called gyms, whatever sort of outlet we have to deceive ourselves that we are not part of the problem. Or as usual, let me use what most people will say, what's the matter, just japa now, which thing they happen. You know, I'll tell you a story. Japa might save you, but I know of someone's uncle who thought he had japa during structural adjustment program. Well, he died, and his children had to come and bury him. And one of his children was shot at at 8 a.m. in Nigeria. He hadn't been in Nigeria for 17 years, but Nigeria still gets to you. Without you. Japa, you have beneficiaries here. So during elections, you go out to the polling stations. You see the so-called middle class. Those who turn up in their fancy cars, or they turn up in their umbrellas, they come to look at the queue, noses all up in the air, and they're like, I can't stand here. It's too hot, this place is too dirty, and off they go. And I would say to them, I always engage in conversation. I'm like, are you coming back? And they're like, I don't know, it depends. I have guests coming over. I have a barbecue in my house. I'm going to get up work today. It's a chance for us to kick back. And I'm looking at them and saying, are you serious? This is your country. And they're like, does it really matter? My votes don't really matter. So what's the point? Let me just go. And like you said, I have options. I carry a second passport. If it gets really bad, I'll be gone. You hear people talking and asking themselves, are your visas up to date? People will come and say, I hope your visas are up to date. Because if anything just happens, you need to consider getting citizenship somewhere else. For someone like me, I only have one passport. I have a Nigerian passport. So I don't have options. So for me, it's important. When I hear excuses like, oh, I don't have my voter's card. That's a completely different conversation in itself. I don't have my voter's card. That's why I'm like, oh, I tried to get it, but you know, I have work commitments. I went there and I saw a long queue and I just had to leave. And I'm like, are we serious? That is the middle class that we're talking about. So we are responsible for the problems that we have in this country. You know what's sad is that we do not understand that our voter's card is more important than your international passport, your diverse license, or anything else. Put together. Well, I think because the understanding of what it means to vote and the understanding of what your actual vote is has been so devalued. Right? People think, well, it's corrupt anyway. Yeah, well, why bother? No, you know there's this catchy phrase I think I heard in 2019. It was really very funny. And they will say, a vote for a smaller party. It's a wasted vote. It's a wasted vote. Oh yeah. Okay, if we accept it's a wasted vote. Now, watch how hypothetical it is. Why were the two big parties sending talks to polling units and buying votes? Say it's wasted and you've won now. Don't deceive yourself. Then why are you still going through that? And you know, we can't even pick that. Though if it's time to criticize something that we want to pay attention to, we of course will pick a topic on social media and trash it out. But we never trash out the little lines in politics. Someone tells you a vote doesn't count. Yet he's struggling to buy votes. Or he's telling you that a vote here doesn't matter. But he's struggling to buy votes. It's actually hypothetical. What should unite the middle class? Should be intellect, education, exposure. But that is not what unites them. No, I told you what unites them. Jim's club membership. And then on a level, and maybe they might even on a certain level embody the religious and tribal ethnic sentiments that many people vote with. So, you know, because at the end of the day, it's pretty much, I mean, I run here in Lagos, I pay taxes here, but you run people, I'll say, OK, you're from Delta State. You should go back to Delta State. Really? Tell me about that. My point is there are people who are still caught up in those primordial thinking. But a middle class, I mean, they're educated based on your definition. You know, I don't even understand, you know, when the... The whole state of origin thing, right? No, I've always been a proper... I've always been a proper state of residence, but you mentioned something. And this is religion. And this is where religion misses it. I don't understand how religion is comfortable giving with those 10 bags of rice. Instead of repairing the system, which... Repairing governance, which of course will improve and create a welfare system that the church doesn't need or the mosque doesn't need to be giving out rice and peas out. It depends what your goal is for that religion. And unfortunately, we're not talking... That's a topic for another debate, but I think also because people don't understand the political system, as you said. First, you need to be aware and understand the concept before you value it. Do you understand? People don't value the environment. You go out of your houses, trash all over the place. Or next thing you think, they've thrown pure water out of the car. So why would they value the vote? You know, I've always pushed for this. People say governments corrupt, but I always remind them when last did any of us legally get a driver's license? When last did we wait in a queue when it really mattered? When last did you wait for your international passport to come out at the right time? Doing the right things are act of patriotism. We don't do it. But look, let me bring this up. Okay, I'm Nigerian, but I also have another option. I'm also British. But during the 2019 elections, while I knew people, as you say, were going abroad, my husband made it a point that we're staying. Why? Because we value our options, our privilege to vote. We are patriots. I love Nigeria. Despite all the badness, it's my country. I love it. Would you say it's the same for your children? Yes. So the key is that we buy local as much as possible. We want to do our fair part. But it's difficult in everyday life. When you're struggling for light, when you're struggling for food, when your car is being destroyed by roads, to say, okay, I need to go here to get my voter's guide, I need to do that. But people haven't kind of put the two together that going and making that vote can actually impact your everyday life, especially in the local government elections. So there needs to be kind of understanding of this concept of what our politics is and what voting is. We really have to dare live back to the very basics and educate people from it. Yeah, I think education is key. Well, it's always an interesting conversation on the advocates. There's certainly never enough time, but we make do with what we have. So please don't just listen. Remember what they say. Rome was not built in a day. Play your part. Even if it's just to share the advocate with your friends and family. 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