Understanding Repression

The bad harvest of 1792 in England, the grave discontent among the people, the high rate of unemployment, the prohibitive prices of food items, repression by the government among numerous other factors had adverse effects on its socio-economic and political development. In Nigeria in 2021, insecurity, hunger, poverty, the high unemployment rate, violent crimes, incompetence, misplaced priorities, mediocrity, the beautification of lies and falsehood, the condemnable activities of state actors and their agents have visible prints in every part of the country for the people to see. Indeed, the insinuation is that leadership at all levels has derailed. The ignoble roles played by the likes of John Castle, Oliver, and George Edwards, all provocative agents of the government and spies, have further dented the image of the leadership and also eroded its credibility. The actions of Pitt in the House of Commons and Grenville in the Lords resulted in the passage into law of the Seditious Meetings Bill and the Treasonable Practices Bill, re-echoed in both chambers of the National Assembly.

Unprovoked attacks by the government, with the aid of armed force upon unarmed people exercising their constitutional rights to meet together to make in a peaceful and dignified manner, rational demands in the name of justice, is already a policy of the government. Nigeria has its own version of the ''waterloo'' massacre. Restrictive laws have only succeeded in promoting disaffection and discontent in different parts of the country and the destination now is a departure from all principles of the constitution. Those-in-Charge in the mold of Pitt, Eldon, Castle, and Sidmouth understand the language of repression best, while the disillusioned and impoverished citizenry watches helplessly. However, the consolation for the people lies in the fact that the time is too short for the functionality of the various distractions lined up by the leadership to cover up its failures.