Nigerians Don't Hate Oppression, They Just Hate Being Oppressed

Photo Credit: I3ayo_

It rained heavily that day in Lagos, and I was more worried about the traffic than getting wet. To be honest, in a city where everybody seems to be in a hurry, we spend too much time in Lagos traffic.  I lost my ATM a few weeks back, and I have procrastinated going to the bank to get a new one, thank God for POS agents, I can still make withdrawals. 

Sorry I digress, on this particular day, I was coming from VI and had taken a bus to CMS, I was low low cash, but had just enough money to take me home or so I thought. I contemplated using POS, but my intuition kept telling me what if the network is bad? What if the transaction fails and I get debited? I just respected myself and said I was going to do it the next morning.

I got to the bus stop and met a battalion of workers struggling to catch a bus, all of a sudden they started to come down. I wondered why they were coming from a bus they were struggling for less than a minute ago, only for me to find out that the drivers had increased the fare from the normal price because of the rain and a large number of passengers at the bus stop. 

Now, these are bus drivers, who would often complain about the unfair policies of the transport union and extortion from touts, then the slightest opportunity they got and they increase the fare.

This is not just about bus drivers, it cuts across different people. People would complain and rant about how they were treated with condescension abroad because their of their skin colour yet their domestic staff can't breathe the same air as them.  

The one that baffles me the most is the hierarchy in a police cell. There is a president who is leader of the cell, he intimidates and bullies the weak ones. After wielding power in his little world, he would then cry about how unjustly the police punishes the innocent. 

Even the domestic staff are not left out, the steward would gossip about how wicked madam is, then deny the gateman lunch that afternoon, to prove to him how much power she wields in the house. The gateman in his show of power would deny a visitor entry because he feels that person undermines and does not give him enough respect. 

You find out that at the end of the day, people would not hesitate to use the little power they have to oppress people just to feel superior. Then wail and complain about how other people are oppressing them. Last last people don't hate oppression, they just hated being oppressed. 

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