In GEJ era, Nigeria was angry. It was a free for all. The leading opposition weaponised this to ride to power. The election brought hope to many, despite some insisting GMB wasn’t an option. I think it is unfair to accuse the citizens with dashed hopes of unpatriotism. Thread
According to Thomas Hobbes’ social contract theory, man is naturally nasty & brutish & life would be short if we all lived without govt. You cant expect everyone to speak same of Nigeria, or even be good people. That’s why the state regulates us within human rights confines.
The very pry essence of the state according to the social contract is to secure lives & property, Infact, some theorists say govt loses its legitimacy once it’s unable to. Citizens can’t provide security, or drive collective change, or market the state, if the state fails at it.
Citizens can only sell the country to the extent that the state makes itself sellable. eg, Jews are very powerful despite being a country of just 9m people. The Jewish are very patriotic. Because the country protects & provides for them, same with Germans, Americans, British, etc
You can’t expect a citizen that provides his own security, water, power, decent education, health, even roads in many neighborhoods, and yet get brutalized and murdered by the police & military, extorted, taxed oppressed to sell Nigeria when state actors are demarketing it.
We must stop projecting govt failings on already oppressed people. And this is mostly done by those who are comfortable. People are poor, suffering, and you can’t accuse those same people of being unpatriotic. We can give all we can to Nigeria, yet choose not to lie about it. End
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