Many years ago, my uncle made an impressionable comment that has helped me during some challenging moments.  He was a well-known and respected member of the community. Though not a chief (because he refused to take any chieftaincy title), he was always invited to gatherings of top ranking members of the community where very important issues were discussed.
On this fateful day, the local government chairman was visiting the community. As usual, my uncle and other notable people in the area were invited to welcome him. The community has been crying of marginalization and the coming of the chairman was considered as an opportunity for the people to pour out their mind and request for some developmental projects, employment, scholarship and other things that had eluded them for decades.
Shockingly, when it was time for some comments after the chairman’s “powerful speech”, virtually everyone started dragging their feet. Nobody wanted to throw the chairman’s sins to his face so as to remain in his good books. Though they all knew that the chairman had displayed high level of nepotism, sectionalism and bias in all that he had been doing since he came into office which was contrary to his campaign promise of carrying everybody and every community along, not many were courageous enough to bell the cat so as not to be tagged “not loyal” and for other selfish considerations. They chose to sing praises of the chairman.
It was my bold and fearless uncle who stood up, took the microphone, eulogized the local chairman boss for his effort in piloting the affairs of the Council and went straight to tell him that our community was not happy to have been neglected in all ramifications and appealed for a better treatment. He went ahead to point out some flaws of his administration and suggested ways of moving the LGA forward.
Typical of sycophants and political jobbers who see any criticism, no matter how constructive, as a pull-him-down syndrome, some men rushed and collected the microphone from him, started lambasting him for being audacious to speak to the chairman the way he did. They pleaded with the chairman not to take offence.
Later, I asked my uncle why he did not keep silent like every other person, knowing that the chairman and his praise singers will not be comfortable with the truth and he said, “at my age and status, if I cannot look at anybody, no matter how highly placed, and tell him the truth, if l cannot speak up against injustice done to my people or anybody elsewhere, if I choose to remain silent when things go wrong in the society because I may not be directly affected, then I am finished. I am useless to the society”.
The current ordeal of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah, is not far from that of my uncle. In his now famous Christmas message, “A nation in search of vindication”, he pointed out some of the issues bedeviling the nation and asked the suffering citizens to be hopeful for a better Nigeria in the nearest future.
The outspoken cleric accused President Muhammadu Buhari of deliberately sacrificing the dreams of Nigeria to institutionalize northern hegemony.  He said, “the government owes the nation an explanation as to where it is headed as we seem to journey into darkness. The spilling of blood must be related to a more sinister plot that is beyond our comprehension. Are we going to remain hog-tied by these evil men or are they gradually becoming part of a larger plot to seal the fate of our country”.
He went further to reiterate a hidden truth which is that “every honest Nigerian knows  that there is no way any non-northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and got away with it. There would have been a military coup a long time ago or would have been at war. The president may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with these actions”.
Just as it was with my uncle, some northern groups and individuals who claim to love Buhari more than he loves himself have been raising unnecessary dust, calling for the head of Kukah, terming his well thought-out message, “open invitation to military coup against a democratically elected government.”
The questions these people and every other Nigerian need to ask are, Is there truth in what the Bishop said? What percentage of the plum positions in the military, paramilitary, civil service and other appointments are allocated to people from other parts of the country and religion other than northern Muslims? Efforts towards addressing sensitive issues of inequality and ethnic domination gave birth to the federal character principle aimed at ensuring the equitable representation of different groups in all tiers of government, and the formation of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) to monitor and enforce its implementation.
Yet in recent years we have lopsided appointments into many key positions of the federal government. Appointments have been sectionalized rather than nationalized. Some major regions of the country have been crying of marginalization, especially in the appointments, all to no avail.
It is a known fact that Bishop Kukah is a northerner and the Christmas message was that of a man pained by the unending insecurity, terrorism and banditry that has made life hellish for the people in the area for many years now. And if he, the shepherd of the God’s flock who is close to the people and daily hear their tales of woe and misery, cannot call government to action, who will?
I think it is high time we changed the attitude of seeing critics of leaders both on the federal and state levels as enemies of government. These people are in power because we put them there and if they are not living up to expectation, every citizen has the right to query them and call them to order. We have become a nation where no one can talk against government and go free and, if care is not taken, that might be our doom.

By: Calista Ezeaku