Post by Adedayo Oduwobi (@stopit)

EPISODE 4 OF 6: LEADERS MUST NOT TREAT CRITICISM AS BETRAYAL.

THE PEOPLE IN POWER MUST ALSO HEAR THIS MESSAGE.

If political leaders want citizens to stop treating one another as enemies, they must stop encouraging division for political advantage.

They must stop using ethnic, religious and regional differences to distract people from questions about performance.

They must stop treating criticism as betrayal.

And they must understand that citizens are not enemies simply because they ask:

Where is the road?

Where is the electricity?

Where is the security?

Where is the accountability for public money?

Where is the healthcare we were promised?

Where are the opportunities for our children?

Those are not questions of hatred.

Those are questions of citizenship.

MY MESSAGE TO TIMI DAKOLO—and to all of us—is THIS:

Let us not destroy our friendships over political parties.

Let us not hate our neighbours because they vote differently.

Let us not allow politicians to turn our personal relationships into battlefields.

But let us also not use the language of peace to discourage people from fighting for justice.

Don’t make enemies because of politics.

But don’t make peace with injustice simply because you want to keep everybody comfortable.

Don’t hate your friend for supporting a different candidate.

But don’t abandon your principles to protect that friendship.

Don’t insult people because of their political choices.

But don’t stop asking questions about the people entrusted with public power.

And above all:

DO NOT CONFUSE THE PEACE OF YOUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SILENCE OF YOUR CITIZENSHIP.

In Part 5: The balance Nigeria needs—and why keeping your humanity does not mean surrendering your voice.

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