There’s something to be said about older Nigerians who value respectability over accountability. They will harass you but you must not forget to call them ‘uncle’. They will steal from the government and relinquish their sense of duty, but expect no talkback. They insist on a docile population who laps at their hands and nods at their every suggestion.
But guess what? The younger people are saying F that!
If there’s anything the #EndSARS protest has shown, it’s that respectability politics no longer thrives amongst younger people. Slogans like ‘we will respect only those who respect us’, ‘we will patronise those we serve us’ keep springing up. A demand for reciprocal respect, based on values such as honesty, duty, over futile variables such as age.
And today, Oct 13’s accolade for the absolute act of defiance goes to 21 years old Stephanie Mbachu who on HipTV said Buhari has been a bad boy. A statement so bold and defiant both for its humour-laced courage and its rallying call to arms, that it became one of the top trending hashtags on Nigerian twitter.
This is what Stephanie had to say:
We just started o; we just started. We’ll still tackle Buhari: he’s been a bad boy
Well, take that old Nigerian respectability politics. We are coming for the whole damn system!