Odita Sunday 
Nigeria’s Tragedy of Political Amnesia
By Chris Okobah, PhD
Award-Winning Author
“The tragedy of oppression reaches its deepest point when the oppressed begin to defend—and even die defending—the very system responsible for their suffering.”
Nigeria suffers from something deeper than bad governance. We suffer from political amnesia—the frightening tendency to forget yesterday’s pain once another election approaches.
The roads that destroy our vehicles and claim lives are still there. Our hospitals remain poorly equipped, forcing those who can afford it to seek treatment abroad. Our schools struggle, infrastructure decays, electricity remains unreliable, insecurity has turned highways and communities into places of fear, while poverty pushes millions into a daily battle for survival.
Yet, incredibly, some of the greatest defenders of this system are its greatest victims.
People who cannot afford three meals a day fight for politicians whose families live in luxury. People without electricity defend leaders whose mansions never go dark. Citizens travelling on deadly roads praise politicians who move in protected convoys. Families who cannot afford basic healthcare defend leaders who can seek medical treatment anywhere in the world.
And sometimes, Nigerians die defending their oppressors.
They fight one another at political rallies. They attack neighbours because of party, tribe or religion. They risk their lives during elections for politicians whose own children are safely far away from the violence. The poor fight the poor while those who benefit from the broken system watch from behind security escorts.
This is perhaps Nigeria’s greatest tragedy: suffering has not always produced resistance; sometimes it produces loyalty to the architects of the suffering.
A bag of rice arrives. A few naira exchange hands. Ethnicity is invoked. Religion is weaponized. Political slogans return—and suddenly years of hunger, darkness, insecurity and neglect are forgotten.
Martin Luther King Jr. warned:
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Nigeria does not merely need better politicians. Nigeria needs citizens with longer memories.
Remember the potholes. Remember the darkness. Remember the hospitals. Remember the schools. Remember the insecurity. Remember the hunger.
And before you fight—or die—for any politician, ask yourself one simple question:
Would that politician fight or die for you?
A nation cannot continue bleeding while its victims applaud those holding the knife.
Nigeria must remember. Because political memory is not hatred—it is accountability.
Chris Okobah, PhD
Award-Winning Author
About the Author
