When the Government is the Major Player

When we talk about the government, you always find a lot of things to talk about. Obviously and sadly, many such things are not beautiful, heart-touching stories or discussions. They are always about one atrocity or another, failures, inadequacies, corruption and the rest, that end up bedevilling a nation with the people, the citizens, the general public being the recipients of the consequences of these actions.

It makes me question if indeed we understand what leadership entails. This disturbs me because I see this misunderstanding or lack of understanding even at the lower levels and non-governmental sectors of leadership commitment. You look well enough, you'll see this reality, and that is; government office holders, or leaders as a whole, many fail to understand that they're servants to the people. That they're in service to them; serving them and protecting their lives and interests.

However, the reverse is the case. It's for this reason that we see the government partake in several atrocities in favour of their selfish and wicked interests, and at the detriment of the people. Now, if somehow it doesn't affect the masses, I might consider this with a sense of subtlety. But not when it's gravely affecting the people who they are responsible for, who elected them into power－as with the democratic system in my country－even to the point of costing their lives, in some cases.

I've read and heard of some of these atrocities. Some of these have been tagged as “allegedly” because the government have come out to deny them and present claims of no involvement, and with denial even in the face of evidence presented. It's pathetic. One of such atrocities, a great and heinous one was the October 20, 2020 massacre at the Lekki toll gate. Several citizens came out en masse, peacefully protesting about police brutality only to have security forces open fire on them later on.

The government of the state and other public office holders came out to present narratives that beg to differ with the stories of what happened that day. Narratives that were contradicting and didn't add up. Today, it's a story, a black history that people remember when this day comes up on the calendar. What about the pain the family and loved ones of the deceased－ who wanted nothing but a stop to police brutality－were left to bear? Wounds that probably haven't healed.

There's another heinous atrocity set to come up this January. It's coming in the form of a new Tax Reform, which was passed by the legislative arm of the government sometime this year. I tell you, this tax rule will place heavy burdens on the citizens who are just struggling to survive, to live from day to day, when the government doesn't even care about them, and offers no help or hope to them. It might not cost lives directly but the effects are far-reaching.

What is more annoying is that they wish to take this tax at certain percentages even from those who have no business with the government with regard to earnings. It's an unfair call, and the government isn't just a participant here, they are the sponsors, the major players. Though not in effect yet, it's severely disturbing; since no commensurate development has even been felt from taxes that have been collected before.

Well, permit me to drop the pen here, because there's a lot to say on these things.

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Images are AI generated.

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Thank you for reading through!