Our Reporter, New York
Co-founder of the BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) Movement, Aisha Yesufu, has said those who help other Nigerians pay for their children’s school fees, and healthcare are subsidising the government’s failure.
She made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday.
“We are playing the role of government by providing charity for people,” the member of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign stated.
She explained that the Nigerian government has said it can no longer continue subsidising energy costs for the people, yet expects others to subsidise its failure.
The activist insists that Nigerians must begin to understand the relationship between governance and their lives and thus learn to hold their government accountable.
“I have resolved that I will no longer be a stop-gap for people who refuse to hold their government accountable. If you don’t hold your government accountable, enjoy whatever you see,” she said.
The EndSars advocate also lambasted Nigerians in the diaspora for encouraging citizens back home not to demand good governance by sending them money to cushion the economic hardship.
She also said that Nigerians in the diaspora are the most “foolish set of Nigerians” for being content with zero political power despite their remittances’ massive contribution to propping up the nation’s economy. She said the least political demand from diaspora Nigerians should be to be able to vote in elections.
Speaking on the disappointing performance of the Labour Party National Assembly members, Yesufu said it is not surprising as most of them are simply “accidentally lawmakers” who won elections courtesy of the Peter Obi factor. She said their character, capacity, and competence were not known before the election.
She, however, asked members of the Obidient Movement not to relent as a result of the manner in which the last election was rigged. She said those who have decided they won’t participate in elections again because of the rigging are only sabotaging themselves.
“The first thing I want is for people to stay on, as giving up is not an option. The second is that we should begin to organise ourselves into polling unit agents in all the units so that by the time Peter Obi wants to contest again, we will be there as polling agents. Also, let the Obidient Movement organise into a political force that people can reckon with,” Yesufu said.
