Naija negativity, by Donu Kogbara

Fatalism is the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. Fatalists assume that mere mortals are powerless to influence the future and that all events are decided by fate and outside human control.

This type of thinking is common amongst religious people – and most Nigerians are religious or at least superstitious; and I can see why so many Nigerians are convinced that free will is incompatible with the existence of an omniscient God who has foreknowledge of all outcomes.

But you know what?

This kind of thinking is not doing Nigerians any good! As they try to cope with economic woes, social decay and security crises, I’m increasingly alarmed by the widespread penchant for defeatism – the passive and pessimistic acceptance of defeat without struggle. The average Nigerian will assure anyone who wishes to listen to their nonsense that there is no point fighting oppressive or incompetent leaders “because they have the yam and the knife”.

I say that even if these leaders also have the pot and frying pan in addition to tubers and knives galore, leaders are not omnipotent.

Even powerful governors who are tough guys by nature have retreated into lily-livered mode and succumbed to Tinubu’s bullying and blackmail. Which is why most of them have totally ignored the wishes of the anti-APC voters who elected them…and joined the ruling APC.

I say that I am at a loss to understand why a massive majority is terrified of a measly and inept minority that won’t be able to function, terrorise anyone or remain in office if it is robustly challenged.

I wonder why a very elderly president is able to wrestle much younger blokes to the ground. I am completely puzzled by situations like the one that prevails in Rivers, my home state, whereby  Nyesom Wike can get away with ruthlessly dominating a space that is full of fellows who are more popular and more well-educated than he is.

Meanwhile, even though it is hard to achieve change within most contexts in any part of the world, those who dare to say “no!” can win; and there are countless examples of established status quos being successfully dismantled in several countries throughout history.

The British, French and Russians have both monarchs who had once been revered as quasi deities. The Black Jacobins, headed by Toussaint L’Overture, triggered a Revolution on behalf of the enslaved in Haiti.

The Assad family and its lieutenants traumatized Syria for decades until the masses said “enough is enough” and drove them into exile in Moscow. The Tunisian head of state had to flee when the Arab Spring uprising erupted. Nelson Mandela and other ANC heroes forced white South Africans to abandon apartheid. Suffragettes fought male chauvinists until women finally acquired the right to vote. Socialists and human rights activists insisted on manhood suffrage…which gave men who didn’t own property the right to choose their representatives.

Barack Obama miraculously made it to the American White House.

Meanwhile, Tinubu was part of the pro-democracy NADECO group that dragged Nigeria out of military rule. And Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 election, despite the advantages attached to incumbency.  Anything can happen if people take the trouble to persistently seek change. And Nigerians urgently need to overcome their lazy, cowardly and stoical commitment to the myth of invincibility! We need to ditch our knee-jerk fatalism and craven defeatism and keep reminding ourselves that Tinubu does not HAVE to win the 2027 election, even if he controls INEC, the army, the judiciary, etc!

Leave Zabbey alone!

Professor Nenibarini Zabbey is 

the Coordinator of Hyprep, the Ogoni clean-up project. Unfair attacks on him have become so frequent that respectable Ogonis have felt obliged to fly to his defence. Chief Priscilla Vikue, Barrister Anthony Tabu (Secretary, South-South Peoples’ Conference) and I recently drafted the following statement: The group that gathered at the Federal Ministry of Environment on 13 May 2026 did not speak for Ogoni. This manufactured protest was built on recycled accusations, zero evidence, and a refusal to engage with facts. Calling HYPREP a ‘laboratory for corruption’ is easy when you bring no names, no documents, and no verifiable case. Dismissing UNEP’s verification process is easy when you have never read it. That is not vigilance. It is propaganda meant to replace scrutiny with noise.

*To Ogoni people, especially the youth:  Do not be recruited into a campaign designed to halt the clean-up and discredit Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey’s reforms. The people bankrolling this distraction benefit when Ogoni stays in conflict and stuck in delay. Ask who is paying for it. Refuse to be used against your own future. Under Prof. Zabbey, HYPREP has moved from stalled plans to measurable work. Sites are being remediated. Community engagement now runs through structured consultations with documented outcomes. Independent technical experts are reviewing progress against established standards. This is visible in the field today. It cannot be erased by slogans. Transparency does not mean dumping unverified material to manufacture a crisis. It means following proper procedure, subjecting results to independent review, and using verified data. Demanding anything less either shows ignorance of how environmental remediation works or a deliberate attempt to sabotage it. 

Ogoni deserves a restoration process grounded in evidence, due process, and functioning institutions. That is what is happening now.

We stand with Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey and with the current direction of HYPREP. We call on all people of good faith to reject this distraction and let the clean-up proceed without interference.

DONU’S WORLD

I have a YouTube channel. It’s called DONU’S WORLD. 

https://youtube.com/@donukogbara?si=bBm_IPdFZ_wUyKYq

NIGERIA UNFILTERED – spicy commentaries on Naija issues – appears every Wednesday, while DONU’S WEEK appears on Fridays and is international as well as local and covers a mish-mash of soft and tough issues around my personal life, my work and my worldview. Two days ago, in this week’s Nigeria Unfiltered video, I urged APC members who secretly dislike President Tinubu and his closest cronies – and aren’t even being significantly rewarded for sticking with the ruling party – to rebel and follow their hearts and minds.  Please check out my Donu’s World library (dating back to early 2024) on YouTube, plus the new videos I produce every week. I would love to hear your opinions and any constructive criticisms you may have to offer. And I will be very grateful if you “like”, subscribe and share!

Please listen to my podcast AfricaHere&NOW.

YouTube.com/@AfricaHereAndNOWPodcast

http://Www.africahereandnow.com

It can also be accessed via Spotify and Apple podcasts

RESPONSES TO  donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk  or to 0805 404 6887. (TEXT ONLY). PLEASE NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU REQUEST ANONYMITY, YOUR EMAIL OR TEXT MAY BE PUBLISHED WITH YOUR NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS ATTACHED

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