Nigeria must unite in its pursuit of democratic freedom, writes Oluwole Onemola. Onemola urges Nigerians to shed a history of timidity in the face of government repression. This vast country can indeed unite to hold those with power to account, writes Onemola, if only drive and diversity can catalyse reactions of change amongst the populace, ‘the dormant daggers of the southern hemisphere’.

Nigeria needs to draw upon its own political and organising traditions and not simply mimic Western models, writes Oluwole Onemola. Not only does this ‘shoe’ not fit, Onemola argues, trying to put it on has allowed exploitative politicians to enrich themselves to the complete detriment of the people they represent. But, the author stresses, ‘[t]hey are not the corrupt ones, we are, because we have let them plunder away at our national pride unchallenged, with only the faintest of castigations.’