By Ayo Akinfe
[1] Our people are always quick to look to China when it comes to purchasing consumer goods but alas, we seldom pick up the more important lessons about building society from there. Trust my people to be quick to buy Chinese generator sets, lace, ankara, adire and damask from Hong Kong but alas they have totally missed the protests going on there over the last five or so years
[2] Now, today November 24, Hong Kong will be holding district council elections to all its 18 district councils, with 452 councillors to be directly elected in constituencies, in an assembly with a total of 479 seats. In all of the seats, we have activists from the recent protests standing. Many of them are young people in their 20s, who are hellbent on making a difference
[3] On November 2, over 100 pro-democracy candidates held an election rally at Victoria Park in defiance of the government’s Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance which tried to ban rallies that were not authorised by the police. In the run-up to the rally, the police had rejected the organisers’ initial application to hold a demonstration. However, trust these guys, they are never going to be cowered, whatever the intimidation
[4] An unprecedented number of 1,104 nomination forms were received by the returning officers in the two-week nomination period between October 4 and 17. In the history of Hong Kong, this is the first time that all 452 district council seats are being contested, compared with the last elections in 2015 where only 68 seats went uncontested. I just love the Hong Kong youth as they are not ready for any compromise
[5] Hong Kong’s 2019 protests came four and a half years after the Umbrella Revolution, which began after the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress regarding proposed reforms to the Hong Kong electoral system which were largely seen as restrictive. For some protesters, the Umbrella Revolution was an inspiration that brought about a political awakening, with many youths feeling that peaceful methods were ineffective and as such resorted to increasingly radical methods to express their views
[6] Now, here is what I want my people to take note of. Living standards in Hong Kong are more than three times higher than what prevails in Nigeria but hey, the youth there are not content to just sit back and “enjoy life.” These Hong Kong protesters are apparently being driven by a sense of desperation rather than hope. They are ready to fight until the bitter end and there is simply now way they can be bought off with GMG bags, political appointments, offered stomach infrastructure or silenced with intimidation
[7] They have five main demands which are: Complete withdrawal of the extradition bill from the legislative process; the retraction of the “riot” characterisation; the release and exoneration of arrested protesters, the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into police conduct and the use of force during the protests and the resignation of Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam and the implementation of universal suffrage for legislative council elections and for the election of the chief executive
[8] Today, there has been a massive turnout for the elections in Hong Kong as the voters look to punish pro-government candidates. Now contrast this with Nigeria where a governor like Yahata Bello was returned to office despite owing something like three years salary arrears. Where were the hundreds of thousands of youthful demonstrators in Lokoja, Kabba, Okene, Idah, etc, demanding his removal and prosecution?
[9] Today, the Nigerian government is clamping down on human rights in a much more aggressive way than the Chinese authorities are in Hong Kong, which is why someone like Omoyele Sowore is in detention. Where are the millions of Nigerian youths on the streets demanding his release? There is no way the authorities in Hong Kong would dare refuse to release someone granted bail by the courts but alas, it happens in Nigeria because we tolerate it
[10] I have repeatedly said that there is only one problem with Nigeria and that is Nigerians. When we look to China, we are only interested in buying their SUVs, head ties, jewellery, generator sets and flatscreen TVs. When we are prepared to learn more important lessons from them, we will see the change, which for now we only pray for
