corrupt political elite — Yoruba by name but anti-Yoruba by action — who have held this state by the jugular not Ndigbo - Wale Balogun

*STATE OF THE NIGERIAN NATION* Comrades, I stand before you today not only as Comrade Wale Balogun, a proud member of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, but also as a Nigerian — one who bears the daily burden of failed leadership, unfulfilled promises, and the persistent erosion of our dignity as a people. It is 2025, and yet, Nigeria continues to limp on the broken crutches of corruption, insecurity, economic hardship, and social injustice. The state of the Nigeria state today is a mirror of our failures, but also a call to action for every one of us committed to the ideals of freedom, equity, and accountability. Our democracy, 26 years into the Fourth Republic, remains a democracy only in name. Elections have become rituals of imposition and manipulation. The will of the people is constantly subverted by the machinery of the powerful. We see a government that claims legitimacy but governs with impunity — a ruling elite more interested in consolidating wealth than in serving the people. The recent spate of unconstitutional actions, the suppression of dissent, and the targeting of activists should alarm us all. The harassment of journalists, the freezing of civil society accounts, and the deployment of security forces against peaceful protesters — these are signs not of strength, but of fear. Fear of an awakened citizenry. The average Nigerian is suffering. The cost of living has skyrocketed beyond comprehension. Inflation is eating deep into the pockets of even the working class, while millions remain unemployed or underemployed. Our youth — full of energy, talent, and dreams — are either fleeing the country - the Jappa syndrome or languishing in hopelessness. The removal of fuel subsidies, though theoretically sound, was implemented without a social cushion for the poor. The naira continues to plummet, and public infrastructure is deteriorating. Where is the accountability for the billions claimed to be invested in development? We cannot continue like this. Poverty is not a natural condition — it is the result of bad policies and worse politics. Whether in Lokoja, Asaba, Plateau, or even the streets of Lagos, insecurity has become our daily reality. Kidnappings, banditry, terrorism, and communal violence persist with alarming regularity. Our security architecture is overstretched, underfunded, and in many cases, compromised. The Nigerian state is gradually losing its monopoly on violence — a dangerous sign for any country. When citizens lose faith in the state’s ability to protect them, they begin to look elsewhere, often to dangerous alternative. As members of the CDHR, we must speak without fear: human rights are under siege in Nigeria. The freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press are constantly being curtailed. Court orders are ignored with impunity. Citizens are detained without trial. Whistleblowers are hunted, not protected. This is not the democracy we fought for alongside President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is not the Nigeria the APC presidency promised Nigerians. History has never been kind to those who stood on the sidelines of injustice. It has always favoured the bold, the persistent, and the principled. The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights must rise again — louder, stronger, and more united than ever. We must continue to: * Speak truth to power, even when it is dangerous. * Defend the rights of the oppressed, even when it is unpopular. * Mobilize the people, educate the masses, and build coalitions that will challenge the status quo. The struggle is not just against bad leaders — it is against a system that enables impunity, marginalisation, and injustice. *A United Front of the Oppressed: The Path to Liberation* Fellow comrades, if there is one truth that history has taught us, it is that the oppressed must unite — or remain divided and defeated. Across Nigeria’s — North, South, East, and West — the suffering is the same. The poor farmer in Benue, the unemployed graduate in Bayelsa, the overtaxed trader in Kano, and the displaced villager in Southern Kaduna all cry the same tears. This pseudo-federal structure has pitted communities against one another, not in service of justice, but in service of elite domination. They divide us along ethnic and religious lines while they dine together in Abuja and Lagos, united in exploitation. We must reject this false dichotomy. The oppressed in Nigeria must come together across ethnic, regional, and class lines to build a united front against the oppressors. Our power lies in our numbers, in our shared struggle, and in our collective refusal to be used as pawns. Let the fisherman, the students, the artisans, the women, the peasants, the workers, and all marginalised peoples come together under one banner: the banner of justice, dignity, and democratic emancipation. It is only through a broad-based, grassroots, pan-Nigerian alliance of the oppressed that we can dismantle the chains of this unjust order and forge a truly people-oriented Federal Union. Nigeria is bleeding, but it is not dead. We are battered, but we are not broken. The soul of our nation cries out for justice, and it is our duty to answer that call — not tomorrow, not next year, but now. Let this meeting today be more than a talk shop. Let it be a recommitment to our cause. Let us leave here ready to organize, ready to resist, and ready to build a genuinely restructured Federal Union that truly belongs to all. *REJECT ETHNIC DIVISION : YORUBA-IGBO UNITY IS ESSENTIAL* Comrades, we must now speak on a dangerous poison that is being deliberately fed to our people — the ethnic profiling and scapegoating of Ndigbo in Lagos. This is not just an issue of morality; it is a strategic political deception that must be exposed and destroyed. Let it be said clearly and without apology: the Igbo are not the enemies of the Yoruba in Lagos. The narrative that pits us against each other is not from the grassroots — it is manufactured from the top, from those who benefit from our disunity. It is no coincidence that each time elections approach, there is a sudden surge in anti-Igbo rhetoric. This is not grassroots anger; this is elite manipulation. And we must call it by its name. The failed and still failing political dynasty of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is playing the ethnic card — not for the progress of the Yoruba nation, not for the good of Lagos, but simply to score cheap, undeserved electoral victories. Since 1999, Yoruba have ruled Lagos under this so-called dynasty. For 26 years, they have controlled the treasury. If Lagos is broken today, it is not the fault of Ndigbo — it is the fault of those who have looted Lagos dry. Ask yourselves: * Who has held the keys to the Lagos State treasury for a quarter of a century? * Who awards inflated contracts without completion? * Who enriches cronies while public schools rot and hospitals decay? * Who turned Lagos into a political empire while the masses suffer in traffic, slums, and insecurity? * It is not the Igbo trader at Alaba or the mechanic in Ojo. It is the so-called custodians of Yoruba interest who only remember they are Yoruba when it is time to divide the poor. Let it be known: the real enemy of Lagosians is not any ethnic group. It is the corrupt political elite — Yoruba by name but anti-Yoruba by action — who have held this state by the jugular. Lagos has been run like a private estate — with no transparency, no accountability, and no shame. We must reject this divide-and-rule tactic. Yoruba and Igbo, Hausa and Ijaw, must unite in Lagos and across Nigeria — not as ethnic blocs but as oppressed peoples facing the same hardship, ruled by the same class of exploiters. * We must say NO to ethnic profiling. * We must say NO to election-time hate campaigns. * We must say NO to being used and dumped. Our unity is our weapon, and our solidarity is our strength. CDHR ! My Right is my right, is my right!!! Comrade Wale Balogun August 10, 2025 Lagos, Nigeria