Vox populi, vox Dei

VOX populi, vox Dei is an old dictum that literally means the voice of the people is the voice of God or the voice of the divine. This is a proverbial expression that became a political common wisdom by the end of eighth century. This is a brief popular saying that presents enchanted subjectivity as a model of political subjectivity in which individuals claim to speak for God, not for themselves, as commonly assumed for a democratic society. This is a sense of discernment and judgment that created arena for public opinion. This is a representation of space for public discourse where divine voice occurred in heightened places, not in the everyday or in places where people are not engaged in educated debates or in respectfully hallowed places. This is a representation ofpolitical theatre where heated conversations happen, where masses place themselves in a deep exploration of thought, and through this communion people are able to form a divine voice.This is a popular sentiment that emerged in the distance past to fight established dictatorial regimes across the universe. This is a representation of forum for a typical reference to a letter from Alcum to a notorious fascist, Charlemagne in 798AD, which expressed displeasure in the voice of the divine as he wrote: “And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.”

Examples of Nigeria’s corporate fascism should suffice to show that our politicians are culprits of the above expression as they always pretend not to understand thispopular sentiment, whereas good politicians should. The people have been voting to make their voices heard, but the politicians occupying the seat of power refuse to listen to their voice. There is  widespread rigging of elections and acts of political thuggery are rampant. Above all, the weak economy has made Nigerians to be unsatisfied with how things are going and they do not push to change them. A few voices in the society expressed displeasure while the majority has grown too complacent over the years. People can’t afford to be satisfied with their suffering, but Nigerians have been wearing a complacent smirk since independence. That is why the ace musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, came up with his famous lyricSuffering and smiling to explain the feeling of self-satisfaction among Nigerians. This was his expression on silent suffering. He was sensitising Nigerians to the fact that if they were hit by pain, they should speak up about it because no political entities could help them to surmount socio-economic barriers to advance their living.  Nigerians know they shouldn’t be suffering, but they can’t help it, it’s just the way they feel.

Many Nigerians utter the words ‘Hmmmmm, this suffering hurts’ on a daily basis, but it seems they don’t have a great deal of control over their suffering. That means many Nigerians are just grinning and bearing the emotional pains that are hurting them. But this doesn’t have to be. Most of the emotional suffering  witnessed on a daily basis by Nigerians can be brought to an end only if they are willing to talk about them candidly and accurately among themselves. That isn’t happening. For reasons not well understood, Nigerians are reluctant to step forward and talk about what pains them. Almost two-thirds of Nigerians either ignore their suffering or deal with them with nonchalant ease or with tacit complaint if they can no longer tolerate them.  However, they should be prepared to spell out quickly, the key characteristics of their suffering. It is clear to all and sundry that poverty has shown a lot of persistence in the lives of Nigerians. Truth be told, when emotional suffering persists in human life, it’s important to identify what expenses should be cut back to alleviate poverty.

Still, Nigeria marches onward through the muck and the mire. The socio-political life of peoples is stuck in the mire of cynicism.  The Nigerian economy is sinking deeper into the mire. The overarching theme of discourse on the feeling of emotional suffering by Nigerians is that Nigeria is mired in crisis of governance. Politicians and government functionaries are engrossed by violence and nepotism, which look more like illegal behaviour. Democracy is about people. The people are the true sovereigns, and all public office-holders are the servants. The government’s sovereign duty is to protect the rights of its citizens. The parliament and government must be subordinated to the people’s will. The usage of strident slogans by the populace can do the magic; their wringing of hands in despair and unending cynicism will not do it. If we want a better Nigeria, we must work for it with clarity of purpose, good sense and optimism.

A few Nigerians cannot bear the load of the majority of people on their shoulders. We need active people, not inveterate grumblers. Thank God for the social media networks in their process of advocating the breakdown of existing bureaucratic system inthe traditional media to guarantee easier access to the grass roots in the usage of the media. By now, the mass of people must choose to discontinue the line of argument that they have no voice in the political affairs of this nation. They must come to the realisation that active participation in online text messaging and open debates on political discourse can give them a voice in local politics. The message from all the aforementioned lessons of history is really valuable. An informed citizen is the best citizen. The sooner we speak up, the faster we’ll be on the way to creating a progressive Nigerian state. There can be no further argument on the fact that people want true democracy and they must get it. Vox populi, Vox dei!

• Elebute is Associate Professor, Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies