@bailey_mullins89:

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Thursday 07 March 2024 12:14:39 GMT
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A few months ago, my brother and I were moving goods when we were stopped by these men. The moment they saw that we had goods in the vehicle, money was demanded from us. We asked questions. What is the money for? Who authorised it? Where is it going? One of them told me it was “for the community.” Which community please? 🤲🏾🤷🏾‍♀️ The community that pays taxes and still has to pay out of pocket for basic things? The community that is constantly being asked to contribute because something that should already be provided is not being provided? And when we questioned the demand, one of them threatened to smash my phone. Another threatened to kill my brother. All of this was recorded. I have kept the evidence. I am sharing this now because I have become increasingly uncomfortable with how much we have normalised things simply because they have been happening for a long time. I studied Peace and Conflict Resolution. One thing you learn is that conflict doesn’t always begin with violence. Sometimes it begins with a system that people stop questioning. It becomes “normal.” Everybody does it. Everybody pays. Don’t ask questions. Just give them something and move on. But at some point somebody has to ask: WHY? If you are doing a job every single day and the people you are collecting money from keep asking you what the money is for, shouldn’t you ask that question too? If someone tells you “this is how we have always done it,” shouldn’t you be curious enough to find out who made the rule? Who benefits from it? Who accounts for it? And what law gives you the authority to demand it? I am not posting this because I want anybody attacked. I am posting it because I want us to stop normalising extortion. I want the next person sitting in a vehicle with their goods to know that they are allowed to ask questions. I want the person collecting the money to ask questions too. Because if you are working and you see how hard people work to earn money, you may think twice before believing that someone else is simply entitled to a portion of it. Get a job. Work. Build something. Earn your money. But don’t stand between another person and their movement and tell them they must pay you because you have decided they should. Maybe somebody has to become the example that makes the next person think twice. And maybe this is one of those things we need to fight, not with violence, but with questions, evidence, the law and persistence. Let’s fight it to the ground. Because “this is Lagos” is not a legal argument.
A few months ago, my brother and I were moving goods when we were stopped by these men. The moment they saw that we had goods in the vehicle, money was demanded from us. We asked questions. What is the money for? Who authorised it? Where is it going? One of them told me it was “for the community.” Which community please? 🤲🏾🤷🏾‍♀️ The community that pays taxes and still has to pay out of pocket for basic things? The community that is constantly being asked to contribute because something that should already be provided is not being provided? And when we questioned the demand, one of them threatened to smash my phone. Another threatened to kill my brother. All of this was recorded. I have kept the evidence. I am sharing this now because I have become increasingly uncomfortable with how much we have normalised things simply because they have been happening for a long time. I studied Peace and Conflict Resolution. One thing you learn is that conflict doesn’t always begin with violence. Sometimes it begins with a system that people stop questioning. It becomes “normal.” Everybody does it. Everybody pays. Don’t ask questions. Just give them something and move on. But at some point somebody has to ask: WHY? If you are doing a job every single day and the people you are collecting money from keep asking you what the money is for, shouldn’t you ask that question too? If someone tells you “this is how we have always done it,” shouldn’t you be curious enough to find out who made the rule? Who benefits from it? Who accounts for it? And what law gives you the authority to demand it? I am not posting this because I want anybody attacked. I am posting it because I want us to stop normalising extortion. I want the next person sitting in a vehicle with their goods to know that they are allowed to ask questions. I want the person collecting the money to ask questions too. Because if you are working and you see how hard people work to earn money, you may think twice before believing that someone else is simply entitled to a portion of it. Get a job. Work. Build something. Earn your money. But don’t stand between another person and their movement and tell them they must pay you because you have decided they should. Maybe somebody has to become the example that makes the next person think twice. And maybe this is one of those things we need to fight, not with violence, but with questions, evidence, the law and persistence. Let’s fight it to the ground. Because “this is Lagos” is not a legal argument.

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