TwoCents | PRISONER IN EUROPE OR FREE MAN IN NIGERIA?

The Nairaland platform is an interesting one. I like to think of it as our own (Nigeria) Twitter. It's a more accurate representation of how real Nigerians think - straight up unfiltered and devoid of the woke mind virus. Last week while browsing through, I got engaged in a thread on the site. In the thread, the OP - as they are called on the platform, made comparisons between a prison facility in Sweden and one in Nigeria. He highlighted the 'beauty' in the Swedish prison, as opposed to the dingy, dirty, and horrible ones in Nigeria. It was of course not a surprise to see members of the site, begin to tear down Nigeria; which is common with the citizens. In those comments condemning the country, some people expressed the desire to be inmates in the Swedish prison, rather than continue living as a free man here. Hold up! Is it that bad living in Nigeria? That one would be willing to trade freedom in order to leave the country. A lot of people might say that's the extent to which things have deteriorated. I say: rubbish! One of our characteristics is being overly dramatic and illogical. It seemed to me while reading the comments on that thread that people have forgotten the value of freedom. Whether or not you're locked up in a mansion, or a box; one thing which is common is the absence of freedom. A prison facility takes away your freedom, that is it's essence. It deprives you of a basic human right. The psychological effect of being restricted and confined, is the first and most important weapon in its arsenal. Reformation may follow. For those who haven't had the experience of being locked up, they may not really know the extent its effects are. I have had the nasty experience of being a victim of an unlawful police raid. And the little time I spent held up, was one of the worst experiences in my life. My friend, who was also a victim, couldn't hold back her tears. I came out of that experience with a new appreciation of freedom. Any man who wishes to trade his freedom, just to 'escape' this country is a shallow thinking man. And it is worrisome to me that a good number of people on that thread are shallow thinking. You may want to blame it on our government officials (our whipping boys), but the fact is there is no excuse to think this way. Like I said earlier, Nairaland is a true representation how Nigerians really think. Judging from the comments on that thread, we need to fix the way we think.

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