panem et circenses
The Roman Empire and it’s correlation with the Nigerian diaspora.
[...] iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli / vendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim / imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se / continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, / panem et circenses. [...]
... Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.
—Juvenal, Roman Poet.
I do not like engaging mostly with the Nigerian social media space not due to to any personal conviction surrounding it—but because it makes my brain-cells feel they are regressing, and they contribute nothing when it comes to addressing the current economic and political climate plaguing the country at every given moment. Rather, they shift focus to the latest celebrity drama, internet buzz, and neglect the sufferings of Nigerians for a few giggles and cruise. Rinse and repeat.
Currently, there are orphans in Makoko who have to sleep in boats; as the Lagos state government has unlawfully ejected them from their homes, without any means of shelter or safety (note: if you would like to donate to their cause, you can tap the link here, or share if you can). There is a tax bill that has already been put to effect which would cripple the already struggling Nigerians, and has been reported to not match the contents gazetted to the public. We are still battling insecurity as those who have been kidnapped have yet to be released and the government has failed to account for them. Things are getting more expensive as days run by. Houses are too costly, transportation a headache and food is just by the grace of God. However, the most trending topic on the media is beef between Wizkid and Seun Kuti on who’s father is the greatest. Or who is a child born into nepotism and who is not. Gallivanting on the internet and laughing at these issues whilst forgetting that we are starving. That people are starving.
However, it is not as if Nigerians don’t know that suffering exists, they just choose to ignore it. Either ways, they resort to the usual phrase; “What can we do?” October 2020 still sitting fresh in our minds, the blood stained on the white part of the Nigerian flag—a promise, a reminder by the now authoritarian Nigerian government that if anyone resists, they will only become a symbol to silence others. And quite frankly, no one wants to die. Even I, being vocal on my opinions of the government , don’t want to die either. It is safer to shelter yourself in the laughs and jokes and drama rather to acknowledge the injustice happening before your eyes. Because ignorance is bliss—even when you’re at breaking point.
But you see, the fascinating thing about history that it always has an explanation on the things we view and see today. This isn’t just a phenomenon synonymous to Nigeria, it played out centuries ago and was highlighted by a Roman poet who was distraught by the pacification of his people by the government. He called the phenomenon “Bread and Circuses” and such narrative is what we begin to see today; where people ignore their suffering for entertainment and flimsily palliatives while the problems keep on getting worse.
During the collapse of the German currency after World War One, people were seen to be trading any material things they had for circus tickets, for that dopamine rush gotten through laughing out sorrows and frustrations is better than addressing the failures of the government.
Same could be said in Ancient Rome, from 1st B.C onward, where the state was overpopulated and crowded with most of its people being poor and unemployed. This startled revolt after revolts as well as uprisings demanding accountability for their government. Perplexed at the outcome, the ruling class sought for a solution, and then on, the state began a campaign of mass pacifications of its people.
They started a grain dole , making free or very cheep grain, oil or pork available and distributed to its citizens. They arranged gladiator fights, makeshift naval battles, contests in the Colosseum to keep people distracted from their problems, therefore removing accountability from the state.
Now, if you’re familiar with the how things play out in Nigeria, you’ll notice there are quite a lot of similarities. Although there is no concrete proof placing the Nigerian government as the ones who cause these celebrity distractions in the media (although , they do control parts of our news and media outlets), they give off palliatives to people whenever there is any insurgency; mostly in the form of grain, to silence and pacify the people with whatever struggle they are passing though as if it removes the problem. And Nigerians accept it willingly, queuing up to accept free food from the government because quite frankly, rice is expensive and something is better than nothing, we should give the government another try. They are trying their best.
But grain will run down and hunger will still persist, suffering will still persist. The government will not come to give them another one as their riches emerge from mass poverty and they are unwilling to give it up for the average Nigerian. Call on them from now to tomorrow, they will not care.
As a result, Ancient Rome fell because the citizen’s stopped caring about the government and history has a very ironic way of repeating itself. If we keep on distracting ourselves in these internet trends and drama while living in the false cocoon of comfortability and being absolved from what is going on outside our homes, Nigeria will crumble as well, and we’ll be left with absolutely no where to run to.
To answer the question of “what do we do?” It is simple and it doesn’t have to be revolutionary. Some of us are privileged enough to be educated, to read, to understand the political and economic climate of our country. Yet we often use that privilege to amplify trivialities rather than awareness. At the very least, we can stay informed. We can speak. We can teach those who cannot access the same information that we do.
Because the first step to rejecting breads and circuses is realizing that we deserve more than that.
We are a people with hopes and dreams and futures slashed because some upper echelons want to fill their pockets. They are innovators amongst us, writers, scholars, people who can change the world and they deserve better. They deserve for their futures to the given hope, and not dashed because we are concerned with what either Davido and Tonto Dike is doing—people who will reject you when the country beings to erode.
Educate yourselves more, read on politics, recognize propaganda, fight back with your mind before your mouth can even speak.
Because guns can silence voices, but never ideas.
Amazing amazing amazing !!!!
Hi, really like this! Please do you have sources on how Germany recovered from their crisis?