Who Bears the Cross?

I will always say that in my country Nigeria, there is freedom of speech, but what happens to you after you've said what's on your mind all depends on the grace of God in your life.

_{photo by Kristina V}

You see, I know that when we talk about freedom of speech, our focus is always on the civilians, saying what's on their mind to the government. But you see, that isn't the only time we get to practice freedom of speech and it's not the only place where our freedom of speech gets denied a lot.

And I say that because even at our homes, many of us have to watch what we say to our parents or older siblings, not just out of respect for them but out of fear too. And I get it that it's common sense for us to want to be careful when speaking to our parents in order not to use offensive words on them, but sometimes, these parents take it a bit too far and would punish their kids even for the slightest mistake in their choice of words.

Now is that wrong? I honestly can't say because I was brought up that exact same way and I think it's safe to say that it's all I know when it comes to this matter.

Anyways, the first question that was asked for today's contest is if our right to free speech can be taken from us, and my answer is yes. There have been times where we (the common citizens) have been forced to remain silent because of fear of what the people in power would do to us if we dare speak out of line.

And this is due to one common thing, fear..fear of what may happen to us if we do decide to speak. Unfortunately, in a country where nothing works and the people refuse to speak up out of fear, things will always remain bad.

A good example of this was during the time when my hostel president felt no one could challenge or question him due to the position he occupied in the hostel. So he had gone about, misusing hostel funds, being biased in his decision and making all sorts of wrong decisions here and there.

It got to a stage where everyone got fed up and we all came together to fight him in the best way we could and thankfully, at the end of the day, we ended up victorious in that battle and everything else has been good ever since. Now it's no news that things would have remained the same if we had decided to keep mute and do nothing about it.

Although if there's one thing the whole thing taught me, it is that at the end of the day, someone will have to pay the price for the ultimate good and that is where the most important question of this whole thing lies.... Who is willing to speak up and bear the cross for everyone else?