Despite the climate of intolerance, violence and tyranny, it is not all doom and gloom for the country. Intellectuals worth their salt are rising to the occasion and giving us hope that the country can be saved by the assertion of people power. With their courageous decision to take on the ruling dispensation, the popular resistance to state attempts to muzzle dissent and alter the country’s complexion for the worse, will grow.
By returning awards and award monies, the country’s finest minds are not just expressing their anguish, but alerting the nation to possible loss of freedom. The bold stand taken by these intellectuals should shame biased TV anchors and blind party apparatchiks who are uncritical for the incumbent regime.