Dr. Abdulkareem Onakoya (PhD, FNIMC), 08026621805.
The story of a blind woman running against the former Health Minister of Chile in the forthcoming general elections this weekend in Santiago, Chile puts my hands on the paper yet again.
She was brutally blinded by the police in November 2019 when she stepped out into the fading sunshine to head for her night shift in a food processing firm.
Chile had been thrown into a mass protest against inequality and social injustice since October 2019. Her tragedy only came as a result of her undying kindness and spirit of goodness for the poor. The 54-year-old woman saw it coming but never knew it would be that much.
“There was no protest that evening. A man crossed the road in front of me to buy bread….. that was what I saw last”, she recalled.
Patricio Maturana, an officer with Chile’s Carabineros police force fired a teargas canister at Fabiola from just 50 metres away, hitting her square in the face. That was the end of her sight. Everything went black till now.
“The impact shattered her skull and caused cerebrospinal fluid to leak on to her brain. It blinded her totally and irreversibly, depriving her of sight, taste and smell”, her doctor revealed.
She was left in her pool of blood by the police and more teargasses were fired at her, while in pains. So serious !!!
Despite her condition, she is fighting hard to restore hopes to her people through good representation and legislation.
She said; “I will never get my eyes back. But I will turn this tragedy to strength and keep on fighting. Not just from the streets like before, but from the legislature. I want to be there to change everything”.
Yes, she can. As an independent candidate, many more votes would be garnered by the electorates to ensure her victory. Santiago is a strong hold of the ruling party but, most voters are ready to deliver the city for Fabiola. She has no money to contest against the incumbent and the former Health Minister, but that is the language of the ‘real democracy’.
In Nigeria, competence, integrity and readiness to serve aren’t in our democratic business. We follow up the old narratives to kill our future.
The spirit of Fabiola could be duplicated and followed as well. We all owe the masses/people our promises. We all know our problems. We all know how to tackle them.
Nigeria is national disaster on its own. Most ‘political jobbers’ who have nothing to offer the poor are everywhere again. The gladiators and the real players of politics have derailed from the tenets. The era of brandishing is here. Projects everywhere. Useful and the useless ones. All in preparation for the 2023 ‘plots and plans’.
Fabiola got her inspiration for being a member of the Chilean Senate in her hospital bed while struggling to survive. Not in affluence. That is the spirit we all want. Not retired ‘officers’ and ‘soldiers’ out of the fear of the future THEY NEVER BUILT, looking for an auberge to put their heads.
In her short speech some minutes ago in Santiago while rounding off her campaigns, she shouted and reconfirmed that; “ …. politics is for everyone, not just the usual suspects”
FABIOLA, NO ESTAS SOLA – FABIOLA, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.