There is a peculiar kind of ignorance that mistakes self-destruction for protest.
A Nigerian tears his passport, records it, puts it online and imagines he has just delivered a devastating indictment of Nigeria.
He has not.
He has merely demonstrated that anger can be loud while intelligence remains absent.
Let us be very clear: a Nigerian passport does not belong to the President. It does not belong to a political party. It does not belong to APC, PDP, Labour or whatever banner happens to be fashionable tomorrow.
It belongs to the Nigerian citizen.
It is a formal statement of who you are before the world. It is a document that says: this is my country; this is my citizenship; this is the nation whose protection I may seek beyond its borders.
So when you tear it in theatrical rage, you are not tearing down Nigeria.
You are tearing up a piece of your own identity and calling it activism.
And that is the part that should embarrass you.
Nigeria has failed people. Governments have failed people. Leaders have made terrible decisions. Institutions have disappointed citizens. There is more than enough to protest, condemn, organise against and vote against.
But none of that requires you to become intellectually careless.
Indeed, the worse the country becomes, the more seriously we should take the meaning of citizenship: not less.
What is even more troubling is the political crowd that rushes to excuse such behaviour because the perpetrators are angry at a government they oppose.
No.
Political opposition is not a licence to suspend judgement.
If everything becomes acceptable merely because it embarrasses the government in power, then we are no longer defending principles. We are simply weaponising stupidity against our political enemies.
And there is a lesson here that deserves to sting.
A person who tears his passport because he is angry with his government has confused the temporary occupants of power with the permanent idea of country.
Governments change. Countries endure.
Presidents leave. Ministers leave. Parties lose elections. Regimes come and go.
But your citizenship remains part of your story.
So protest.
Challenge.
Expose.
Vote.
Organise.
Demand accountability.
Fight for a better Nigeria with every legitimate weapon available to a citizen.
But please, do not destroy the very symbol of your citizenship and then expect the world to interpret your ignorance as courage.
There is nothing heroic about making yourself smaller in order to make a political point.
And there is something especially sad about needing a camera to record it.
Nigeria does not become less of a country because you tore your passport.
You simply became less impressive as a Nigerian.
That is the uncomfortable truth.
Patriotism does not mean pretending Nigeria is perfect.
It means being intelligent enough to know that Nigeria’s failures are not an excuse for your own.
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