By Olusegun E. Ogedengbe

The photograph accompanying this reflection shows the Director-General of City Boy Movement and its National Legal Adviser and Chief Compliance Officer seated at a roadside suya spot, enjoying themselves in a familiar Nigerian setting. Simple seats, food within reach and people nearby going about their evening: an ordinary moment with a message about who we are and where we belong.

We are ordinary Nigerians. We belong to the people because we are part of the people. Let us also make an important distinction: we are not the City Boy himself, Tinubu; we are the City Boy Movement (a Tinubu Movement). The movement brings together Nigerians with different backgrounds, occupations, experiences and responsibilities. Each member comes into it with a life already connected to a family, a neighbourhood and a community. Our membership and our offices preserve that shared identity. We live in Nigeria and experience the prevailing conditions of ordinary Nigerian life. We buy food, use the roads, pay for services, attend to family needs and plan for the future within the same national environment as our fellow citizens. The conditions affecting the country touch our lives and those of our relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

Our connection with the people therefore grows from shared citizenship and everyday experience. We belong within the communities we engage. Their wellbeing matters to us because we are part of those communities ourselves. This is what we mean when we say that we are for the people and work with the people. It is a statement of belonging, accompanied by a responsibility to listen, respect and participate.

Working with people means recognising their voices, appreciating their knowledge and making room for their contributions. Every community contains people who understand its needs through years of living and working there. The grassroots are the places where daily life happens: our streets, markets, workshops, neighbourhoods, schools and community gathering places. They are the trader attending to customers, the artisan completing a job, the worker returning home, the student preparing for examinations and the parent making plans for the family. These are our people. Their aspirations for dignity, opportunity, security and progress are aspirations we share.

The roadside suya spot gives this belonging a warm and familiar expression. Someone prepares the food, tends the heat and serves customers. Others gather to eat, relax and enjoy company. Work and companionship meet in the same small space. There is dignity in the effort that makes the evening possible, and there is pleasure in participating in an everyday Nigerian experience. For us, enjoying suya in that setting is perfectly consistent with who we are. Public responsibilities exist alongside ordinary human needs and pleasures. We appreciate food, friendship, conversation and moments of rest. An official designation accompanies a person whose life remains connected to the wider community. That connection also guides our conduct. The courtesy we show a food vendor extends to everyone we encounter on the streets, communities and villages, across Nigeria. The ease of an informal conversation encourages our openness when people bring concerns to us. The respect we expect for our responsibilities is accompanied by respect for the work, time and dignity of others. Leadership within the movement gives us further reason to remain approachable. People feel comfortable expressing their experiences and offering their ideas. Listening helps us understand the communities to which we belong and carry our responsibilities with greater care.

The photograph captures a moment of relaxation. The message we draw from it is a commitment to remain grounded in the everyday life of our country. That commitment gains meaning through consistent behaviour: how we receive people, how we work alongside them and how faithfully we attend to the responsibilities entrusted to us.

City Boy Movement is made up of Nigerians living within Nigeria’s realities. We share in the life of the country, experience its prevailing conditions and cherish the hopes of its people. We are ordinary Nigerians. We are for the people. We work with the people. We belong to the people because we are part of the people. We are the City Boy Movement, united by CAUSe and not by CLASS; the grassroots are our home.

▶️*Olusegun Ogedengbe, Esq,* is a lawyer and the Assistant Director (Governance and Compliance), City Boy Movement, National Headquarters