Tahir Ibrahim Tahir
I did not need to double glance at President Goodluck Jonathan to see that he was truly sorry and remorseful over the loss of lives at Nyanya, in Abuja two days ago, even though he ought to be in Maiduguri and Yobe, hovering over those other dead bodies too, after all they are all Nigerians and have gone all too innocently as well. Unfortunately, we seem to have heightened our remorse and anger over the Nyanya incidence, whereas the lives lost in other areas like Zamfara state outnumbers the Abuja one(s). Nonetheless, northern Nigeria mostly, is suffering colossal losses in lives, Muslim lives to be more precise.
Bottom line, Nigerians are dying in numbers; the ethnicitization and politicization of the massacres going on are despicable to say the least. Shamelessly, our politicians are playing games with the deaths of thousands of Nigerians and so are religious leaders.
This foregoing, can be checked and stopped by government, with a snap of the fingers, a warning from the security services and that does it. Somehow, baseless accusations are thrown at will as if they were claims over who ate up the others cake in a tea party! In one swoop, all the maligning could stop but who dare says!
Muslim, Christian, pagan, traditional religionists, propagandists; are all affected by these deaths, most worrisome, the babies, and more recently the JAMB candidates. We should cease with all the pretenses and mean business. We are all ordinary when it comes to dying, especially when it comes with a timing, against our wishes. It could happen to any of us and our indifference remains appalling and wayward. Power, money, sex, homosexuality, etc, are where our passions lie and once they remain untouched, we seem to remain fine; really cruel we’ve become.
With the current massacre’s inferno raging on like a forest fire, who could possibly care about 2015? 2015 should never come until we stop mutilating innocent human beings. Similarly, all campaigns and party activities must be brought to a halt! Mother Nigeria is in Intensive care and no son or daughter should continue to party. Anyone caught doing so must be sanctioned and cursed by mother naija. A collective effort by well-meaning Nigerians can actually bring this barbarism to a stop – minus the security agencies but alas, where is our will? Who will lead?
Globally, Nigeria has the highest death rate. Nigeria is going through a depopulation policy. At present, no debasing or centenary speeches can actually depict what our real situation is, only God can as we are a plagued nation, rearing towards a vanishing; of course at the rate of 1000 deaths per month, we will all disappear before Dangote’s refineries start to function! We should make distress calls to heaven as soon as possible before Nigerians become extinct.
Irrespective of where the massacres go on, attention must be fully placed equally, north or south, Yobe or Bayelsa. A Hausa proverb says, “if your neighbors beard I’d lit up by a flame, quickly caress yours with water”. The attitude of I am safe and so I don’t care must become old fashioned and we must find the care in us. Only that can salvage the situation and not the muscle of any artillery.
We must unite against a common enemy and fight it with all our might. If we forsake the labors of our heroes today, we should bear in mind that for certain, we will be forsaken and cursed too by generations to come. We will not have any ahmadu Bello’s or azikiwes in our midst whenever our history is recounted. We will not have any tarkas or awolowos whose names will continue to reverberate in the annals of history. The most we can do is to remain forever forgotten; no land, no name, no shame, and no gains whatsoever.
