The topics that have Nigerians glued to their televisions, newspapers and computer screens are sex, lies and politics. Sex stories and articles garner such a readership and an avalanche of comments on the internet. Lies by rhetoricians and those skilled in manipulations also enjoy wide readership. A rhetorician is someone more capable of persuading a crowd of ignorant people on the subject of health than even a doctor. As for politics, we often hear the words of those who proclaim they have wisdom in areas they have no expertise in. And many people believe them and follow, follow according to the Great Maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. However, there is real menace lurking in Nigeria.
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A dear friend of mine was nearly lynched by a mob recently. He was lucky that he escaped from them and lived to tell the tale, with just a broken head and bruises. His landlord wanted him out of the house and therefore called him a thief at the bus-stop. Before you could say Jack Robinson, a man had grabbed him, gave him a slap and shouted, Thief, Thief. Only God knows how he managed to free himself and outrun the mob that immediately descended on him.
A man sleeps with another’s wife and so both are stripped naked, beaten and a mob forces them to match around the village. Elsewhere, a village committee asks men to rape a woman accused of adultery. Similarly, a young woman is beaten and raped by a group of men because she had an affair with whomever. You should have heard about an alleged bank robber who was forcibly stripped naked and beaten to an inch of her life: with the police in attendance. Even suspected kidnappers were killed by a mob without seeing the people supposedly kidnapped! Finally, a woman, her daughter and her stepdaughter were tortured for allegedly stealing pepper at Ejigbo Market. These are some of the stories and more making headline news in Nigeria.
What is going on in this country?
It has become common place in our dear country to masturbate openly in the streets with group voyeurism and of course, these killing orgies. For what else can we call the prevalent acts of forcing people naked and parading them on the streets because of perceived moral judgement about their character, sex lives, acts or behaviour. What is it doing to us, our children, our sense of right and wrong and our integrity as a people? Are we still ‘people’?
Why is all this the business of the community? Who is the most pious and cleanest among the mob visiting judgement as if they are Godlike? When did we start casting the first stone in the jungle? Why are we allowing the animals amongst us to have a field day in the safari? What happened to the game keepers, the moral brigade and social commentators? Yes, those who actually know are silent, allowing mob rule and jungle justice to prevail. It seems nigh impossible to do something about this and so what does that say about us all?
The ills of our society
Poverty and frustrations of life is destroying our dear society. The number of uneducated, untrained, uncouth and frankly dangerous people on our streets has reached an alarming proportion. The streets are now awash with a ready band of misguided missiles, primed young men and women, waiting to explode and unleash deep pent up anger against fellow men. Any slight provocation will do and the gates of hell open. Right now, innocent people, like you and I, are at real risk of being killed by a witch hunting mob. The philosophers and sociologists among us had better start working hard to unravel the powder keg and defuse this time bomb before it consumes us all.
Churches and mosques are no help
It seems we cannot rely on the religious houses to help in modifying behaviour of the society. There are many evils and horrible things emanating from churches and mosques as many chase the almighty Naira. Everybody is going to church to give thanksgiving for ill-gotten wealth without any concerns from the church.
The Police and other institutions
The institutions that should protect and serve such as the Police and the Judiciary are not strong, having been destroyed by mediocrity and corruption. The quality of the police force leaves much to be desired. Some of our policemen cannot put a coherent sentence together, let alone understand the Law. The reason why mobs visit jungle justice on our streets is because there is no trust in the police and many feel that justice will not be served. The fact that the guilty walk free after dishing out a bribe does not help. The fact that the richest can buy peace and buy Judges does not help either. It is simply creating more monsters for us to live with.
Can I ask, what has happened to the educated people in Nigeria? We need to stop this menace and find lasting solutions. What are we going to do about the herd? For a start, if you can read this article, please translate it for the animals amongst us. In all the languages that they understand!
