Screaming headlines on the national dailies about communal clashes leave me thinking of how this barbaric act will come to an end in Nigeria. It was late Monday, April 12, 2021, when the two communities Nyuwar and Jessu engaged in a physical battle that claimed 15 lives and houses were razed down to ashes; business premises were affected while property worth millions of naira were destroyed.
Not just okay, the number of casualties is yet to be known; the delusion here is, the two communities share boundaries and also belong to same geographical area. They share infrastructure such as school, business ground, health facilities, among others.
If both the parties eliminated each other as they claim to, what benefit will they have? There is nothing important one can derive from killing people or destroying their community part from jeopardizing peace and damaging the nation’s economy.
The result of every communal clash is a downgrade to business, education, culture, health facilities, water supply, electricity, among others, because many things will be halted during the clash. One of the annoying part of communal clash is that it brings about hatred among the younger generation, no matter how long it takes.
Communal clash has been the major cause of the country’s problem, it’s as a result of communal clash Nigerians are no longer tolerating one another when it comes to public issues. It’s because of communal clash our politics and social affairs are harmed.
Frankly, communal clash is taking our societies back to square zero when the world keeps developing. It’s high time we told ourselves the truth and stop engaging in the barbaric act, the act isn’t favoring the nation at all. Whenever communal clash occurs, government spends huge amount of money in fixing the damaged infrastructure and treating casualties.
The money that’s supposed to be used in upgrading the infrastructure will end of being used fixing the old infrastructure, this the reasons Nigeria is not moving forward.
I call on all Nigerians to avoid communal clash as it has no benefit apart from distorting the nation’s peace and stability.
Favour Chidimma Okere,
Department of Mass Communication,
University of Maiduguri
