History on play back

Is it a matter of not knowing what to do or lack of appropriate words to pacify the suffering masses that must have been responsible for the unpresidential and feeble assurances from the Aso Rock Villa. In the last few days and following repeated calls from many influential Nigerians, including members of the clergy, on government to awake from its slumber, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have been singing “we will overcome” song at every forum. But those who are versed in the scriptures can attest to the fact that faith without work is dead in itself. Many Nigerians have come to a painful conclusion that those leading them to the Promised Land may not even have the manual. While President Buhari said: “I assure you that we are going to get out of our economic doldrums, we are almost out of our security problem and we are going to make Nigeria greater again”; the Vice President rehashed the oft-recited lines that they inherited mountains of problems and fell short to confess that they were oblivious of the enormous demands of office until they got there. But again, the President tried to paint a wrong picture that it is only Boko Haram that is the security challenge facing the country. Pray, is Mr. President not aware that increased cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, ritual murders, assassinations are all forms of insecurity? And this faulty perception is probably responsible for the near-absence of governance at the moment.

Nigeria sure has the wrong type of everything. This is so evident in the crop of people who masquerade as leaders. Whereas leaders in other climes build their countries, here they plunder; they make sure that nothing remains by the time they are leaving office. No wonder Nigeria continues to degenerate year after year despite trillions of naira that has been appropriated and spent in the last 17 years. The roads are death traps, no one cares; there is perpetual darkness in the land, a situation where a country of over 170 million people are sharing a paltry 2000 megawatts of electricity, yet people are still parading themselves as leaders; a country where citizens survive through self-help and life is as cheap as anything, where everyone of the institutions has totally collapsed as a result of years of neglect and insensitivity of leaders, where people pocket money meant for public service; it is a country where anything goes. A story was told some time ago by no less a person than the Matthew Hassan Kukah, current Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, about the protestations that trailed the creation of Nigeria and the enormous wealth deposited in her. It was said that some other nations that got all manner of natural disasters- hurricane, earthquake, ocean surge, etc, had protested to God, asking why Nigeria should be given all the good things of life, and the creator answered, “Wait until you see the type of leaders I will give them.” So, according to the story, the leaders happened to be wasters and plunderers that have turned what should have been huge blessings for the people into a source of misery. But don’t ask me, ask Bishop Kukah.

The Federal Government has declared tomorrow and next public holidays to enable the Muslim faithful celebrate their sallah (Eid-el-Kabir).  Going by the realities on ground- the economic situation- there really should be no celebrations, it should have been a time of mourning and serious supplication for the country, but being a matter of faith and the level of attachment to worship in the country, the religious observance must go on. However, why the celebration goes on, there’s the need to spare a moment to reflect on the essence of religious observance. There’s no doubting the fact that Nigerians are farther divided along religious line now than ever before, particularly with the recent happenings in parts of the country where a number of people had been killed on account of religion in time of peace and without an iota of provocation. My prayer is that this Sallah would usher in a new thinking in the country.

Very seriously, this issue of rape is becoming too worrisome. No day passes without reading stories about the bestial act. It is happening all over the place. In fact, these days fathers are raping their daughters, mothers their sons and brothers their sisters, etc. Very disturbing indeed! The other day, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, personally marched with others during the ‘All Men Walk Against Sexual and Gender Based Violence’ campaign in Lagos. It seems the devil is being let loose to do funny, funny things. But why we sternly scream against “unprovoked” rapes, must we shed tears for girls, ladies and women who walk the streets unclad- from chest to waste region? There are some sights we see nowadays that we ask, are these people human beings? They leave nothing to the imagination. If anything happens to such people, does it also pass for rape? I need an answer, please.