Chibok: Time for action, not words

At a time when citizens from north to south are aghast at the inability of security forces to rescue any of the unknown number of girls abducted right under their noses, our leaders play politics and act as if “na small matter”. In response to questions about why nothing concrete has been achieved in rescuing […]

At a time when citizens from north to south are aghast at the inability of security forces to rescue any of the unknown number of girls abducted right under their noses, our leaders play politics and act as if “na small matter”. In response to questions about why nothing concrete has been achieved in rescuing the schoolchildren since they were abducted on April 15th, the best this government can do is set up a 26-man “rescue committee!”  Will the committee tell us how come in the age of drones, Google maps, and aerial surveillance; so many children vanish without a trace? Or explain what happened to the 650 Billion budgeted for defence and police in 2013? Or why protection of schoolchildren in the Northeast was not intensified after 59 were murdered in Federal Government College, Buni Yadi.?
Perhaps they will explain why we haven’t seen pictures of the girls so we can assist in the search? Questions are being asked as to what sort of leaders go dancing and politicking in the face of monumental security challenges? Or close down their capital city merely to massage their egos hosting international economic conferences? It’s clear to everyone else that the advanced world has long since spurned the Nigerian economy. Genuine businessmen have abandoned us, and only Chinese carpetbaggers remain to devour the carcass of our national wealth.
They say nations get the government and leadership they deserve, but there is no way we should accept we deserve this sort of failed system. Our “leaders” who are supposed to be in charge of our affairs, supposed to be frugal, supposed to show good example and supposed to prevent perpetrators of atrocities like abductions and bombings from escaping scot free, have failed us. There has always been disconnect between government and the people, it appears as if this has now degenerated into total disregard. Our greatest loss in life is not death; it’s what dies in us while we live. Our humanity is dead, or as former minister Oby Ezekwesili said “it begins to look as if we as Nigerians are totally without empathy”. We all know Islam is a religion of compassion and peace and has nothing to do with killing, bombing and forcing people into adherence, so what is Boko Haram really all about?
Presidential spokesmen keep saying it’s about Jonathan’s detractors wanting to make Nigeria ungovernable for him. So what? Is his plan just to sit back and watch while everyone except himself suffers? He continuously urges us to “pray for the nation”. If it was by prayer alone, Nigeria would be the most developed nation in the world. We must stop confusing prayer with wishful thinking. God helps those who help themselves, and prayers only come true when you make an effort. It is time for action to support our prayers.  What government does speaks much louder than what its officials say, and the silence of this administration’s inaction is deafening.
If they can’t act, at least they should listen to ordinary Nigerians rather than their army of expatriate “experts” and sycophantic “special advisers”. If they cared to listen they would discover that as far as the average Nigerian is concerned it’s unacceptable for government officials to revel in personal security and obscene luxury at public expense, while atrocities against ordinary citizens are committed on an almost daily basis. Today’s struggle is no longer about the economics of feeding the family and secure a better future; it’s about keeping loved ones from being killed by Boko Haram, marauding armed robbers, kidnappers or rampaging herdsmen. If this is what it’s like when things are under control, then we can only imagine what it would be like if government finally admits failure. Our president must act decisively now. The attempt to pass blame and responsibility onto the Borno State Government is disingenuous, because states don’t control the police forces or security apparatuses. Under Jonathan’s watch, our “national” security forces continue to be inefficient and ineffective because they are ill-equipped. Their methods haven’t progressed one bit – busying themselves frog-marching innocent civilians and causing unnecessary and lethal traffic holdups at checkpoints – while the terrorists move freely.
There is really no point in us worrying about things we can’t change; but we better start worrying about the fact that we can’t change them. We should worry that we are powerless and in no position to do anything but watch our nation plunge further into chaos and destruction as a result of dysfunctional government. Over the years, our political class has benefitted from the fact that ordinary Nigerians have refused to fight for a better government because they were afraid of losing their lives in the process. Now that they are being killed as they innocently go about their business, this attitude will surely change. Government claims it’s trying to ‘do something’ by setting up a National Conference, but this in itself is a fallacy.
They are mistakenly trying to prepare the future for our children, instead of preparing our children for the future. As they talk, schoolgirls are being abducted, schools are shut, polytechnics closed and the university system is yet to recover from the recent prolonged lecturers’ strike. Whose future? What future? A Japanese proverb says that the reputation of a thousand years may be determined by conduct in one hour. No words can express the abomination, inhumanity and sacrilege of the unfolding tragedy. We can accept this administration’s failure because everyone fails at one thing or another in their lifetime, but what we can’t accept is their not trying hard enough. President Jonathan should be aware that history will judge him. His reputation, many years from now, will be based mainly on his actions at this critical point in our history.