Kaduna: Halt the carnage
Kaduna state is in a state of mourning as I write this piece, the scourge of violence dominates the atmosphere and the stench of guilt pervades our existence. Innocent lives were gruesomely terminated once more, bodily and psychological harm inflicted on so many people courtesy of our naked hatred and outright intolerance towards one another. […]
Kaduna state is in a state of mourning as I write this piece, the scourge of violence dominates the atmosphere and the stench of guilt pervades our existence. Innocent lives were gruesomely terminated once more, bodily and psychological harm inflicted on so many people courtesy of our naked hatred and outright intolerance towards one another. Economic activities have been paralyzed, movement is totally grounded owing to a mitigative curfew imposed by the government. Thankfully normalcy is gradually returning.
How many more lives must be wasted before we realize that it is high time to rethink, readjust and reorient ourselves towards peaceful coexistence. So sad to watch our common humanity destroyed by unrestrained primordial sentiments and excessive bigotry. We choose to live in delusion, neglecting our core values of entrenching unity across all divides thereby creating a false image of corporality, whereas the slightest misunderstanding is enough to unshackle our cruel propensity to aim at each other’s jugular. Some group members’ excesses are enough to flare up emotions and trigger inhuman hunt down and ungodly hacking of human lives. What could be more savage, barbaric and unjust than the unlawful blockade of major and minor roads, forceful ejection of perceived ‘enemies’ from moving vehicles, and the gruesome murder of those innocent souls, their sole offence is not belonging to a particular ethnicity or religion, how pathetic!
Nothing destroys the fabrics of a nation faster than it major building blocks engaging in an orgy of violence under the guise of regional antagonisms, ethnic or religious exaltation. The unabated recurrence of these killings only succeed in stoking our hearts with hate, the rate at which this hatred permeates our society is alarming, it leads to unlawful discrimination in our streets, market squares, government establishments and schools. Our universities and other institutions of higher learning are fast becoming breeding grounds for ethnic lords and religious bigots, pseudointellectuals rant to the detriment of genuine scholarship.
The clergy are not left out in this show of bile, for some of them have succeeded in distorting the divine messages of love and tolerance thereby hypnotizing the faithful into perceiving people of diverging faith as avowed enemies who can be trampled upon to the pleasure of the high heaven! Our cyberspace is replete with unsubstantiated posts, comments and pictures capable of fanning the embers of hatred and corrosive division. By their actions or inactions, most youth have decided to market tons of hatred, disdain and resentment against fellow compatriots.
Government by its composition needs to be proactive rather than reactive, it must entrench justice in all spheres of our existence to ward off anarchy, peace and unity are essential to the success of any policy because policies are formulated for the living not the dead. Perpetrators and conspirators of mayhem no matter how highly placed must be punished according to the laws of the land. The task of nation building shouldn’t be an exclusive preserve of the government; each and every individual must serve as an agent of this onerous task. Youths must demonstrate a progressive mindset anchored on a new thinking and approach to save the nation from this cancerous grip of hatred.
Ibrahim Zangina, Kaduna.