Killings, massacres: How did we get here, what next

What a tragic first Sunday of June, the gory incident at Owo town in Ondo State reinforces the fear of insecurity in every “meaningful” Nigerian. In our usual ways of approaching most problems, including self-inflicted ones, we have prayed for a resolution of this menace, but it seems to be getting worse by the day. […]

What a tragic first Sunday of June, the gory incident at Owo town in Ondo State reinforces the fear of insecurity in every “meaningful” Nigerian. In our usual ways of approaching most problems, including self-inflicted ones, we have prayed for a resolution of this menace, but it seems to be getting worse by the day. Mosques and churches have organised fasting and vigil sessions over the country’s security crisis, but all seems to be to no avail, even as I remain an ardent believer in the Grace and Mercy of God over Nigeria. Men, women, children, and members of families are being gored.

What started as a religious crisis in the North East part of the country metamorphosed into an ethnic crisis in the southern part of the country and like a mutating virus, it has taken different forms and shapes, especially in the past 10 years. As I read different versions of reports on the barbaric event at the Catholic Church at Owo on Sunday, I kept asking myself these questions: How did we get here and where do we go from here? 

Whilst some people say these “satanic” agents are largely foreigners, whoever they may be, the government has a duty to protect us against them. After all, the fundamental role of every government is to protect the lives and property of its citizenry. The Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, emphasised that he was not joking about getting the perpetrators of the Owo incident, but how confident should we be in his will because oftentimes, there is an imbalance between political will and power to resolve crises.

It is so sad that we now spend the best part of the country’s scarce resources on defence. In the current year, the government plans to spend some N2.4 trillion on defence, more than the cumulative amounts it hopes to spend on both education and healthcare, and indeed, almost twice the budget it has for infrastructure development. The resources we have failed to invest in infrastructure and training of youths are now being spent in arms for fighting the monsters we created. Obviously, the beneficiaries are the countries supplying arms.

Nigeria has become a fertile market for arms dealers, both officially and in the black market, where the goons also fulfill their demand for arms. More disturbing is the fact that, unlike most countries, including our neighbours, we are not investing in building defence capacities against unforeseen external aggression. Rather, we are mainly spending on consumables in fighting internal strife that we could have avoided. I recall a decade ago, over lunch, a friend said his greatest excitement about Nigeria is the youthful energetic population and the prospect that this portends for the country’s development, if well harnessed.

 Sadly, he also quickly noted that it could well be the greatest risk to the country’s stability, as he posited that we were sitting on gunpowder by not training the young chaps, who incidentally may become a menace and “resource curse” to the country in no time. It’s so unfortunate that my friend’s fears have come true as the energy of the youths is now channelled toward negativities.

When we look around our communities, we all know there are so many upcoming “monsters” who may be worse than these current bandits and unknown gunmen. Yet, we indulge them. We neither report them to security agencies nor take communal actions against them.

Across all ethnic groups, the saying goes that a man only gives birth to a child, but the entire village trains him/her. Why have we deviated from this great culture, leaving the youths to stray at the expense of everybody? It is said that even some elders are now encouraging all sorts of vices. Many a time, imams and pastors pray to bless the famous Yahoo boys, who we all know are fraudsters, but incidentally have become the celebrities across our communities, as we seem to be caught up with a new alien “Machiavelli” culture – “the end justifies the means”. 

We celebrate politicians, fraudsters and the likes, even as they flaunt and oppress us with their illicit wealth. They have become influencers and even supposed reputable companies are now seeking to associate with them to rev up their brands, as they wish to tap into the dogmatic followership of these fraudsters. How can a pastor or imam pray for a bandit to progress, but turn around to organise a special session to resolve insecurity? 

You cannot fire up the oven and turn around to complain about the heat. As we celebrate mediocrity, we are promoting insecurity. In the past, students joined clubs to ignite their creativity and passion for science and technology but today, what we see in primary and secondary schools are musical concerts and beauty pageant contests, yet we complain that the country is not progressing.

First-class graduates in universities cannot get jobs on merit but drop-outs are recruited to the same offices because they have family, ethnic, religious or sexual ties to the decision-makers, yet we turn around to say that the country is not working.

I have travelled to a number of countries and none has as many mosques and churches as we do in Nigeria. Yet the countries where the majority of their populations are those we refer to as “pagans” are flourishing because they uphold the very morals and ethics that Islam and Christianity claim to stand on. We are people who profess faith, yet we remain unfaithful.

Enough of the wailing and complaint; let’s start to fix the problem from our doorsteps and when the security agencies do take action on those who are disturbing our peace or may constitute nuisance in the future, let’s not get sentimental about it, irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliation. Let’s not play “activist” pranks or politics when the security agents deal with those disturbing our peace and maiming innocent lives. The life of every Nigerian matters, and if this madness must stop, all hands must be on deck.

Our society can be sane again and we can return Nigeria to the good old days when I, as a small boy in 1974 travelled from Aba to Ugheli alone, to attend admission interviews at the Government College. When I alighted from the Midwest Line Bus in Benin City, Nigerians, men and women, helped to put me in a car that took me to Warri, from where I boarded another one to Ugheli. By the time we got there, I was asleep because it was night. But again Nigerians, good men and women, woke me up and helped me to climb on a motorcycle that took me to the gate of the school at about 10pm.

While I got the admission but couldn’t attend that school because of poverty, the point here is that then it was possible for a child to move around this country unaccompanied by relations because everyone was his brother’s keeper.

Enough is enough. We have been fooled for too long by those who profit from our division and fear, and the earlier we started to make a fool of those who hide under the auspices of religion and ethnicity to divide and cause mayhem, the better for all of us. May God grant the families, friends and all well-meaning Nigerians the fortitude to bear the loss from these senseless killings. Together, we must defeat these monsters!