NIGERIA’S MURDEROUS POLITICS

the slogan meaning that it is the demented loner that uses guns to kill, and the attention of the law should be on the psycho, not on the gun. Liberal Americans and Democrats and other “Progressives”, on the other hand, counter the “guns don’t kill” slogan with the statement that, were it not for the […]

the slogan meaning that it is the demented loner that uses guns to kill, and the attention of the law should be on the psycho, not on the gun. Liberal Americans and Democrats and other “Progressives”, on the other hand, counter the “guns don’t kill” slogan with the statement that, were it not for the gun, a single student bearing, say, a knife or an axe, cannot hope to murder one or two persons at a go before being overpowered; with a gun, however, he can kill scores, and easily turn the weapon on himself to commit suicide and “close” the case. Both may be right.
In this country, democracy kills. And with our murderous politics, guns and people and other factors combine to kill. The “Political Murder Season” is about to begin. While other Nigerian fatalities will continue to happen unabated (from the Boko Haram carnage recently epitomised by the indefensibly inexplicable massacre of almost fifty innocent students and teachers in cold blood in Potiskum, to road accidents, to armed robberies, to collapsed buildings, to stray bullets, to hospital strikes, to farmer-herder clashes, to cattle-rustling), the new chapter just opening is the ‘Political Murder Season’.
The many definitely-going-to-die people will die simply because it is time to elect our leaders in our so-called ‘democracy’, beginning from rigged primaries to ‘secondaries’ to tertiary elections of the various political parties. Already, people have started dying at Ward Congresses and Local Government run-offs (four died the other day in Delta, none of the victims a candidate or their relatives). Other people have also since died travelling to their candidate’s ‘declaration’ in Abuja.
You can almost swear by Allah that it is definitely going to happen: that many Nigerians will die. As simple as that. Everybody knows that it will happen. But everybody wishes that it is not them that will die, and hoping it is not a loved one that will die. But it is a universal belief that people will die. What, then, is the use of this useless democracy if all it heralds is a circle of four-yearly murders followed by four years of ‘common stealing’, otherwise known as corruption? What is the use, the Column begs for answers.
These many definitely-going-to-die people, I repeat, are definitely going to die because of politics and the viciousness of Nigerian politics and politicians in particular. The soon-to-die will be murdered. In cold political blood. And the sponsors of the murders and, in fact, the murderers themselves, will walk away. Scot free. Nigerian free. Nothing will be done. The dead will be mourned, the widows will be abandoned and the orphans will drop out of school. And life, Nigerian life, will go on.
What is the use of Nigerian politics if a single citizen will be killed by it? Ours is not a democracy. It is not even a fledgling democracy. It is not a fledgling anything. It is a fledgling murder system. In fact, a full-blown slaughter house of sorts. And these deaths will occur just because someone wants a bigger piece of our national cake.
There is enough of death in this country, especially from Boko Haram. The country doesn’t need another reason for bloodshed. In the opinion of this Column, better benevolent dictatorship without loss of blood than this ‘for the people’s blood, by the people’s cudgels and of the people’s design’ that we call democracy. Nigerian Democracy Must Go, if one life can be saved.
According to the Qur’an, murdering a person is like murdering the whole of mankind: “He who killed a human being without the latter being guilty of killing another or of spreading disorder in the land should be looked upon as if he killed all mankind.” (Qur’an 5•32). In explaining this verse in his “Tadabbur-i-Qur’an”, Amin Ahsan Islahi states that “Every occurrence of murder should create a tumult and commotion in the nation. Until and unless Qisas is taken from the criminal responsible for it, everyone should feel that he no longer has the protection of the law he formerly had. The law is the protector of all and if it has been violated, a single person has just not been slain, but the lives of all persons are in danger.”
In Islam, as in Christianity and Judaism, the punishment for wilful murder is death, or capital punishment. In Islam, that is called Qisas, or the Law of Retaliation. Qisas is ordained not only for murder, but all intentional bodily harms; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. On this matter, the Qur’an and the Bible are almost exact.
Alas for Nigeria. Many are going to be murdered very soon for no just cause. And there shall be no Qisas. And we all know that these murders are not going to occur in some isolated places. They have Federal Character about them. They will occur all over the nation, in all geopolitical zones.
And the tragedy of all of these definitely-going-to-happen murders is that ninety percent of the victims (if they are such, because many of them would have been murderers themselves had they had the chance of first strike) would be the ultimate non-beneficiaries of the political cake being fought for.
In actual fact, you can be sure that the son and daughter of the Presidential aspirant being fought for is in Malaysia studying; that the son or daughter of the Gubernatorial aspirant being fought for is in England studying; and the son or daughter of the Senatorial or House of Representatives aspirant being fought for is in Cyprus or Ghana studying. This can be verified, and should be, but unfortunately our media reporters and commentators prefer to discuss our politics ‘as is’, rather than the politician as ‘he is’ and is going to be!
We are a lawless and irresponsible nation. Our attitude is faulty and we lack the good leadership to take us out of the woods. Meanwhile, those who are supposed to be the representatives of the people, the so-called Civil Society Organisations and the Mass Media, those who are supposed to help the people get things done right, are already by now busy lining up to receive “monitoring and observer funds” from Western donors whose only requirement for us is to have elections done for elections sakes.
The deaths that will occur over the next few months are not going to be accidental deaths; they are not going to be collateral deaths; they are not going to be any other term but intentional, wilful murder. Culpable murder. Punishable by death. Alas! No one is going to be punished for these murders. We cry for this country. O Politicians! We have enough deaths already! Let’s unite and tackle the murderous Boko Haram and support the vigilantes and others to drive them out of Mubi and other places. Let’s put a moratorium of murderous politics. Please!
May Allah have mercy on the souls of the Potiskum students and teachers. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un! And HasbunalLahu wa ni’imal Wakeel! (Allah is Sufficient for us and He is the Best Disposer of affairs.”)