The Opera called Nigeria

But then, we don’t live in a country, and the time and climes are abnormally absurd at every turn. As I was writing this, news came that bombs were going off everywhere; first the bomb at This Day offices in Abuja and Kaduna. That is the first news, and perhaps no longer shocking, since bombs […]

But then, we don’t live in a country, and the time and climes are abnormally absurd at every turn. As I was writing this, news came that bombs were going off everywhere; first the bomb at This Day offices in Abuja and Kaduna. That is the first news, and perhaps no longer shocking, since bombs going off in Nigeria is as common as it does in Iraq and Afghanistan. What should also not shock anyone is the fact that, while such scenes of crimes should be out of bounds to most people, in Nigeria, a crowd of curious onlookers gathered. Usually, they do not help victims, but no, most of them are looking for an opportunity to loot.

And boy, did they loot? Unconscionably, people carried whatever they could get from the Abuja offices – broken computer screens, doorposts, chairs…whatever could be carried. In fact, those items that could not be taken by one individual were carried by groups of twos or threes depending on the item. Nobody tried to stop them in anyway. The curious onlookers continued to look while the looting goes on. There is no thought for those who, only moments earlier had reported for work, bid their families goodbye with promises to bring the day’s bread or sweet but would never return. In the past, such issues would occupy the minds of the onlookers, today, no.

Our nation has lost its conscience and for a long time has buried its soul. Years back, a trailer tumbled in the furniture market along Karu road. It was hurling a huge cargo of soft drinks to God knows where. While the fate of the driver and passengers were unknown, vehicles applied their brakes left right and centre and disgorged their passengers who scrambled for the drinks. The civil servants who were returning from work also joined in the looting. By the time help came to tow the trailer and ease traffic, some people had hired Okada to store their shops or refrigerators. Some of them had their children in the vehicles and even asked the kids to join in the looting. No thought about the loss to the owner of the trailer, and certainly, the driver and his passengers could have been ghosts who flew off immediately the accident happened. Good luck to a country with no conscience.

Someday, I sat back in my house in Karu and wondered what those parents were teaching their children or wards about responsibility. Its years now, but I still wonder if those parents whose children were not there that day had drunk the soft drinks knowing the truth about its origin. Or did Daddy and Mummy just bring the shiploads of carbonated drinks home as if they bought them from the adjoining supermarket? If, as some people talk about the law of karma, these people also end up in a gulley somewhere begging for help, should they get help? But I guess I am a weakling. Only weaklings think about such things. Brave men and women do not think about such sissy things, they only care about today.

The official who passed the same voucher with the same amount for 128 times is a Nigerian, not a foreigner. He begged to apply. Once he got the job, he became the boss and lord. For him to have ignored such a thing, s(h)e must have seen so much wastage that the casual attitude is – what would my objection mean? Did he just do the legendary – I am directed – not being paid enough to use his brain if s(h)e had any? Questions like these make people like me unsuitable for a country like Nigeria. They make raising children in my country a serious sin. They make telling them of a glorious future a pipe dream. They make the talk of transformation look so incongruous.

But heh, too much digression. Our country is a wonderful country. It is a nation of unshockable people. Only weeks back, a man described as ‘a thief in government house’ was sentenced to 13 years jail term in far-away London. Let’s forgive the judge who sent him free from here, he can only function with the evidence provided him. In a prosecution in which the friend of the Attorney-General and a financier of the Presidency is accused, how does anyone want to garner enough evidence to ensure an iron-clad case that would lead to prosecution. As they say here – na we-we! Instead of blaming Justice Awokunlehin, I think the man must be pitied – in a court of law, you do not know a thief outside the evidence that is provided.

But before I end the Ibori case. His people of Oghara, I am told, issued a statement saying how proud they are of their son. In 13 years, even if the traditional ruler of the town does not die, he should take a leave of absence so that Ibori can be crowned. Then, simultaneously, the Delta House of Assembly passed a resolution affirming that the so-called funds Ibori was believed to have stolen did not come from the coffers of the state. What else would stand against the canonisation of Ibori when he has finished his term? Nothing.

In my little village, a man who brings the town’s name to such disrepute is banished. Such arcane reasoning is why communities like mine have no proof of any government in power 52 solid years after flag independence. Until very recently, every block upon the other from schools to clinics and roads is a communal effort. Its citizens pay taxes from tilling the earth with traditional implements. Heh, look at all those well-fed rented crowd asking Farouk Lawan to wrap it up and let the looters be. The hope that Nigeria will get better goes up in smoke with every tragedy unveiled. The reason we’re still here is to watch the next opera.