For as long as I can remember, Nigerians have had a fear of the -ember months, a phobia that starts in September, rising gradually like puff-puff dough through November and peaking in December. Prayers against the mischievous -ember spirits are intensified as the last month of the year rolls in. Churches hold vigils to ward off these spirits and prayer warriors sharpen their figurative arrowheads against them. All across social media, friends and well-wishers increase the frequency of their prayers to fortify their own against -ember evil. You’re probably receiving these multiple times a week now. If you aren’t, you should re-assess your friendships. And the WhatsApp groups you belong to. Sift the chaff from the wheat. I jest of course.
- The number of times a person gives birth may affect how quickly they age
- Problems affecting national ID card registration
What isn’t a joke, however, is how deeply rooted -emberphobia is. Any car accident, any illness, any death from whatever cause in the last quarter of the year is blamed on the ravenous ‘evil spirits’ who somehow target our dearest Nigeria specifically in these “bad luck months” looking for fresh bodies to cannibalize. Our terrible roads, irresponsible driving, poorly stocked hospitals, bad government : all get a free pass because of the “curse” of the – ember months. We, as a people, have been normalized not to question things as much as we accept them. This was one of the major reasons why the SARS protests in October both stunned and thrilled many in equal measure. And a government that, like its predecessor, is not used to being challenged and being held accountable has been doing all it can to discredit the protests , to bully the organizers, to drag things back to the status quo where it’s every citizen for themselves and the government for its own merry, bumbling, selfish self.
It is that status quo that had Boko Haram terrorists slaughtering dozens of farmers in a rice field in Zabamari , (adding this little known town to the growing lexicon of rural areas we only hear/learn of because of the terrorist group) and President Buhari not doing much more than sending ineffectual thoughts and wishes to the victims. There is an unspoken acceptance that there would be no justice for the murdered farmers, a resignation that the only justice they’ll get is outrage on social media. After all, six years after they were kidnapped, despite global outrage, despite Buhari’s assurances to improve on GEJ’s blundering of the Boko Haram menace, 112 Chibok girls are still in Boko Haram captivity. The hashtag calling for their release has given way over the years to more immediate hashtags , the more recent of which include #Endsars and #Zambarimassacre. The girls themselves are now young women and I do not expect that there are many people who believe that when ( for we must remain optimistic or we become overwhelmed by darkness) the girls/young women are released, it would be thanks to the government.
It is that status quo that has citizens fearing for their safety. Almost every week on Twitter, I stumble upon posts by my fellow citizens announcing that a sibling or a friend has been kidnapped accompanied by pleas for help in finding the victim or the criminals. The pleas to the public are not complementing police work. For many, social media is the only place they know to come for help. Or empathy at the very least. Who wants a president sending thoughts and wishes when all they want is for their loved ones to be returned, and a country where they can feel valued and safe? As we say in Naija, na who thoughts and wishes ep?
Rather than thoughts and wishes, what citizens want is a government that cares, one that values their lives so that the fear of -ember months becomes relegated to the scrap heap of history. Every year, FRSC holds -ember months campaign to encourage people to drive more responsibly. What would complement the campaign would be the government committing to bringing our roads into the 21st century: fixing roads and setting up infrastructure that makes our roads safer so that the “the demons of the road looking for blood to suck” are banished to wandering aimlessly in the netherworld where they belong. Shebi demons and humans shouldn’t be inhabiting the same space?
What people want is security. They don’t want to – as we say in Igbo- carry their hearts in their hands when their loved ones do not come back from a trip to the bus stop or to the stores or to church imagining each time that they have been kidnapped.
What people want is a government that works, a government that delivers on its promise of change from the inept government before it rather than more of the same.
What people want is a government they can believe in.
However, we must bear in mind that what people want will not be possible without citizens taking an active part in building it. As a friend of mine who lives in England always reminds me, there’s a difference between how one demands good governance because “it’s our taxes” and how one does it “because it is our oil.” It is in acknowledging this and working towards it that we can say with certainty, borrowing from the words spoken to Julian of Norwich, that “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
Finally, my people, I wish us all a successful end to a year that has been challenging for the world as a whole. In the words of one of the ubiquitous -ember months prayers, “(Let) every rage of the enemy assigned to soak (your) body with blood in these months, go back and devour your senders.” May 2021 bombard us with everything good. Amen.
