For moments like this (3)

We also have to recall, that the first salvo of terrorism in this regime, was fired by MEND (whom some like to justify), and that the President tried to exonerate ‘his people’, some of whom claimed that his strategists wanted them to put the blame on the North.  My points above are well-proven by the admission recently by northern governors, that the many problems of the region were not caused by them, but by past governors over the past 25 years.  The governors did not know, that by that statement, they were admitting their inefficiency in solving the problems.  Why would they have been voted back in, in the 2011 elections?  Most of the PDP governors in northern Nigeria are elitist, totally disconnected from the people, and at best wannabes, who are presently competing with some southern governors in terms of ostentation (private jets, exotic cars and whatnot).

Back to the south-south, there may be some truth in the claims of Henry Okah, to the extent that the north was designated as fall-guy for the 50th Independence bombing, because despite insinuating that that bombing and subsequent Boko Haram ones are sponsored by northern ‘big men’ (most of whom are turncoats and looters anyway), the government has found it difficult to arrest any of them.  It is noteworthy though, that as Bayelsa governor (just like his predecessors and successors), our president had many dealings with the MEND guys and other militia, some of whom kidnapped, killed and maimed other people.  We must note, that a terrorist, is a terrorist, and there is no justification to kidnap or kill anybody.  The President must search his conscience, to know if these terrorist acts of today, have anything to do with his past compromises, or if they have any connection with the MEND bombing of October 1, 2010.  I had observed then, that bombing a country’s Golden Jubilee was ominous and carried a seriously bad omen.

I would therefore suggest that we try not to waste our emotions at this time, especially on hatred.  Emotions are the most precious thing to waste.  Reserve it for loving your spouse or your children, or on making money, or on building a better nation, but never waste it on hatred.  Each time a church is bombed, like the one in Bayareo University, Kano, it is extremely difficult for us not to hate, or even not to carry a dagger and stab the next Muslim.  But we should not That That Is Exactly The Kind Of Thing The People Behind Our Predicament Want To Peovoke, so that they can sit back wherever they are, and have a good laugh.  We should never gift them laughter at our expense.  Never!  We Are Pawns In An Ongoing Chess Game.  We Should Try And Ruin The Game For The Players, By Acting Contrary To What They Want Us To Do.  Imagine if as pawns in a game of Chess, we begin to move like Knights, Or Bishops, Or Castles Or As The Almighty Queen?  Then we would defy the odds.  We should always think ahead beyond the current step, and imagine clearly, what those trying to control our thoughts want to achieve by their manipulation of our minds and actions!

I would urge the newspapers to take it easy on their penchant to sell newspapers with this Boko Haram matter.  They take delight in splashing huge headlines –Boko Haram This, Boko Haram That.  Many Nigerian newspapers are probably run by ‘bush men’, who are crude in their approaches.  They don’t mind using the picture of children and women to draw sympathy or to sell newspapers.  But they should look beyond their noses.  The same people come to complain about foreign investors fleeing from Nigeria. What do they expect?  That foreigners should stay in a country where all the news is about bombing, rape, robberies, embezzlement and whatnot?  What I am talking about is that our media should be run strategically, for many bad things happen abroad but their media have a way of ensuring it does not scare people from their country.

It is instructive that Mr Obaigbena, the Chairman of Thisday, is the current Chairman of Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), and while I express my condolences for his loss, I think he also owes Nigerians very good explanations why he keeps on inviting crazy war criminals to come and add insult to the injury of Nigerians.  These crazies invited by Thisday include George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Condy Rice, Gordon Brown, Larry Summers and many more.  It needs to be put on record, for the sake of our children, that these men, and women contributed in no small measure to the demise of Africa, and for them to come to NIGERIA of all places, to spit in our faces, by lecturing us on why we are backward, insulting us for the corruption they created amongst us and benefited from, and in spite of the blood of millions on their hands, is the height of injustice, degradation, and slavery.  Nduka should stop that practice for it is the height of bad!

My Yoruba people have a saying, that whoever is not beaten by the rain or the sun, will surely be beaten by Hunger.  Now we can modify the adage that; “Whoever Is Not Beaten By The Rain Or The Sun, And Not Killed By ‘Boko Haram’ (Or Those Who Pretend To Be Boko Haram), Will Surely Be Killed By Hunger”.  Therefore we must get up in the morning, carry our “hoes”, and go to our farms.  For while we are still alive, we owe it a duty to ensure that our children are fed, and schooled.  We cannot be living in mortal fear of our shadows.  In the meantime, another Yoruba saying comes to mind (ebe la’n b’osika), in other words, “na beg we go dey beg evil man”.  If we consider the resources – financial, intelligence, logistical, even ideological – available to those traumatizing Nigeria, we would see that our government could never cope, much less the poor, luckless people who are daily the victims of their machinations.  All We Can Do Now Is To Keep Begging Them, To Spare Us, For All These Are No Fault Of Ours.  We Did Not Ask To Be Born In Nigeria.  They Should Stop Turning Our Daily Lives Into A String Of Tragedies! Concluded.