ALUU 4 – the terrorist in all of us

Even as a child or teenager, every time I saw the charred remains of an alleged armed robber on Lagos streets, I often wondered if indeed it was a real robber or just some unfortunate bystander who was set up in a jiffy and who bore the brunt of a deaf and demented mob, baying for blood. Yet this is supposed to be year 2012 for crying out loud, and the south of Nigeria always claims this pedestal of being ‘enlightened’ than the rest. Our sociologists are merely carrying paper certificates around, no one is using their knowledge to analyse and advise their society, and we have lost all humanity, even as we preen about cockily, feeling that the world is under our empty regal feet! Nigerians would wonder why the world dislikes, distrusts and disdains them, when we wallow in the most despicable acts, fuelled by a warped belief system. In my book, I emphasised that there is a need to fix our cultures, otherwise it fixes us. Seems the latter has become the reality.

I saw four young men naked on the ground, surrounded by either Bible or Quran wielding Nigerians. I suspect it was more of Bible-thumpers because of the location being Port Harcourt. I saw them being bludgeoned with sticks and iron. Two of them had very deep cuts in their head, blood streamed all over the ground. One was out cold, perhaps dead. Then the clip moved, and one of them attempted to get up. He staggered. All of a sudden fire appeared. The two that could still move were pushed into the fire, and someone added petrol. One of the boys was already consumed fully by the fire. The other tried to stagger away but was pushed back forcefully into the fire, as someone added even more petrol. It was the most horrible reality clip I had ever seen, and would question the humanity of Nigerians in my mind, perhaps forever. Of course all four died. Young, enterprising university students. Perhaps wayward. Perhaps members of some gang or the other. But certainly they were most unfortunate to have been caught in the glare of a demented Nigerian mob and therefore were cut down most gruesomely in their primes.

I have been thinking very seriously… Why would a Nigerian want to summarily kill another? Why would Nigerians gather, watch and cheer away as four young men are being gruesomely, slowly and painfully murdered? What rights have we to claim any iota of civilisation after this event? Who will we blame this time around? The Military? The Government? These four students were being roasted to death even as the internet sites were agog with the comments of Professor Chinua Achebe in his new book ‘There Was Once A Country’. Many people from the South-West felt Achebe was unfair to the memory of Obafemi Awolowo and to Yorubas in general. Many Igbos were reliving the unfortunate events of the Civil War.

My take was that Achebe is an old man, absolutely entitled to his opinions, his memories, his prejudices, even his dreams. But who are we in our own generation and time, to complain about the bestiality of the Civil War era, when we would mete out even worse treatment to human beings for whatever reason? Who is crazier; the man who ‘starves’ other humans or the one who clubs them, machetes them and then set fire to them and adds petrol, or those who watch and cheer??!!  Rivers State is one of those that has been collecting huge amounts from government as a result of being an oil-producer, but in that same state, hundreds died from scooping fuel the other day, and now this.  Is the money doing the real people any good at all in terms of bettering their lives, and educating them properly?  Or are we just subhuman such that no amount of money can reform us?

This matter throws up a number of issues, but the annoying part was when I watched the debate at the Senate and many members stood up, gave eloquent speeches and asked that the incident be ‘condemned’! Condemned? What effect would that have on anything? Would Nigerians stop doing crazy things because the Senate ‘condemned’ those who killed 4 students in broad daylight? I doubt.  We need people who will act, not those who will speak flowery words. We need people who will teach, not those who will pontificate. We need people who will take on the arduous task of analysing what the problems are, and proffer workable solutions, and follow through with their recommendations, not those who will dress up flamboyantly every morning, speak big ‘grammar’, and get paid a king’s ransom for debating.

The other day we watched a video of Fulanis allegedly roasted and being eaten somewhere in Plateau State. A BBC reporter was there and reported about the cannibalism. When I saw these students being roasted, a thought coursed through my mind that only cannibals would do a thing like that. Perhaps many Nigerians still harbour such primitive tendencies, which unfortunately has become exacerbated by our fanning of anger in the land. I warned a few years ago, that we were sowing the wind and will reap a whirlwind. Politicians, civilians and so-called intellectuals take delight in whipping up negative sentiments against their perceived enemies. Newspapers revel in bad news and see them as opportunity to make a kill. Nigerians see tragedy, anger, murder, rape and so on, as opportunities to make money.

We have become a nation of GHOULS and SADOMASOCHISTS. We seem to now seek sadness and anger wherever they can be found. So killing four university students (who may be cult members if they were armed as alleged), is just a nice sporting event since we couldn’t win a plastic medal at the ‘Olumpics’. The government itself see the opportunity of terrorism being unleashed – usually on the poorest people – as opportunity to shut themselves in some more and use monies meant for education, infrastructure and development, to buy more arms and ammunition, and the latest protective gadgets. The government purchases private jets and bullet-proof SUVs as if those items of vanity are going out of fashion. The poor people or Nigeria are left in the lurch…

So, blame not the military. Stop being a coward by blaming dead people like Sani Abacha. Blame yourself. Blame me and you, for being wide awake even as our people drift back to the dark ages. But perhaps you could do better. Starting today, ensure your thoughts, speeches and actions, are directed towards bringing out positive emotions amongst our people. Our people need help. They need re-education. Click here for the gory video if you have the heart…