ONCE A NATION, NOW AN ABATTOIR; The
Nigerian Status-quo.
Written By: Godswill Isek
Nigeria, a nation facing series
of social, political and ecomonic unrests, a nation
on the verge of loosing her territorial integrity to a
fast growing intolerance of each of her diverse
tribes of one another, (as parts of its whole
continually clamour for secession). Is now a
HUMAN ABATOIR.
The recent bigoted inhumane
killings, bloodsheds, loss of lives and properties
that's been perpetuated by various sects within the
country has continued to strain the credibility of
the one Nigeria mantra, making it a sham, a
disgraceful pretence and an effort aimed at
unifying an obviously divided whole. Creating
dissonance in the minds of anti-separatists as to
whether forcing the unity of Nigeria as one nation
is a worthwhile decision considering all the
sacrifices that's been made on a daily basis, of
Bloodsheds, deaths and pains which has become
increasingly unbearable.
From the Niger delta
militancy to boko haram insurgences and now the
most barbaric, the Fulani herdsmen attacks, the
country continually face series of threats to the
very humanity and the constituted attachment of
its citizens, not forgetting the continual violation
of her citizen's right to life.
Quickly on the recent
brutal massacres:
From the 1st till 10th of
January, death toll has risen to about a hundred in
Benue state alone as mass burial was organized
by the state governor for the victims (may their
souls rest in peace)
The Fulani herdsmen continue
to destroy lives and properties within the country
and all these the presidency seem to be oblivious
of.
Rather regrettably, Alhaji Lai Mohammed's only
concern is that the Fulani herdsmen shouldn't be
mistaken for a terrorist group like 'IPOB' saying the
fulani herdsmen "are just a gang unlike IPOB". Very
insensitive right? Even if that's the case, is that a
necessary comment when people are lamenting
their loved ones who's lives have been lost due to
attacks from the so called " just gangs" ?
Apparently he cares more about how we view a
group that slices the throats of police officers than
lives of the innocent victims. Sad!
INEC has
released the timetable for the 2019 elections and
our politicians must be polishing new set of lies
and flowery propagandas and of course token gifts
to make Nigerians vote for them.
I won't campaign
for anyone or outrightly condemn voting for
anyone. All I'm saying is: We cannot continue like
this, we cannot continue to live in an abattoir, not
knowing who's next in line to be killed or
butchered.
We cannot continue to vote for leaders
who can't guarantee the average Nigerian access to
the bare minimum requirement for sustenance.
We
cannot continue to vote for leaders who will
continually blame the previous administration for
their failures and re-flag the problems we elected
them to solve, still blaming it on a government we
voted out because we felt they (the incumbent
government) were more capable.
We cannot
continue to recycle APC and PDP, we must begin
to vote for actual competent leaders, regardless of
their affiliated political parties. Ideally We should
be able to see the 'weakest' political party winning
an election just because their flagbearer is the
most qualified.
We cannot continue to sell our
votes by receiving sachets of rice and tins of
tomatoes, in exchange for four years of our lives
and the futures of our children. Because actually,
when you give a government your vote in
exchange for their token gifts, that government is
no longer indebted to you, you have already been
paid for your votes. Thus, you lose your power to
speak out boldly when they begin to joke with your
lives.
Even if we oppose outright secession, we
cannot continue to oppose the restructuring of the
nation if this becomes the last resort to peace and
stability in our nation.
Finally, we must not
continue to relegate the responsibility of making
our society better to the government and the
government alone, we need to get actively
involved, the importance of casting our votes and
fulfilling our democratic duties, getting involved in
social discusses that can engineer positive change
by branding our ideas in a convincing and logically
progressive manner cannot be overemphasized.
We have to first be the change we want to see.
©Godswill Isek Francis.
A friendly admonition.
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