NIGERIA IN DIM TIMES, WHERE IS OUR DARK NIGHT?

Nigeria has long since descended to a tale of power struggles, organised crimes and absurdities; hooligans walk majestically along our famed corridors of power, cabals with several points in their agenda wait for a chance at a piece of the action and a single stretch of road probably less than a hundred metres can be ‘ear’ or ‘eye’ marked for construction, the Lord only knows how many times. From whichever angle you choose to look at things, the situation is worse than grim, it is dark!

The thought on any critical mind to the tales of the Green and White of West Africa should certainly be the question of how we got to this sinister chapter called Fifteen Years of Democracy or if you prefer A Century since Lord Luggard. I personally prefer the latter because it allows me berate the gentleman who, for the convenience of the Crown, merged people of different ideologies. Notwithstanding, they say marriage is in sickness and in health and for better or for worse, so till death do we part; long live Nigeria!

Now back to our grim tales, where were we? Ah yes, let’s start from the angle of the absurdities. Strange things never seem to lack within our porous boarders, especially the ever exciting political arena. They are the only episodes we catch on the news so what choice do we have but to soak garri and enjoy the drama. The gate scaling gymnastics by our Honourable speaker and his team of athletes is but one of the recent shows, set up for us this time by a grand puppet master in the shadows; we still don’t know who. It was a merry show I dare say; eliciting cheers and applause from the gentlemen with stage side seats, remember? Do you recall the less pleasant purchase and importation of a thirteen year old girl from Egypt by our very own Senator Yerima for marriage, how could such a matter of child abuse have been easily swept under the carpet, how can we as a people condone such?

The recent Presidential power struggle, excuse me, elections have General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) pitted against Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ). The battle between the Incumbent-Doctor (PhD) and the Retired-General for the top public seat in the nation is intense; episodes of this scuffle with The Professor, Attahiru Jega, as referee are selling like hot cake or if you prefer hot akara with bread. The show has been rife with mudslinging and defections, captivating and swaying the minds of the insatiable viewers. The situation down in the south, Rivers State, has unfortunately degraded to a rally of bullets at party campaigns, bomb blasts and knife assaults on journalists. Up north, we are not spared the inanity of people, citizens I believe, attacking the presidential convoy; a treasonable offense!

In the south-west, the nation's commercial capital’s gubernatorial situation is, in my opinion, a mirror of the national battle with the power play interchanged; Lagos sees the defending champion, APC represented by Mr Akinwunmi Ambode being challenged by the PDP multi-time contester Mr Jimi Agbaje; Eko oni baje o! In the  north-east, the nation's thorn-in-the-side, Boko Haram, has been terrorising citizens for more than four years now generating more than a million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and even marking out their own caliphate, but fear not! The Nigerian Army has also been in pursuit for these many years and now Chad, Niger, Cameroon and the rest of the African Union have decided that it is time to join the fray. Despite the postponement of the elections and the fear of many both home and abroad that it is a ploy by the ruling party to manipulate outcomes, the game of thrones is still on.

I am sure most of you are familiar with The God Father, the famous novel and film that illuminates the inner workings of organised crime. Without another word, those twelve letters are enough to call to mind the nature of atrocities committable by Dons and their henchmen. If only Mario Puzo’s book could tell us the workings in the shadows of our own country, then perhaps, a solution to our plague of crookedness would have been found. Be it Honourable Dimeji Bankole, Governor James Ibori or Honourable Farouk Lawan and their ‘alleged’ crimes or the ordinary Nigerian on the street or in an office extorting his fellow Nigerians. Corruption or simply put, stealing, has eaten so deep into the moral fibre of our nation that an effective solution is yet to be found. God help us as we help ourselves!

There should come a time, I say ‘should’ because it seems we have not decided that our time has come, when a people stand up and say enough is enough. The recent riots in Mexico for instance, precipitated by the killing of 43 college students, have shown that Mexicans are tired of being bullied by cartels. The protests in Ferguson in the US have shown that the Black community of America will no longer stand for its children being police targets. The French recently rallied around the Charlie Hebdo newspaper under the standard of ‘Je Suis Charlie’ when ISIS operatives attacked and killed 12 of its cartoonists. Are you still sitting down, waiting for a saviour?

I’m sure most of us are looking forward to a six foot tall, broad chested, charming fellow to swoop into the scene with a deep, husky voice, guns blazing to save the day. We are all dreaming of a ‘Dark Knight’ of some sorts who will come to save Nigeria. Wake up, stop deceiving yourself, he is not coming! I often ask myself, “Why have Nigerians not reacted to their present situation of repression?” Is it sheer cowardice or have they simply grown to love the sound of their oppressors’ cracking whip?
Nigeria is our Gotham City, villains and crime abound. It is either we stand up and do something about it, become the Batmen to our city or we let the Jokers and Banes of our own story rule Gotham. The Choice is yours!

  

-  Juwah C.Awele