Sadly and painfully, it is only in
Nigeria that 29 innocent and defenseless students will be slaughtered like
Sallah rams, in a supposed time of peace, and the government will pretentiously
carry on as if nothing sinister has happened. God save us!
Meanwhile, in sane and civilized climes,
responsible leaders will not only go after the perpetrators of the heinous
crime, but also ensure they are apprehended and made to face the full wrath of
the law in order to serve as a deterrent to others still lurking around.
Shockingly, in Nigeria where we do
not have competent leaders, but inept rulers, reverse is always the case.
For our rulers at the top, the liquidation
of 29 promising lives in one fell swoop was nothing unusual, especially when it
does not affect them directly or indirectly.
What they usually owe us in painful
moments like these are terse official press statements from above, reeking with
empty promises of them flushing out the perpetrators of violence out of the
country. Na today!
Nigerians are also tired of the very annoying
and irritating phrase: “The killing is barbaric and wicked…”
We want an end to the senseless
killings and extermination of precious lives on a daily basis.
Initially, we thought it was
churches, offices and event centres that were not safe in Nigeria, but with
recent developments, we now know better.
Sincerely, if nothing is urgently
done with the rate at which Boko Haram is targeting and killing school children,
they and their schools would soon become endangered species.
My pain is that each time they
strike and slaughter innocent students, our government will pretend as if
nothing disastrous has happened. They now see national tragedies, especially
those caused by Boko Haram as part of our daily lives.
Prior to the Mamudo maiming on
Saturday, July 6, seven students, two teachers and two soldiers were killed
during an attack on a school in Damaturu, in the same Yobe State on June 16.
The following day, July 17, the
relaxed, unperturbed and unchecked extremists stormed another school in
Maiduguri, Borno State and wickedly killed nine students in an examination
hall. Not done with their evil act, they stormed another school that same day
in the town of Jajeri, Maiduguri, Borno State and shot dead another five students
writing exams in a hall.
Are those in authority waiting for
the nation’s future leaders to be completely wiped out before they come to our
aid?
Globally, the main duty of every
responsible and responsive government is to protect lives and property, but in
Nigeria, our leaders only protect themselves, families and cronies, while
leaving the hapless masses to carry their cross alone.
They no longer care or feel
concerned if Nigerians are dying in thousands on a daily basis. What matters to
them are how best to share and loot our patrimony with reckless abandon.
But for how long will this madness
continue in a land richly blessed by God but constantly being pillaged and
plundered by heartless rulers?
Despite being under a state of
emergency, Yobe is still boiling, meaning something is seriously wrong ab-initio.
The day our leaders stop playing
politics with our lives and start tackling issues seriously, then our country
will progress and move forward.
I was perplexed reading in the
papers that Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State’s only solution and response
to the tragedy that hit his people was the order to shut down all secondary
schools in the perennially troubled state till the beginning of next academic
session in September.
Your Excellency, will closing down
the schools in your state stop the killings? So, what happens when the schools
re open in September? Half measures and political statements will not bring an
end to these incessant killings. The earlier you join the federal government in
the manhunt for the daring and rampaging murderers, the better for you and your
state. What measures did you put in place immediately after the extremists
struck the first time in your state and snuffed life out of seven students and
two teachers? Because nothing was done to checkmate them, they decided to
regroup and come again, this time causing more harm and havoc.
Geidam also blamed the non
availability of GSM as one of the reasons the extremists struck without being
challenged. Even when there was GSM in the state, what did he do to stop the
carnage caused by the extremists in the past? He should stop the blame game and
ensure that this type of evil does not visit his state again. Geidam and others
in government should constantly digest the eternal words of Henry Ford, the
great American, who said; “Don’t find fault. Find a remedy.”
I’ve always said it and will
continue to re-echo it that any leader who cannot protect the lives and
property of its citizens is not fit to lead and should immediately pack his
belongings and quit public office.
Again, our rulers should know that
no amount of money or immortalization can assuage the pains of the parents of
those precious souls that were wasted by extremists. It hurts, even to the
point of death knowing that a child you happily sent to a boarding school, will
never return home again to a warm embrace from mum, dad and siblings.
Our rulers should always learn from
the immortal words of Aldous Huxley, who stated that: “Experience is not what
happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you.”
Adieu Yobe 29.
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