William ABORISADE

Yes, Nigeria may have just become a country of concern, to the outside world, as pronounced by the incumbent American President, it has long been, to the citizenry. Transiting from the all-powerful monarchical system, in which a single individual wielded all powers, including those of life and death, democracy, which we had through our contacts with the world was a huge relief. The first republic politicians lived by the rules that define democracy: government of the people, by the people for the people, in all they did! They exuded all symbols of good governance: humility, fairness, compassion and exemplary selflessness.

Nigerians, of all tribes, religious beliefs, cultural background, lived together within the communities, celebrating their differences in excitement. My community, originally traditional in religion had that changed, by visiting Islamic scholars, into, a Muslim community. The allure of western education, which came with Christianity, changed the status again as Christianity was imbibed, by a high number of indigenes. However, nothing changed in our communal social relations as we co-celebrated the three religions, traditional, Christianity and Islam together, by way of gift sharing! Our family and communal bonds remained, ever stronger than any event of life!

The military incursion of January, 1966, notwithstanding the motivation and intention, became a big curse to the star of our nation, as the coup turned out to be a grave misadventure which, negatively re-defined the trajectory of our national life! Hitherto, we, the ordinary citizens, knew of government making laws, enforced by the police and the judiciary. The police arrested offenders who were charged to and tried in the courts, and penalized if found guilty. All of these got altered, as the relocation of military men among civilians did an irredeemable havoc to military discipline. The soldiers saw everyone else, including policemen and judges, as unworthy of courtesy, since they held guns. No one dared to challenge them, no matter how absurdly they behaved, encouraging them to drive against traffic at will, and engage in public fighting, with unrestrained braggadocio! Rather than society seeing these as unruly and animalistic, it looked the other way! In fact, these unruly behaviours became being seen as heroic, and hailed by crowds of a citizenry rendered gullible and docile by acute deprivations!

That was the kind of environment into which the military regime planted the “little-to-the-right” versus “little-to-the-left” mockery, of partisan politicking! In defiance of the pro-democracy and human right activists, who advocated for a more civilized transition, former military contractors, gamblers and all forms of con-men, were recruited, to drive the new scheme! This was how the journey to the present chaos started. Though Nigeria has what it takes to compete globally, in all events of life, having been abundantly endowed by God, Nigeria ranks among world’s most difficult and dangerous human habitats, harbouring among world’s poorest, hungriest and angriest nationals today!

Driven by these inadequacies, coupled with the sentimentalization of every trace of differences in us by politicians, only for the purpose of divide-and-rule, hopelessly deprived youths resort to terrorizing society. Politicians, perpetually seeking to hold society by the jugular, seek these youths, arm and drug them, to make them more daring. They become tools in settling disputes in all ways of our life, including politics, where they are employed to intimidate, maim and murder opponents, in addition to engaging in nefarious activities during election. Thus, the weirdest humans in the society find their ways into leadership and re-define our social values. Truth can no longer be said, without offending somebody!

Moving forward, the relevant questions include: can we continue the same way and hope to arrive at the promised-land and, if not, what can we do? For me, one single element missing in our private and public lives is discipline.  Without discipline, our public and private lives can’t be anywhere but in shambles, as we see today! Whatever we can do to infuse discipline in society, as a whole, is worth doing. We must teach discipline, courtesy and honour, to our children from infancy. Government must see the Parent Teachers Associations as partners in progress, with a view to bringing our schools fully integrated into the scheme.

Truth is, the situation in our country, today calls for, sometimes unconventional tactics and we dare not hesitate to do the needful.