What are the attitudes of thought that the current leaders of our democratic politics indeed have given us? Or what are the attitudes of thought that the current leaders of our democratic politics have been giving us? Our daily actions and movements of consciousness indicate that life in our country in our current political dispensation is abnormally rough and tough. One will not be wrong to say that life in our country now is worse, far worse, than that of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the English political philosopher’s state of nature of nastiness, brutishness and shortness of existence. Whether one is a moral philosopher, religious philosopher or a social or political philosopher or whatever, there is no doubt that is beyond doubt that our lives in this country today have been reduced to pre-state-of-nature ones. Hell that is worse than Hell! This must be how many of our people see our country today, our country where love that is or that should be the medicine of love seems to be in perpetual abeyance and sleep that is beyond sleep. Hell that is worse than Hell!
A few days ago, I saw a bold headline on the front page of Sporting Life, I think, that announced that one of our gifted muscular footballers and ruthless marksmen was prepared to give his blood to an English football club that he has recently joined on loan. I am referring, of course, to Odion Ighalo who for the time being is Manchester of England’s player and striker who has a knack for scoring goals that are goals that are goals. What a striker that is a nightmare to goalkeepers! The young man has since retired prematurely from our national football team. Why? What went wrong? In any case, if Ighalo is not patriotic enough to shed his football blood for Nigeria, do you blame him? Do we honestly blame him for wanting to shed his soccer blood for Manchester United rather than for Nigeria in the colours of our Super Eagles? The answer cannot but be a thunderously capital No! And many persons there are who are like Ighalo in our country. Our lives in our country are no lives.
Day in day out, our records and records of nasty and brutish killings and assassinations and murders in the land out-number what we know and record and what we do not know and record – un-officially and officially.
What kind of country is this? What sins and ills have we committed and which we are paying for and which we shall forever pay for fully, it seems?
This past Sunday or so, Catholic faithful marched in black in Abuja in protest that is Christianly weighty against the uncontrollable pre-state-of-nature that is crushing us all. The living people and masses of our country are not sure of the next minute, the next night and the next day. Who will go next? Who next will be gruesomely gunned down in the dead of night or in the twinkle of an eye in a twinkling day? Who next will he knifed or cutlassed or butchered to death ignominiously and gruesomely in the glare of day and before our clear, glaring eyes?
It is beyond dispute that there is really no workable central government in the land. GMB’s absolute democratic dictatorship or absolute democratic sovereignty is unworkable as things are now in our country where none is truly safe and where the masses of our people are hungry and jobless, and endure bad health, bad roads, and poor schools in electricity-less ambiences. GMB’s “Leviathan”, to put it straight and simply and bluntly to the point, is not working. His regime is becoming the regime of a hobbling “Leviathan” of a hobbling Hobbesian who indeed is a hobbler, a hoppler and a hopper hobbling, hoppling, hopping and taking us and our lives nowhere near the destined land of our true destiny and destinies.
We have no true natural rights and true freedoms when Boko Haram and herdsmen and false herdsmen hold us all and even our seemingly strong institutions to ransom. Our social and power-related institutions and structures have been overwhelmed by the dare-devils who our security chiefs who are hard-core military chiefs and personages cannot cut to size and slice into bits and bits fit for vultures. Yet our president, Mr. Hobbes who is not really Mr. Hobbes, is still keeping them by sticking by them even though they appear to us not to be sticking to the precepts of security that is security for us all. At the end of the day they will find out too, too late that they and their bosses are not even secure. Let them be gallivanting and pea-cocking as they please. Let them be tramping and trotting as they please as masters and experts of war and security. One day na one day. Ogoro nor go jump for day time for nothing. They will meet their trammel. And they will gallivant no more. They will peacock no more. They will tramp and trot no more as GMB’s faithful trampers and trotters who cannot tramp and trot to Sambisa Forest to overwhelm our overwhelmers. When that day eventually comes all the trouble spots in our country shall be trouble spots no more. The Living Spiritual Masters are watching. And, more importantly, God is watching. Soon our lives in our country will be our lives in our country. Smile, compatriots, smile! Good Babylon will return and will remain good Babylon forever and forever and forever.
May the blessings be! Peace profound!
Afejuku can be reached via 08055213059.
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