The Catholic Church in her moral and social teachings unequivocally proclaims the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person, but these have been threatened in our dear country by the almost legalisation of the unaccustomed killings that has taken the centre stage.
From thousands of kilometres and across the ocean you hear the cry of the people and see their blood being poured out like libation. From Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba to Enugu state, the land is soaked, unable to quaff anymore blood. This reminds one of the voice of lamentation and bitter weeping that was heard in Ramah, “Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Jer. 33: 15.
This is shameful. It makes many Nigerians in diaspora ashamed to be identified as Nigerians among their counterparts who daily boast of breakthroughs in different fields: medical, technology, economics and in many other areas where they have exceptionally grown as a nation; not leaving out the great respect for human rights. These Nigerians are ashamed not because they got no talents but because, the chaotic, greedy and visionless style of leadership in Nigeria ostracized them and water down their zeal to build a country they would have proudly called their own.
The loud silence of our leaders about the Fulani herdsmen rampage is worrisome and a dangerous trend that may signify the gradual ebb of a nation from what holds her together. The strong but ignored question keeps resounding: Will Nigeria exist beyond 2019? I pray it doesbecause, our unity in diversity is priceless. But the hostility of the blood thirsty Fulani herdsmen around the country and the pretentious voices of condemnation of their actions coming from under the same canopy that covers the killer herdsmen from the heat of the law are all threatening the foundation of this unity.
Although I cannot completely hold this administration responsible for every killing in Nigeria, it has however shown a great sense of irresponsibility. The promised change seems to be realisable onlythrough human sacrifices; their political ambition is worth human blood, and the jihadist style of attack seems to be a working tool. The mayhem recently and uninterruptedly dished out in Plateau State and in many other parts of Nigeria by the Fulani herdsmen indicates a failed nation that has been dragged into a state of anarchy.
I may be a very young Nigerian, but certainly not too young not to have had a little of the good old days. I vividly recollect how the now killer herdsmen tended their flock and peacefully and freelywalked in and around their host communities. They proudly hanged their shepherd’s staff over their shoulders and lived their nomadic life with no religious intolerance. How then did these people metamorphose into a terrorist group? Yes, they are terrorists even though this administration has refused to acknowledge that fact. How did the shepherd’s staff moved from the shoulders to become Ak47 in their hands? Who taught the Fulani herdsmen how to professionally handle an Ak47? How did he get it? These pertinent questions expose the reality of the selfishness and wickedness of many of our leaders who believe that their political ambition is more important than human lives.
I certainly do not excuse the insensitive and cruelty of the killer- herdsmen, but our leaders should be held responsible for the incessant killings across the nation. They have used poverty, illiteracy and religion as their instrument of manipulations to create animosity between those who once lived in peace. Like some very dangerous chemical combinations, they have combined their strong political ambitions with their religious fanaticism to transform themselves into angry “gods” who are out to wipe the so-called unbelievers and political enemies.
The killer-herdsmen would not have the confidence to move into an area far away from their settlement to maim and kill innocent citizens uninterrupted if they were not politically backed. To deny this fact is to tell the whole world how dismally weak our policing, military strength and intelligence-gathering have become. But I know we have the best of these; it is either they willingly co-operate with these killers or are incapacitated by the “Oga at the top” for religious and political reasons.
I never doubted the political motives behind these killings, and connecting it to ethnic cleansing is not an exaggeration of the situation. Nigerians and Christians in particular are tired of presidentialvisits and condolences, we need protection; it is our right to be protected. This government belongs to everybody and to no body, as the President Muhammadu Buhari once said.
Okojie, a Catholic priest, wrote in from Canada.
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