It Is Difficult To Look Away

“I belong to Everybody and I belong to Nobody” – President Muhammadu Buhari, 29th May 2015.

I usually avoid writing about political, partisan or any sensitive issues in public space. Not for want of what to write but because it is almost prone to being misunderstood or misread and given colours unintended.

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But events of the past 24 hours give me cause to show concern and probably aggregate my overall feelings about this present dispensation of the Federal, State and Local levels of our government.

The provocative massacre that happened in Benue state is one that is far too much already. And it is a big debt waiting to be repaid in ways and magnitudes we may not be able to handle.

My first question would be to question the true power of a state governor as enshrined in the constitution. Were we not told that the state governor is the chief security officer of his state? So how is it that the state governors of the states affected in the past one year, on my mind are Benue, Enugu, Adamawa, Plateau and Kaduna, how is it that they seek the ‘intervention’ of President Muhammadu Buhari before they can take drastic measures to protect their own state citizens? Is that not what Peter Fayose has achieved in Ekiti State? I need to be educated here please. I do not understand.

Do these locations of strife not have ward representatives, and Local Government Chairmen who will work in concert with the state government to TRULY ARREST these problems?

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As it stands right now, it does not even matter to me if these killings are by real or imagined herdsmen, local clashes, or any terrorist groups. The killings are absolutely needless and cannot be even negotiated in any form or colour.

I am particularly upset that attack after attack, the President issues a statement either personally or via his media team, ‘condemning perpetrators’. This machinery of communication is so flawed and to say the least, annoying.

Given the magnitude of killings, I would expect that the President (or Presidency) declares a STATE OF EMERGENCY on the activities of any individual or groups that are bent on perpetuating such evils. Speeches don’t count anymore. If the Nigerian Army can undertake Operation Python Dance and any other fancifully named operations in several ‘less dastardly’ regions of Nigeria, where there was ONLY A POTENTIAL and NOT AN OUTCOME of such kinds of bloodshed, the Nigerian Army should quite easily establish their presence in these states where killings have been unleashed.

THIS IS NOT A JOKE ANYMORE PLEASE.

As a practitioner of mental health advocacy and one who has witnessed the impact of systemic breakdown on depression, and suicidal potentials, I can tell you categorically that more Nigerians are losing hope in the capacity of our governments at all levels in providing the needed safety, comfort and hope for the common populace. More people believe that they need to simply help themselves or give up on living.

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THE GOVERNMENT OF TODAY IS NOT DOING ENOUGH.

I was a very silent but enthusiastic supporter of the emergence of PMB/PYO ticket. Up until the day this government was sworn into power, I was a firm believer. Even when things got tougher and all blames were ascribed to GEJ, I still believed they were very right to blame GEJ for the manifestation of our poverty due to his erstwhile wasteful administration. BUT THE BLAME HAS FADED and EXPIRED. Can we get to the main job already? It pains me that 2018 is even an electioneering year. How would you guys do the job of governance again before seeking re-election? SMH.

The indices for hope is crashing daily. The share in pockets and wallets are diminishing by the day. More people are more disposed to getting high on any substance that will make them live in illusion of their reality. When we have such trends becoming a norm, then we are indeed heading for a collapsing youth future.

WE CAN STOP THESE PATTERNS.

I may not be qualified to advise government but I strongly feel the following are very urgent and critical:

1. The Presidency must be seen to demonstrate SENSITIVITY to the plight of the man, woman, child and property that live in every corner of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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2. State Governors should stand up and be counted now than ever before. Do all you can within your constitutional power to protect every resident of your own state. This is not even a matter of whether you were voted in by them or selected by your power block. STAND TO BE COUNTED.

3. As the C-in-C, Mr President is RESPONSIBLE to mobilize the Nigerian Army to help the Nigerian Police to eliminate and quench any threats to lives and properties.

4. The only speeches we need now is INFORMATION TO and FROM the citizenry HOW TO REPORT, CONFRONT and ELIMINATE threats to lives and property. If it is more than these, it is too much theories. We don’t need that now.

5. We the citizens need to sheathe our divisions now and stop ascribing this crisis to religion or tribe or ethnicity. Whether we like it or not, WE ARE BLEEDING, people. We are. WOULD WE KEEP BEING FOOLS UNTIL WE ARE OBLITERATED? Quit the foolery please.

6. If there was ever a time Nigeria needed deliverance of all kinds, from psychological to mental to emotional to social to political and very importantly, spiritual, it is perhaps now than ever. “When the enemy comes like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise a standard against him”. Let us become prayer conscious to allow God send help to us through us. WE ARE THE HELP WE SEEK FROM GOD. Let us do the work.

May our children not rise to curse us because we made their lives become rubbles. Amen.

Sam Obafemi is the President, Sam Obafemi Behavioural Change Academy, SOBCA

@sobafemi (twitter, Instagram & Periscope)

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