Kid from Lagos

The Walking Dead (The Nigerian Dilemma)

Nigeria

There are many angles I wanted to take with this, but I feel the best way to go is with the title that has been stirring in my head for a while now, in particular one of my favorite shows on television at the moment.

On Christmas day, I came to realize that the most important gift of all is life. Sadly it seems in the case of Nigeria, human life isn’t valued that much, at least not by our leaders. If this was the case, a terrorist sect like Boko Haram would not have the gall to do what it did that day.

I woke up to the news that a series of bomb attacks had occurred in Nigeria. Even more disturbing was the fact that they all happened in churches. It’s disheartening to think that on a day when we were supposed to come together and reinforce all that is good about us and our humanity…we are instead left with this. Innocent people killed by a bunch of misguided cretins parading as Islamists. Let’s make this clear, Boko Haram is a terrorist group. If they really cared about establishing Islamic rule in the Northern part of Nigeria, why kill innocents? Their attacks have not only been aimed at Christians but at Muslims too. Sadly because of a highly incompetent government there’s no reason to believe that these terrorists will stop anytime soon. As things are, it is highly likely there will be more attacks in the next few days going into the new year. If I a regular citizen with no security clearance knows this, why in the world aren’t our ‘so called’ security parastatals doing anything to root these people out?

This is precisely the doom and gloom mind state I was trying to avoid going into 2012. Negativity is corrosive. It eats at you and eventually engulfs you. Yet how does one ignore all the turmoil taking place in Nigeria right now. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the guy in power has no clue on how to run a nation. Boko Haram acts without impunity and there’s no predicting what will happen next. So far they have concentrated attacks on the North, but one wonders, when will they embolden themselves to move to other regions. It’s not like there’s any border security stopping them from doing so.

“We have challenges as a nation; even this morning, a very ugly incident happened in a Catholic Church. We are yet to get the number of deaths in the incident.

 “The issue of bombing is one of the burdens we must live with. It will not last forever; I believe that it will surely be over.’’

That stands as one of the most insensitive quotes I have ever heard and this is coming from our so called president. Unbelievable!

The Walking dead is a fictional show on AMC starring a group of survivors in a zombie infested world. It’s an enjoyable show, focusing on how hard it is to stay alive in a world where nothing makes sense. I believe the country is now heading into that Walking dead territory, where nothing seems to make sense anymore.

Nigeria is being held ransom by a group of madmen who claim they are carrying out these terrorist acts to establish Islamic law in the northern states. It’d be comforting to know that our government is doing all in its power to bring them to justice but such is not the case. Our people are dying and the president thinks it’s a ‘burden’ we should live with. He’s basically condemned us to ‘walking’ dead status. No one is safe, not even the man in charge. Whilst a lot of us might not be concerned about the issue, mostly because it hasn’t hit close to home, I on the other hand shudder at the thought of where the country is headed.

The ship is rudderless and the captain is drunk. Its currently moving through choppy waters and the passengers are terrified. Looming ahead are a bunch of jagged rocks, all capable of capsizing the ship easily. To make matters worse, there are a bunch of sharks circling below. They sense the opportunity at hand and are waiting for the opportunity to strike. The poor passengers turn to the only source they know, head upwards, praying for a miracle. Alas they have been doing so since 1960 with no such miracle happening. Skepticism aside, maybe the miracle is the fact that the ship continues to stay upright for so long. It baffles me how Nigeria continues to survive as one single entity despite so much distrust amongst its people.

I’d like to end this on some positive note, maybe put up a few positive lines but none comes to mind. Just like the show walking dead, merely making it to the end of the day isn’t cause for celebration. In fact it only means they get to stick around to see more suffering, desperation and frustration. Maybe there’s someone out there that can grab a hold off that ship and steer us to calmer waters. Maybe just like the show, a ‘Rick’ type leader will rise up amongst the people. A man who questions his role in the apocalypse but rises to the occasion every time it is needed. Lord knows we need a man like this, we’ve been asking for one for damn near fifty years now.

Instead of Merry Christmas, we are left saying Rest in Peace to those who lost their lives on that tragic day.

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