MEET FRANK OSHANUGOR
OPINION
By Frank Oshanugor
What happens in Nigeria in contemporary time aptly reminds literature students of old, the saddening emotional feeling of John Pepper Clark’s opening stanza in his epic poem titled THE FULANI CATTLE wherein he states “Contrition twines me like a snake each time I come upon the wake of your clan, undulating along in agony…”
The poet is unarguably trapped in a deep-rooted life of sympathy for the Fulani cattle whose unprovoked affliction is simply premised on the fact that it is an article of trade and a potential source of livelihood for the owner. Therefore, the cattle must bear the burden that comes with its existential status as it traverses the route from the Northern part of the country to the South where it finally ends the journey in abbatoir, butcher’s meat centre or elsewhere.
The same depressional feeling exhibited by the poet, obviously now in a higher magnitude, runs down the spines of all those who care about the current state of meaninglessness attached to human life in today’s Nigeria.
Life in Nigeria has largely become one hopeless and empty phenomenon that must continue to steadily increase in its meaninglessness courtesy of unknown gunmen, Fulani herdsmen, terrorists, kidnappers, cultists, armed robbers, paid assassins, political thugs and all other sundry blood thirsty elements in our midst.
These agents of death are seriously making attempt to take all of us back to Thomas Hobbes beastial state of nature, where might is right and survival can only go the fittest. Yes, in Nigeria of today only the fittest can survive the orgy of violence and brutal attack unleashed against humanity by these guys.
Otherwise, how else can we explain the mincemeat herdsmen made of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and mobile police operatives who were on a mission to rescue kidnapped victims recently?
How else can we explain the endless spate of killings in Plateau State and other parts of Nigeria where scores and more are killed with such satanic audacity that defiles explanation. How do we explain the free reign of kidnappers who operate in every part of the country including Abuja which in recent time has become a veritable ground for the criminals.
Currently, we live in Nigeria where the police and other security agencies can no longer guarantee the security and safety of any citizen or foreigner in our midst. Gone are the days when the police in particular would openly urge people to go about their businesses assuring them of their safety in the face of any unseemly occurrence. Not even the police and their sister security agents are any longer sure of their own security or safety.
Any one who doubts this assertion should ask Senator Ifeanyi Uba what happened to the police men who were escorting him in Anambra State two years ago. They should also ask Apostle Johnson Suleiman what was the fate of those police men in his entourage in Edo State some time in 2022. In the two incidents referred to, no less than six police men were slaughtered by the mindless gunmen who were largely believed to be paid killers.
Life has certainly become a game of chance in Nigeria but regrettably, our political leaders and their religious associates have continued to live in illusion that all is well. All is not well and some religionists can continue to deceive themselves by believing that only prayer can fix the bad situation the country now finds itself.
Yes! as a Christian, I believe in the efficacy of fervent prayers but over- indulgence in miraculous possibility has misled a lot of Nigerians who believe in the power of prayers to abandon their God’s given responsibility of translating their faith into action.
They expect God to do everything even after He has given us brain, strength, hands, legs and other things we need to conquer our environment. Some of us would even prefer praying endlessly for good things of life to come our way without practically working to achieve them. We believe in waking up in the morning and seeing credit alert of millions in our bank account without working for it. Miracle money indeed.
Instead of applying our ideas, talents, energy to transform Nigeria’s God given resources into wealth for the citizenry, most of our political leaders and their religious associates are busy engaging in primitive accumulation that leaves the country with more unemployment, hunger and hopelessness.
Today’s regime of criminality was birthed by the mindless extravagance and corrupt tendencies of our leaders. Otherwise, not many people were born criminals. Kidnappers in our midst were not born as kidnappers but chose to indulge in the crime as a means of fending for themselves due to joblessness in the country and the display of ostentatious life style by our political and religious leaders.
I would therefore submit that the battle against the criminal elements in our midst by security forces can only achieve the desired result if government can provide the enabling environment for employment opportunities, so that many people willing to abandon criminality
have where to run to.
