Nigeria: Political Hostility And The Tears Of Lamentation

 Political Hostility And The Tears Of Lamentation "What goes around, comes around" according to an age long adage. Nigeria since h...

 Political Hostility And The Tears Of Lamentation

"What goes around, comes around" according to an age long adage. Nigeria since her British creation in the year 1914 has historically been riddled with vicious acts of state sponsored terror and till date, yet grabbling with endless list of genocidal orgies. The recent defence of the heinous activities of Fulani Islamic cattle herders terrorists that have consistently molested, terrorized and killed the indigenous citizens of communities within the Nigerian state, the despicable silence of betrayal by the governors of the affected states, essentially, to a show of shame and official complicity. One would then begin to wonder why individuals like the Rivers State Governor, Barrister Nyesom Wike, would be displaying tears of lamentation on the attack perpetrated against the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, by the Islamic bandits. 

The Nigerian government has always had its hands soiled with its unhidden involvement in the sponsorship of terrorism, to the interest of political gladiators and at the expense of the citizenry. Without apologies, the Nigerian government has remained enmeshed in terror-related enterprises against the indigenous citizens. Spates of genocidal violence have steadily been perpetrated against the helpless, overburdened, law abiding inhabitants while the political leaders maintain dead silence. The monster of rage and death which the government itself created, has over the years, always been glamorized and given protection since 1960, It has been briefly analyzed herein for the purposes of reference.

The war of attrition the Nigerian state unleashed against Biafrans between 1967 and 1970, was definitely one vicious display of state-sponsored act of terror inflicted on the old Eastern region (Biafraland), bereft of any iota of provocation. Up till this very moment, the Nigerian state has remained adamantly unapologetic for her dastardly role in the genocidal onslaught against innocent children, women and the elderly. Estimated number of the slain stands at over three million, Nigerian leadership has kept sealed lips just because to the treacherous political administrators, the citizens are mere tools that could be used at will to broker political overtures. These gravely jaundiced and egocentric lots can readily force on the people, an unworkable unity against their rightful wishes.

It is surprising to note that even in this 21st century; there remains unabated genocide in the country. The annihilation of the indigenous people of Odi, Bayelsa State, which stemmed from their demand for better lives arising from the proceeds of the abundance of rich crude (oil and gas) reserves, the global community has remained debriefed why the Olusegun Obasanjo government gruesomely brought death to the people. The Nigerian military was authoritatively deployed to wreck havoc and completely eliminate every living thing thereof.

The unprovoked extermination of another segment of Biafrans reigned supreme because they legitimately and peacefully protested against acts of terrorism and sheds of economic strangulation that the Nigerian government brought upon them. These concurrently took place at Ngwa High School Aba, Igwuocha (Port Harcourt), Nkpor, Obigbo, Emene, Operation Python Dance 1,2,3 military incursions in Aba, Umuahia, etcetera. And then the genocide at Lekki Toll Gate (Lagos), inflicted on peaceful ENDSARS protesting youths by a detachment of the Nigeria armed forces Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) , is a notorious police department that specialized in the abduction, torture, victimization, killing, harvesting and sales of valuable human organs.

The murder and mass burial of Northern youths Shiites to the estimation of about one thousand (1,000), stemmed from their alleged blockade of a convoy of Yusuf Tukur Buratai, former Nigerian Army Chief of Staff. Still in the North, the peaceful protest for the release from incarceration of El-Zazakky, a Shi'ite Islamic leader, was turned into violence by the Nigerian military that sporadically shot and killed many members of the Shia Islamic Sect that were at the forefront of the protest. The serial abduction of innocent school children from Chibok in Borno State, to Nasarawa and Kaduna States by terrorists, all ended up in huge ransom payments by the Nigerian government, with some of the children not making it back.

The above are all accepts of the gruesome murders and acts of terror politically motivated, to the crass bidding of treacherous politicians in positions of authority. These they blatantly carry out at the detriment of the people who they deceitfully claim to be representing and serving. Those who felt untouchable were hell bent on protecting their political stratosphere than the security of their fellow citizens. They looked the other way when the same citizens bitterly cried and wailed for justice to prevail. Anguish, pain and sorrow clouded the air that the people sought in refugee camps, to stay alive as the government protect the Fulani Islamic killers (terrorists), with the might of the military.

In the face of these gruelling agonies on the citizens therefore, coupled with the dead silence of acceptance of the status quo by the state governors, the Nigerian government must fully understand that no one will definitely be spared when this groomed monster rises to feed on political royalty. For such, is the pending scourge of complicity to terror and it's devastating consequences.

Written by Anioke Chukwunonso

Edited by Peter Oshagwu

For Family Writers Press International