Permit me to go straight to the point on issues surrounding this xenophobic attack going on in South Africa, one that has triggered reprisal attacks back home in Nigeria and some other African nations. My concern is: Who brings the erring South Africa Government to book? Is it our Government that could not checkmate domestic killings and kidnappings or which? The situation back home is not different in the real sense of it. What do we say of the demolition of mosques and burning of a pastor alive? What about the abduction of a father, mother and daughter who were all raped for days being let go after millions of Naira was paid as ransom?
It is so worrisome that some of those who left this country left with a curse on whoever brings even their corpse back to Nigeria. I see South African lunatics taking advantage of the porosity in our own lands. We are embattled in and out. Some Nigerians in diaspora promise to mess up people of their target if they ever travel out. Genuine or otherwise as their holding may be, I see it as an indication of a disregarded leadership. Yet it seems we have no phobia till we get hooked. We have a consulate over there that had no phobia of things like this preemptively. Are the investments of some of our leaders over there, past or present affected? Please endure my nasty questions – if it seems.
A living conscience was a common factor to those lower generations. There is a world of gap between those and these. So distant that conscience is dead. This is what external forces want to happen when they peddle the philosophy of “Not too young to rule”. They want to flush those who have knowledge of the past to ride through without reference to a uniting covenant of the past. Remember that their allies also tried to remove History from school curriculum to put knife on the chord that binds us. It is too bad that Nigeria seems to have nothing to be phobia about.
Can we even mimic the voice of the President? We are deaf and dumb to everything. We are a customer at the foreign hospitals. Are we on life support machine? There seems to be nothing those people can consider that will make them reverse their thought of hurting Nigerians. What more, even Nigerians hurt themselves. We are beaten within and without. Only condolence visits and belated emissaries. We sincerely need to be ‘cabalphonic’ in this nation to stop the old dogs in this nation from spoiling the skin. South Africa, here we come.
I think we should dualize our searchlight over the Leaderships of the two African nations that are currently involved. The damage in South Africa is done and becomes part of history. The big question is: Where do we go from here? What is really wrong with us? Can Nigeria put on a regalia that will make other nations realize and fear her enough that the life of a Nigerian means all Nigerians? To a person that lost his life in the event, whatever delegate sent to South Africa is a fire brigade team with no water in the tank. I am more bothered about responding to the question, “Can Nigeria foresee? Will this be the outcome of such?” If just for precautionary reasons, the South African Government should be committed to the International Court of Justice to answer questions. This is my personal idea that may be gold or dross in the refinery of accuracy.
We closed door on rice but opened the dam of secondhand materials. This is against the elementary principles of economics we learnt in our elementary school days. What are we really into? The destiny of a nation that lives on foreign used materials is but a spare part to the development of the exporting nations. Indigenous cobblers and tailors have lost it. Are you aware of the woe befalling our shoemakers? I have never seen such swoop of jumbo bails of fairly used foot wares on our roadsides in town as I see these days. The bell jangles: one-one thousand!!!!
The cows rule and ruin the farms; the foreign secondhand materials rule the cities. Haters lay siege on those in the diaspora. Expect more Okada riders soon. Obviously, we are sandwiched. What an economy! What a leadership! Where do we go from here? Don’t our crabs have eyes? Even spiders have eight eyes each. There is fire on the mountain. Let somebody run.
Rev. Jide Olaoye writes from Ilorin, Kwara State.
Join our twitter community :