BOUBOU OVER BUBONALGIA

A sane and diligent observer would have been in no further doubt as to the glaring unsuitability of this carcass of a government to continue in office, going by what events have occurred over the past couple of weeks alone. An alien from Jupiter would have, at once, realised that Nigeria is a red-hot cauldron filled with an amalgam of hate, religious intolerance stoked by politicians for political advantage, political impudence, blind corruption, and dare I say, demonical governance. Yesterday's shameful scene at the Legislative complex in Abuja is a clear and unambiguous demonstration that Nigeria is languishing at the very bottom of the pit of infamy. I challenge anyone to remind me, in Nigeria's peacetime history, of a worse period of lawlessness, intimidation, power-drunkenness, internecive conflicts, kidnappings, wholesale corruption, joblessness and hopelessness. For even legislators to be scaling the walls to gain entrance into the House of Representatives, amid tear gas and police harassment is simply beyond imagination. Lawlessness even on the premises of House of Representatives? Nothing trumps this. You see, we can only howler so much, but what follows our unheeded howling is for us all to decide, and pretty soon. 

I cannot but emphatically implicate the so-called religious leaders and 'men of God' in the meltdown of our social and political cohesion. How many of them have taken to the pulpit to rant and rage against what is the killer virus in our society? How many of them are brave enough to confront the evil that is eating away at our peace, our hope, our prosperity and our way of life? How many of these stupendously wealthy religious 'leaders' have openly sided with the vast majority of starving and suffering Nigerians by having a go at the ruling elite? What have they, collectively and individually, done to lay claim to the title of 'men of God'? We all know why most of them keep schtum: they are all in the act of fleecing vulnerable Nigerians and robbing the land dry. They are complicitous. Pure and simple.
The implication of all of these acts of lawlessness for 2015 can be easily imagined. It does not bode well; danger lurks. Simply casting votes does not cut it because there's little chance of fair play. Simply moaning about things does not cut it because they are deaf to our pleas and indifferent to our plight. I can guarantee anyone that without targeted acts of insubordination, nothing on earth would shift this wall of Jericho of a cabal. Nigerians are famed for being a resilient people, but how much longer can we simply let our boubou cover the bubonalgia afflicting us en masse? Isn't our reticence a sign of submission, throwing in the proverbial towel? Why are we so comfortable in the discomfiture that plagues us?
2015 is going to be either of two things: a turning point, or a tipping point. We have no choice but to tip the balance in our favour and make it a decidedly turning point in our history: sanity, direction and transparency in governance constitute our trinity of need in our hour of need. We have trudged along enough and our feet are beyond aching; we can no longer afford the baggage and garbage that Jonathan and his band of rogues represent.
I urge Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora, to think long and hard about the direction and future of this great country of ours. Discard the scarf of religious bias and toss off the hat of tribal affiliation. We may not get another chance for another generation; we must not let our individual affluence and privilege becloud our spirit of compassion for the less privileged, and we must all be involved, in whatever way we can, in the process of wrenching back our country from the clutches of these ungodly, arrogant and corrupt bloodletters that have sent our country back decades. Not later but now. The clock is ticking, and fast.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.