UNSKEWED CULPABILITY

Yet again, we find ourselves mourning the untimely loss of lives of innocent people, the vast majority of whom were scampering to their meager sources of income to sustain their pitiful existence. Violent death was unleashed on the Nyanya Motor Park on the outskirts of Abuja; wanton destruction of human lives was visited, yet again, on the defenceless. What are we to make of this? Is there any logic (for want of a pertinent word) to this act of war being raged in our country? Is there a respite in sight, or is there any hope of the tide turning against the terrorists any time soon? These questions and a lot more can only be answered if the fundamentals of governance are adhered to. Adherence to these fundamentals is impeded by just one virus: CORRUPTION.

Any person above the age of 10 has the elementary understanding that the first duty of government is the protection and safety of the citizens. Alas, the collective cognitive ability of this government, apparently headed by Jonathan, is well below that of a 10 year-old. Otherwise we wouldn't have found ourselves in this situation except in a civil war. It is a wonder if the words of Cicero (3 January 106 BC - 7 December 43 BC) has any resonance with them: "The safety of the people shall be the highest law." 

Yes, of course, unleashing carnage on the defenceless and powerless of society is cowardly, to say the least. The perpetrators of such crude extermination of human lives are scum of the earth, lower than the lowest; and no excuse, no matter how plausible, could be ascribed to such mindless acts. However, it is unquestionably true that these terrorists are being aided and abetted by the economic terrorists in power because corruption has blinded their eyes to what is decent and what the citizenry expect and deserve from a government. In this sense, responsibility for this carnage, and others before it, is shared, and so culpability is unskewed. 

Think of all the billions of dollars being stolen under this government, with no one being made to face justice. Think of how far those tens of billions could have gone in beefing up security and helping in the detection of attack plans before they can be actualised. Is it then a wonder that the terrorists are better equipped and have a superior intelligence network than our so-called security services? What about the insecurity in the Niger Delta, where the oil thieves rake in more revenues than the government? What about the blooming kidnapping and abduction industries? Armed robberies are now kid's play. Why, oh my God, why? Nigerians, most certainly, do not deserve this. Nigerians, most certainly, did not expect this. With who does the buck stop?

Only yesterday (15/04/14), after the havoc of the day before, the terrorists once again attacked a school in Chibok (Borno State) killing a soldier and abducting well over a hundred female students writing their exams. That's on top of the killing, on the very same day, of tens of people by herdsmen in Taraba and Benue States. The helplessness and madness of the 'governing' party was well highlighted by Olisa Metuh (the so-called spokesman of the PDP) when he blamed the opposition parties for the security situation in Nigeria. Can anyone will blood running through their veins come up with such an absurd statement? He more than adequately represents the recklessness and the uselessness of this party of rogues. How could they be anything else when you see them fielding murderers, convicted and indicted candidates for elective offices? Their choice of governorship candidacies for Ekiti and Osun States says it all. Only in Nigeria!!
Now, to answer the posers of earlier in this post, respite might have been in sight if this PDP government's cupidity had not exceeded their humanity. The tide may begin to turn against the purveyors of terror if this PDP government could be sedulous in its efforts to root out corruption in all its forms. But how can they be when Jonathan himself 'doesn't give a damn'?
Does anyone hear the voice of the clergy in all of this? How many of them are crying out against the corruption that is running this country to the ground? How many of them are fighting the corner of the starvelings? They can't be bothered. Their silence is deafening. They can't afford to upset the apple cart because their own money-spinning 'ministries' might be in jeopardy. 99% of them are just as bad, if not much worse, than the milksop in power.
Little do they know that this reign of terror will be visited on them in the near future if things do not change for the better. Change in the way our country's resources are managed and deployed. Change in the way the starving population is treated. Change in the way thieves in office are treated; why should someone that stole a phone go to jail for 10 years while a politician or government official that stole billions of Naira from impecunious pensioners gets a fine of N750k or, in most cases, gets away with it? Social and political uprisings will become ineluctable unless change occurs, and fast. If Jonathan thinks he is safe in Aso Rock while the whole country is on edge, he should think again. If his co-wreckers think they are safe in their fortified houses and castles, they are advised to think again and beware the sword of Damocles.
What is crystal clear is that things cannot, and most definitely will not, go on like this. Nigeria is already in turmoil, the breaking point has been breached. The unrelenting rising gap between the haves and the have-nots is both unjustified and unsustainable. As they say, "Mind The Gap."