[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he reality in Nigeria now is that the value of the Nigerian life is diminishing by the day. What is even more alarming is the way the events that are taking those lives explain away with one or two lines of “comfort” or “breathers”. The most shocking is the recent murder of eight people burnt alive for daring to rescue another person (Nigerian) who had been attacked for “blasphemy”.
What is blasphemy? It is defined as “the action or offence of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk”. Case in point according to “intelligence reports” received by the state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, a student from Kogi state spoke “blasphemously” about Allah. The led to his severe beating by those who “witnessed” the act and then who went ahead to administer “justice” for the crime.
In the process of the “administration of justice” the police stopped the beating and managed to rescue the victim temporarily. They also got a Good Samaritan who helped the victim to a hospital. The mob got wind that the victim was still alive and proceeded to the hospital to finish the job when they were repelled by the military. This brings to mind a question.
Why does it require the military to repel an internal threat? Why were the police were not equipped enough repel the mob remains a riddle but for some reason are able to arrest and detain another for “safety” for naming his dog “Buhari”.
The mob was irate that they couldn’t get their wish to murder victim went back to the helpers of the victim house and then set it ablaze for helping a fellow Nigerian. In the process eight people were burnt to death in that house.
Nobody will know why they chose those flames over confronting the mob outside. Could it be that they might have considered it a better way die given the circumstances? Does it also mean that the Boko Haram scourge which faces the country today could also have “cultural” roots? How could the police and military have overlooked the imminent threat of these people that gathered is also suspicious given the experience they must have had with the “executors of blasphemous justice” in previous encounters.
The most disturbing part of the whole situation is that the governor of Zamfara chose to address the matter as religious exercise. He stated quite clearly that those burnt to death were Muslims. It is with this magical statement that he explained away the loss of eight irreplaceable Nigerian lives. I would at this point like to put this in context so that value of a life can be established clearly.
Today in the world 1.7 billion people connect on an application called Facebook created by a certain Mark Zuckerberg. Microsoft is owned by a certain Bill Gates which allows most computers around the world to be more user-friendly. Let us even bring it back home and look at someone like Aliko Dangote one time Africa’s richest man who employs thousands. Let us imagine any of these people had been killed because of “blasphemy”. Imagine what the world would be like if they were not around. So it is with this in mind that I write how we literally are bleeding human resources for frivolous reasons.
Some months ago a woman was said to be beheaded in Kano because she asked for a Muslim to take his ablution away from the front of her shop. Blasphemy was the excuse again and she was killed. A report that came out said that she wasn’t “beheaded” which means it was okay for her to be killed just because that didn’t happen.
Nigeria’s president, General Muhammadu Buhari had a very interesting insight in his response which he stated that everyone should “respect each other’s religion”. In other words if she had kept quiet maybe she would be alive today.
The question now is why does everyone have to take extra precaution to some certain groups in the country because of this predisposition to violence? Why does it seem like it is “us versus them” scenario in the same country? Is it now that difficult to understand the agitation of groups like IPOB and Niger Delta Avengers when it seems that there are different set of rules in the same society?
It is high time for the government to look into these situations and restore some form of normalcy before there is retaliation which could spiral out of control. It is unfortunate that the current administration would believe that people lives could be explained away without any remorse or investigation whatsoever.
On a parting note let us remember there is an allegation of a situation in the heat of the 2011 elections where some youth corpers were being chased by a mob in Northern Nigeria and ran into a police station. Reports have it that the police actually chased them out into the midst of the mob and they were killed!
Nigerians should be able to negotiate their own existence without being coerced by any group. If the collectively unity of Nigeria is worth more than the life of the actual Nigerian, then what is the use?
Kola Lawal an IT professional and social commentator with a knack for political debate. He is an incurable believer in the Nigerian dream. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
