Endless killings and collapse of humanity

Islam and Christianity introduced to Nigeria by some Arabs and Europeans did untold havoc to the Nigerian psyche. The former became a part of our religious landscape as early as the 8th or 9th century. On the other hand, the latter was introduced to us during the middle of the 15th century. Despite the popularity of these two foreign belief systems, a gross lack of creative thinking and erosion of self-confidence began to dominate the Nigerian landscape. No space for critical internationalisation!  No sustainable development! Nigeria remains a puppet on strings. Uncritical application of Western models is at variance with sustainable peace and progress. Every society has its own peculiarities.

Today, political leaders could steal public funds without punishments. They swear with the Koran and/or Bible when about to start their assignments. Judgements usually come very late in this regard. Therefore, our leaders hide under these two foreign religions to short-change the led. Let us go back to our roots as quickly as possible. Most politicians hide under Islam and Christianity to kill innocent Nigerians as a result of desperation and personal aggrandizement. Thus, for example, the notorious Boko Haram group founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri, Borno State was later taken over by some local politicians for their selfish reasons.

Since then, the Boko Haram organisation has grown to the status of Nigeria’s most dreadful monster. Today, “dog eats dogs” as a political survival instinct. Ordinarily, a dog does not eat dog’s flesh. This is an abnormality.  Terrorism has become a lucrative business for certain youths and even senior ones on a genderless basis. Humanity has substantially collapsed in this part of Africa.  An over-ambitious politician could hide under a violent group to silence his opponents. Evilly behaviour has been normalised. 

These Nigerians are “descendants” or followers of Niccolo Machiavelli, an unscrupulous Homo sapiens member (between 1469 and 1527) with a godless mode of thinking. According to this philosopher of Italian extraction, “the end justifies the means.” By this token, one could maim or kill his rivals in order to achieve an aim.  Therefore, Machiavellianism is rooted in monumental evil. No empathy! No human compassion! In my opinion, Machiavellians are supposed to be living in the zoological garden.

Most Nigerian politicians believe in this reactionary philosophy. This underscores (to a large degree) the reason why huge instability remains a devil to wrestle with in this part of the global village. The Nigerian political class members (with a few exceptions), do not respect the principle of equitable distribution of national wealth. This is in addition, to the subtle promotion of ethno-religious conflicts usually for personal aggrandisement. All these aberrations go a long way in promoting an imbalance. Mutuality of trust, effective communication, fiscal discipline and overall good governance remain a wild goose chase.  Extremely poor people are prone to all kinds of crimes and criminality. This is a major structural strain staring Nigerians in the face like a dreadful monster.

There is a close relationship between abject material poverty and crime. In this connection, crimes become a survival instinct very difficult to neatly separate from self-preservation. The continued recruitment of people (old and young) into the Boko Haram organisation and ISWAP among other terrorist groups is a vivid illustration of the intricate link between material poverty, hopelessness and insecurity.

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The same applies to the Niger Delta militancy in southern Nigeria some years ago. Salute to the immediate past administration and the wisdom of the vice president for dousing the tension in the region. Legitimate protests or agitations against economic marginalisation in the face environmental degradation of huge proportions, created an opportunity for desperate politicians to turn everything into major local and national security as well as economic crises. Many lives were lost before sanity was restored to Ogoni land and Ijaw land among other areas in the oil-rich region.

There is no doubt that Nigeria was much safer at the initial stages of our post-coloniality. Only a few demons were let loose and they were often quickly neutralised. This was between the 1960s and the 1970s. The reverse is the case today.  Demons are walking freely on all fours on the Nigerian landscape. In fact, they are dancing openly in our market places as if the country is rudderless.

For goodness sake, this ugliness has to be corrected most probably through the lens of social surgery. The relatively new culture of “dog eats dogs must come to an end. The killings across Nigeria especially in Kwara and Kogi states in recent times are very worrisome to say the least. Where were/are the governors? There is fire on the mountain! Who are the evilly sponsors of these beasts in our midst? Political and ethno-religious hegemonies are some of Nigeria’s unwarranted challenges that must be dealt with swiftly. Let us rise above stone age emotions! They are an encumbrance to sustainable development. The citizens are appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to do much more by crushing those violent criminals (and of course, their shameless, blood thirsty sponsors) polluting the Nigerian space. If truth be told, this country is majorly diminished. The global community is laughing at us. It is time to go back to our roots in a critical manner. The gods are angry with this geo-polity and its managers.

•Prof Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.