Nigeria kills with nauseating regularity – Dele Farotimi

I suppose I could end this essay with the title. And the efficacy of communication is demonstrated by the fact that few people would demand further elucidation of me, because Nigeria kills with nauseating regularity, and our country, which could have been paradise, has been destroyed and turned into a cannibalistic environment. Nigeria has been responsible for numerous murders. Even as I type these words, I’m thinking about it.

I was at an airport outside of Nigeria when I received word of Omoyele Sowore’s brother’s brutal murder. Nigeria is a murderous country. My geographical location is significant because of the agony I was experiencing and the painful thoughts that had already entered my mind as I considered humanity with only one head and fewer resources, living far more productive lives than anyone on my continent, but especially in the country of my birth and sojourn.

‘Jide Sowore is someone I’ve never met. I had never heard of him before learning of his death. It took Yele’s heartfelt tribute to humanize him in our minds; his story is the story of the Unknown Nigerian, victims of the land’s evil rulers who feed on its people. Nigeria feeds on its children’s dreams and aspirations; it is a cannibalistic sow that feeds on its people.

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Nigeria is a murderous country. It kills the dreams, then the body, and it does so so frequently that it is no longer news; we have become accustomed to death. Buhari and our rulers, on the other hand, would have us believe that these deliberate evils are normal, and that we should ignore the fact that these are the natural consequences of their deliberate actions and inactions. Bandits have taken over Zamfara State, and I doubt that the victims will ask for the tribal identities of their tormentors, nor will they ask for the ethnoreligious identities of anyone sent to free them. Only the evil empire’s Gumis would be concerned.

Yele’s parents must have accepted Yele’s loss to Nigeria, because Yele is the warrior who goes to war embalming himself; Yele died decades ago, and I guarantee that his parents had accepted fate. But I doubt they ever expected Nigeria to abduct Jide in the manner that it has. I can only pray for Yele and her family to be comforted by God’s mercies and grace. Amen. Nigeria has done it again.

Expect a lot of yelling and excuses for the government’s obvious failures. Fulani herders would be blamed once more. The popular catchphrase for the Nigerian government’s failure to fulfill the most basic function of any functioning state: the protection of the lives and property of those who live within its borders. Why should the ethnicity of criminals be a consideration in public safety? But it doesn’t matter; there’s always something else to blame, someone else to blame, for the Nigerian state’s obvious failures.

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Jide Sowore, good night. It’s a pity that I’ve been introduced to you through your death. Yele wrote about a man approaching 50 who was determined to return to university to further his education. Not the usual pursuit of a law degree, or the allure of being a lawyer in a lawless country; your pursuit couldn’t have been influenced by money; you were already too old for that to be the reason you returned to school; and I’m sure there are important lessons for the wise in your life. If Nigeria hadn’t happened to you, you would have told your story, and I urge those who knew you to consider it a duty to tell the world about you.

The Nigerian government murders. Always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always Ad naseum, ad naseum, ad n Buhari should be ashamed of himself! Shame on all Nigerians who are ruining crass! Nigeria has done it again. Please don’t let Nigeria happen to me or you. Amen.