Sunday 11 May 2014

Nigeria - Through My Numbness I Still Believe

by Adedoyin Jaiyesimi

It was with dreadful horror that we received the news of the abduction of over 200 young school girls from the Chibok community in Borno state. 21 days later, these girls have not yet returned to the comfort of their homes. In this same time frame, we have witnessed two more bomb blasts in the same location (Nyanya) and more disturbing news of insecurity and lawlessness. What is really going on?


When did Nigeria degenerate to such a sorry state? What happened to the sanctity of human life? I refuse to believe those who are saying that by 2015, Nigeria will fall apart completely. Many people have said a lot of things regarding the current state of our country but the question still remains ‘what can be done to restore security back into this country?’ Many people have lost faith in the government. Can you blame them? The last Presidential media chat was the cherry on top of the hot mess for me. If over 200 girls can be missing for three weeks and no concrete action has been taken from our leaders, then anything can happen to anybody.

I remember when we were in the NYSC orientation camp in June last year, we were admonished by the officials to serve with all our might and give back to Nigeria. We were also assured that the security of corps members is of utmost importance to the NYSC and the government as a whole but do they really care? When I heard of the first Nyanya bomb blast, I thought of the corps members who may have been posted to that area and had to be at park on that fateful day for one reason or the other. Was that how their story would just end? Dying in service to a nation that remains complacent? They obeyed the clarion call only to meet their death. What of the school girls that were abducted? All they wanted was to get an education to increase their chances of succeeding in life. They were not hindering anybody’s political agenda; they simply wanted an education. Now, we’re not even sure where they are. Again I ask, what is really going on?

Something needs to be done. Unfortunately, we cannot give up on Nigeria. If Nigeria fails, we all fail. And if that happens, both the rich and the poor would be affected so let no man think he is isolated from the things that are going on in this country. The youths need to stand strong. Our voice has been oppressed for too long. We need to take Nigeria back from these clueless people and mould it to become the nation that we want. Enough of the suffering and smiling mentality; see how far it has brought us.

As we keep praying for the safe return of the missing school girls, let us remember that Nigeria is ours. It’s not enough for us to rain abuses on the government; in fact I think we should move on from that. We need to move. We need to take action. We need to believe that we can make a difference and start operating in that reality. It’s not a Goodluck Jonathan problem or a government problem. It is our problem and we have to fix it. 

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