As a follow-up to the first part of this piece, this “ember” season is proving to live up to its billing of throwing up bizarre challenges. At a time when Nigerians are grappling with the burdens of inflation, not to mention the rampaging insecurity which has made the oxygen we inhale as costly as cooking gas, simply staying alive is menacingly becoming unaffordable. Our own version of Omicron arrived way ahead of schedule.
Truth be told, the virus of leadership clumsiness plaguing us is made of a strain that poses more hazards than any yet-to-be discovered COVID variant. Regrettably, our woes are further compounded by the imminent reality that the charlatans at the helm of affairs are neither capable of conjuring a vaccine against the epidemy of hunger ravaging the land, nor the wherewithal to implement policies that can mitigate the scourge.
While the serious business of governance has been placed on compulsory quarantine, the fate of millions of citizens now wallows in the wilderness of isolation orchestrated by a conspicuous absence of captaincy. There is absolutely no way a nation with an infamous reputation as the epicenter of world poverty can extricate itself from the fangs of banditry, kidnappings and terrorism as being experienced.
At the moment, merely expecting the people saddled with the responsibility of doing the simple and right things is akin to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. Between the time when the maiden part of this article was published and now, the much-anticipated white paper report on the End SARS inquiry got into the public domain.
Expectedly, the whole essence of the panel report has been bastardized by those who prefer to put politics over the humane processes of wholesome retribution and recompense. Pray tell, if there was no war-like scenario on that fateful day at the Lekki toll gate, what’s the suggested peace walk for? Very pedestrian to say the least. In this case, admittance of wrongdoing is a virtue alien to the Lagos state government and its enabling accomplices in Abuja.
Gratefully, majority of those invited to embark on that walk of shame have rightfully declined the offer. Undoubtedly, history, in its own way, will not hesitate to amputate the limbs of those who decide to take a stroll on the blood tarred pathways of self-induced denial and outright bestiality. Laying a dangerous precedence, the “black paper” report released by the Lagos state government serves as some sort of endorsement for the police and the military to proceed on an unabated killing of harmless Nigerians.
With all sense of modesty, for fear of either getting kidnapped for ransom, maimed, getting cannibalized or dying of devastating famine; it remains uncertain that Santa can make it to town during the coming yuletide. In typical Nigerian way of clinging on to the “e go beta” dogma, the proposed removal of fuel subsidies in the first quarter of next year is a precursor of worse times to come.
How organised labour, civil society organisations, opposition political parties and well-meaning Nigerians plan to react to the shenanigans of this loathsome government will go a long way to decide our collective fate. Willy nilly, we are being recklessly chauffeured to an abyss.
According to Winston Churchill:
“Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”
We pray this inevitable journey doesn’t turn out as unpleasant as envisaged. Compliments of the season!!
martinsemenogu03@gmail.com
