So, today is Children’s Day, and I just didn’t have it in me to say anything about it. I was mostly silent because what was I going to say? How could I say anything without sounding like a hypocrite and a liar? And so, I didn’t say anything, because there is nothing to be happy about, instead, there is evidence that there is fire on the mountain, and no one is even the slightest bit interested in putting it out
And that’s the reality of the average Nigerian. There is fire on the mountain, and instead of working together to put out the fire, we’re individually focused on how best we can endure the heat. We look left and look right, we see people getting burned by the fire, but we do nothing, and we say nothing. Because we’re not the ones being burned. As long as it’s not us, the bad things are happening to, then we’re all good and fine.
In the not-so-distant past, we used to blame our parents for not standing up to the government and making us inherit a shitty country with a shitty set of leaders. But now, many of us who made those arguments are now adults, and we can no longer blame our parents for their poor choices because now we’re the ones making them. We’re the ones watching as our leaders keep borrowing money, sending us further into debt, for projects that never get to see the light of day. We’re the ones living in constant fear and terror because nowhere at all is safe.
Not too long ago, a group of children was kidnapped during a school assembly. Some teachers were also taken, one of them was beheaded. Yeah, that’s how terrible these guys are. 40+ kids were abducted, teachers were kidnapped, with one beheaded on camera and shared for the world to watch the horror. And then what happened?
The next day, more children still went to school. More teachers still picked up their bags and went to teach. Life continued. While I can’t blame the individual teachers, I do blame their union, because how will a member of your union suffer such a fate and you’ll keep quiet? That is what we’re facing in the country right now. Everyone who has a platform and has a voice to make remarkable changes that will benefit the people they lead is keeping quiet! People who should stand up and fight for the rights of their charge are docile as lambs being led to slaughter.
It’s terrible because, despite how bad things are, there are those who are still speaking in favor of this bad government. There are still people blinded by party allegiance, religion, and tribe. Crazy things are happening, but what can we do? Nigeria gets worse every day. The insecurity keeps spreading, and we choose to be concerned by inconsequential things. I just hope that we find our way and get back to the right path.
And I hope that the children and teachers will be found in one piece, because as long as they are in custody, as long as no one is safe in this country, then we can’t wish anyone a Happy anything. There is absolutely nothing to be happy about in this country.
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