Averting a Looming Doom

Also published in DAILY TRUST

 

As the wave of violence all over the country is increasingly getting out of control, I can’t help but visualize the inevitable fate befalling this nation unless the authorities rise up to the challenge. Incidentally, I had summoned up my sense of optimism to visual a better fate, however having had to be realistic in the process I couldn’t help but conclude that the end is definitely gloomy.

This is quite obvious because while the elite apparently left the country’s fate to chance, people simply take things for granted. However, in as much both would pay the price, ordinary Nigerians stand to be hit harder by the repercussion because the elite certainly count on various fallback options in case of any eventuality, while the rest of Nigerians face obvious uncertainty.

 

Organized, audacious and sophisticated violent groups all over the country are increasingly gaining upper hand on the authorities, which in turn are going too helpless to handle the situation. It may amount to a waste of time to estimate the human, material and other costs of such crises, for no Nigerian or indeed anybody who has anything to do with Nigeria is spared for that matter.

 

What is particularly obvious yet unfortunately ignored is the fact that, these crises warn of imminent overwhelming upheavals, which not only threaten the cooperate existence of Nigeria but might actually plunge the entire population into an endless anarchy, which once erupts it will unleash a misery of an unimaginable magnitude.

In as much as I join my compatriots in fervent prayers to avert such eventuality, my conscience always reminds me of the imperative of observing the natural rules of life before expecting any divine intervention to change the situation, for I am sure that one can’t keep doing one thing and expect a different result. Hence it is obvious that we can’t remain that apathetic towards the causes of our own predicament and still expect to survive let alone thrive.

 

I am also sure that various internal and external forces are right now plotting how to exploit these messy circumstances to maintain or achieve their mischievous interests at all cost. After all some of such forces are actually the masterminds behind the escalation of the crises. In any case what is obvious is that, the already tense environment seems to be gathering momentum to boil, nonetheless apart from trading blames between various components of the society there is nothing on the ground serious enough to address its imminent degeneration into turmoil.

 

With the persistent escalation of the crises amid such general apathy one can simply visualize a scenario whereby the system gets too exhausted to withstand the overwhelming onslaughts and sabotage hence grinds to a halt ushering in total chaos. The ruling elite, their cronies and indeed all those who can afford it flee the country to their standby abodes elsewhere, from where they appear on international TV channels granting interviews on the causes of the crises and how to solve it, while those can’t flee convert to warlords under various pretexts.

 

Ethno-religious groups struggle desperately to determine their destinies while atrocities escalate between them causing the displacement of millions of people. Various interest groups struggle under various pretexts to control strategic locations in the land particularly in the oil rich region. Armed to the teeth, each group wants to dominate the others in order to have upper hands in determining the destiny of the region amid the general chaos.

 

Meanwhile, oil fields are under the control of various armed groups while the multinational oil companies switch sides to secure uninterrupted crude oil lifting or rather looting as much as their gigantic vessels can take, round-the-clock, with no supervision or accountability whatsoever. And in return, they supply the armed groups with sophisticated weapons and of course cash to keep them in the trench against one another other.

Similar circumstances also play out in other coastal areas for the control of the strategic ports. Incidentally, not only multinational oil companies call the shots in the region, other exploitative business interests also freely exploit the other resources in the similar way.

 

Up towards the middle of the county where ethno-religious bigotry is worse, indiscriminate violence is the order of the day, which creates several pockets of internally displaced people and refugee camps throughout the region. Similarly the vast solid mineral resources in the region also attract international firms who collaborate with the several warlords in the area to exploit it in return of weapons and cash inducements.

 

In the core north where there are hardly any instantly exploitable resources, international firms are virtually nonexistent. However, rival religious extremists fight one another, each group determined to impose its agenda on the others. Non Muslim minorities and even some Muslims with different views have all fled or live in constant fear. 

Pockets of enclaves claiming to be Shari’a entities emerge; each pocket or groups of pockets under the leadership of a self-acclaimed Ameerul Mumineen i.e. leader of the faithful. Largely unqualified and even barely educated people claim to administer the Shari’a where they condemn people to public punishments in the form of flogging, stoning and beheading under the pretext of Sharia’a punishment.

 

They also declare jihad against western countries, plotting continuously to inflict as much harm as possible on the western countries’ interests and even their citizens. Also to survive the harsh economic challenges, and in the name of religious brotherhood they seek to form alliances with like-minded groups elsewhere to coordinate their activities.

 

Meanwhile under the pretext of war against terrorism, agents of various international intelligence organizations infiltrate the region taking advantage of the fragility of the “religious regimes”, and working under the cover of media or humanitarian organizations. They coordinate the elimination of some individuals regarded as the masterminds behind the activities of the groups, their financiers or facilitators of their activities in whatever way.

Drone attacks are also launched against the suspected hideouts of the alleged terrorists’ leaders, in the process of which thousands of defenceless civilians are maimed and killed. In the meantime they plot the formation of rival groups of some secular-oriented individuals, support them financially and supply them with weapons to confront the “religious” groups.

 

International political interests further complicate the crises as various contending countries and organizations seek to settle their scores with one another in the form of sponsoring proxy wars. Consequently the situation worsens, refugee camps swell and humanitarian crises overwhelm the entire aid programmes.

Nigeria as a state descends into oblivion and only God knows when the turmoil will end, because after all, even before the situation deteriorated to that level, they wouldn’t address it to avert such eventuality.

At this juncture I am sure many readers would simply utter the expected prayers e.g.  God forbid or even “bakinka ya sari danyen kashi” i.e. may your wish fail woefully etc, and yet remain apathetic. However, those who are actually the cause of the predicament have already had their options handy and are just waiting for the right time to simply decide which one to take.

In as much as we don’t heed the warning contained in the escalating crises around the country, we should not blame except ourselves when the looming doom actually strikes, for there will be no time for trading blames anymore.