Eternal vigilance, they say, is the price of Liberty. In my book, The Ideals of Freedom, I illustrated that freedom is an ideal that is attained through ordeals. It takes a lot of commitment to achieve freedom and much more commitment to sustain it. The freedom of Africans on Africa’s soil is constantly and continuously challenged and undermined, and the fact that people live with fear of the unknown is no longer news. This has attracted the attention of Africans in diaspora and the international community needs to be aware of it too.
The situation in South East Nigeria demands urgent attention and thorough investigation. You must have heard that trailer loads of people sandwiched between bags that are supposed to be food stuff, are being taken to the East from the North. Claims have been made of the discovery of thousands of guns and ammunition in mosques in Biafraland. While we wait for someone to come forth and challenge those claims, we wonder if mosques have become military barracks or if mosques have become depositories for guns per Nigeria’s constitution.
They declared lockdown and curfew, but allow cattle rearing Fulani men to roam about and destroy crops and farms of citizens who are quarantined at home. Even when you meet them in your farm, you behave or be beheaded because instead of the bow and arrows they carried back in the day, these cattle rearers now carry AK47, machetes and daggers. They are terrorizing indigenous people every single day and nobody is able to do anything about it. I thought this was civilian regime, obviously this regime will go down in history as the notorious regime of oligarchy. They locked up people for disregarding the lockdown order but nicodemusly unleash strangers to our bushes by night, while we slept.
While men slept, the enemy is being smuggled into the bushes of South East Nigeria. Are they planning to gather, retrieve their guns and decimate indigenous people? What is the agenda of these men, some of whom don’t look like they are Nigerians. In fact, there is no doubt that some of these people are from Fouta Djallon. Nigeria has become a no man’s land, porous and conducive for all manner of terrorists and terrorism. We had thought that Boko Haram was the enemy with whom to contend, these new faces with unknown agenda may be worse than boko. If they are related, then these must be their guerilla Troops.
One would think that Nigeria is not at war with her members. Well, we must think again. If indeed these men that are above the law, men that don’t observe lockdown, men that have to be smuggled in at night, men that don’t even speak language that you will properly understand….if these are not and have nothing to do with the guns that are discovered in mosques, then who are they and what is their mission? What job do they do and what business brought them to the East? Are they beggars or laborers? Are they herdsmen or Boko men? Why and how did they pass the checkpoints?
Could this be a planned attack on a section of the country or is it just one of those coincidences? If it is a coincidence then where are they from? Are they displaced in the north and where is their destination? Why haven’t our governors addressed these issues and why are our leaders keeping mute? Could someone explain to us why we have many questions and no answers on this issue of security?
While men slept….everybody has to be vigilant and be sensitive to your environment. The things that are happening right now need to be properly investigated and nipped at the bud before there is bloodshed. We cannot afford to have any more bloodshed because Nigeria cannot survive it. Whosoever these people are, federal government should remove the hand of the monkey from the soup before it becomes the hand of a human being.
Arise oh compatriots, Nigeria’s call for vigilance obey. You can make a difference and you can air your voice until we see normalcy return in our land. What we see now is not normal. If this doesn’t arouse your curiosity, I wonder what will.
Mezie Okolo is a leadership analyst and a voice from diaspora.