There is nothing absolutely novel in our daily hazzles. The harrowing situation has been a serial case of reenacting one soul-destroying event to rebranding another for monumental effect. Reading through the eyes of celebrated security strategist, one is not left in doubt that we may not all be safe after all. If wishes were horse, Nigerian soil must have gulped innocent blood to its fill and shouldn’t drool for more. Unfortunately, sons of perdition would risk baying for blood than piddle away from evil mechanization of the wicked one. They readily thrust themselves as willing tools for a acting horror scenes and sorrows.
Even at the pendency of the nation’s bellicosity with dreaded muslim extremist ravaging the Northeast part of the country, and pockets of security breaches from banditry conquistadors spread across other states, whose impudence now smacks impotency of general security apparatchik to contain this beast from baring its fangs farther than envisaged, little do we know that the urge for bloodbath had taken a new dimension. Purveyors of vendetta, politically or religiously motivated recently deserted forest jurisdiction for learning community in Jos, Plateau State capital. If the causality figures doctored by reporters to massage the bias of their benefactors is anything to go by, no fewer than seven students of University of Jos had been dispatched to their early graves, and others disappeared into thin air without scintilla of their whereabouts. The unfortunate ones, had their lifeless festering mass of flesh resurfaced near woods where they where previously none and some discovered after painstaking combing exercise by a batch of searchers.
This security mishap riled up Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi into sending rescue buses to evacuate Enugu students of the said institution back to warm embrace of their already emotionally troubled parents. Ugwuanyi, a security conscious leader before now has a history of mitigating transportation expenditures for Ndi Enugu particularly festive seasons. Ugwuanyi would let go of buses to every state of the federation to gather Enugu willing christmas celebrants in lieu of the fete day. The recent speedy spiriting away of trapped students sparked off similar gestures from other state governments, as confessed by students escapees. Hear one of the “fugitives” at school, ” We say a big thank you to our Governor (Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi) and his SA(on Students Affairs) Hon. Chidi Ilogebe, for their support and immediate action which didn’t just help in evacuating us but it spurred some other states to evacuate their students too. The Association of Enugu State Students in UNIJOS is proud of you(Ugwuanyi) for the fatherly role you played.”
He couldn’t have expected less from Gov. Ugwuanyi’s stretched arms of intercontinental brinkmanship. Ugwuanyi steadies the ball while others crawl out often too late in the day from their reclusive shells to bask in the grace of his unchallengeable precedence.
Leader of the student government found no rational bases to conceal his exasperation on aggravating spate of mindless violence visited on unsuspecting students, whose lives were cut short in their prime for no definable reason. Lecturers and other non-academic staff are not left off hook from this reckless bloodletting prosecuted by these misguided elements truncating smooth running of academic programs. The question remains, who actually receives their complaints, the castrated central power or the apparent emasculated relics of state power?
You guess is beautiful as mind! Surrender to fate right?
It is beyond argument that our usual intractable religious divides featured actively in heating the situation thereby enabling unrepentant bigots to chance upon the occasion to wreck havocs. It’s high time we reevaluated our national values and priorities, the continued disregard of human worth is greatly despicable and need be roundly condemned by well meaning people of this nation. Stirring skirmish amongst students for whatever reason is an ill wind that blows no good to anyone as parents whose wards get squashed are unwittingly retired to perpetual bereavement of dashed hopes in wards they have expended all savings.
Another, academic communities should put into place stringent measures for deflating turmoil build up before it balloons to unmanageable proportion as UNIJOS scenario played out, thus recreating painful imagery of war in peace times. The delicate issues of religion should as well be skillfully managed to foster unity and tolerance of one another’s faith. A national call for reorientation and examinations of cradles of beliefs system is necessary.
Presently, education suffers cleansing persecution in the larger north of Nigeria given the unceasing run of riots by gun toting men who waltz round learning institutions to cart away as much as their cargo could stomach, harmless pupils and vanishing into void with their catch unintercepted. Seized of fear of losing their children to savagery custody of invading bandits, attended by unconscionable ransom, parents briskly withdrew the tenancy of their wards from schooling. In response, governments in the north slammed doors for learning indefinitely.
This is pathetic. Though, we have traveled familiar route before, yet we can do better than inadvertently contributing massively to academic ruination of already less privileged educational circles like the northern Nigeria. The ricocheting effects of enforced ignorance manifest in proliferation of electioneering goons and hardened vices inciters, handy to play canon folder in the palms of crooked political manipulators of fault lines. This trying period of our democractic dispensation clamors for soft-pedaling in matters that inflame the polity.
Written by
Mrs. Bibian Anekwe
SSA to the Governor of Enugu State
Enugu Di N’akachukwu Movement (DG)
