Jungle Injustice

I have tried to pretend this didn’t happen, I have sub-consciously avoided watching the video; I have also carefully taken my eyes off the pictures of these murdered young men. Alas, thoughts and feelings are not fleas that may be swatted at will and done away with. My busy mind kept going back to their pictures, oh, their faces haunt me to the depth of my dreams, that a man must die is neither a curse nor a blessing but a must. And that man may not choose his means of death because it is destined is one school of thought I deem contestable; for who deserves to die like Chidiaka, Ugonna, Lloyd and Tekana did? Or who amongst us is destined to die like common fowls? Even fowls are given mercy killing!

The death of Cynthia was but a few months ago, the Mubi massacres are yet to be accounted for and we have once again dealt ourselves one deathly blow too many. I have heard varying versions of the tales that led to these young men’s death, none of them holds enough water to be pretense for the daylight grisly murders. Words fail me at every attempt to describe the few seconds of the video I was able to muster courage to watch. It is the worst of human inhuman action I have witnessed.

The first account I read was that these boys were thieves who specialize in stealing Laptop and mobile phones, then the one about the boys being cultist. Followed by the latest story that was credited to a fifth boy who escaped by brandishing a gun in the heat of their arrest, the fifth boy was a supposed cultist who followed the boys to help retrieve an unspecified cash debt from an indigene who owed one of the boys, the others just followed to help their friend retrieve his cash, in the spirit of comradeship.

I do not know which of the versions to believe but whichever I choose to favour , these boys still do not deserve to be lynched the way they were, honestly no one does. I have asked myself why a whole community or some part of a community would descend on young men in that horrendous manner and I am yet to find a suitable answer apart from the claims of recent robberies and killings by an armed robbery gang on the village. Even at that, everyone deserves a fair hearing as enshrined in the universal declaration human rights, article 10: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”

Those people involved in the multiple murders probably never heard of this declaration but they certainly know of Nigerian Police, am sure they know also of law courts, why don’t they give these boys a chance to fair hearing? Only God knows! The people of Aluu haven’t killed any of the thieves in Abuja yet, they have not killed any of those of who steal our commonwealth and launder it away in Swiss banks, yet they kill young children for alleged stealing, I am yet to see any of the supposed phones and laptops these murdered boys stole. Who amongst the Aluu murderers was without sin? Yet they cast stones, they cast the first and the last stones too.

I have replayed the event in my head several times and all the times I arrived at the doorstep of more and more questions, more questions than answers! These boys were merely wasted by a group of bloodthirsty men in broad daylight. I wonder if there was no police “shop” in Aluu whose officers could have stumbled on these avoidable and unlawful killings. We can ask questions all we want. The truth is that we have turned psychotic and we now kill our young men in groups. The land where our mothers choose to bear us has turned on us. Men are on rampage for blood and we no longer care whose son or daughter is killed. It is gravely surprising how some people encourage students to kill the villagers in reprisal, as if it will bring the slain boys back, in Lloyds (one of the boys) own prophetic words "How can the seeds grow when the garden is weary?"

I have cried my own tears and the river of pain on my face brings to mind these excerpts from the words of the great Lebanese poet, Khalil Gibran: “Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world. But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, so the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also…And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.”
Are the Aluu killers saints, even if the boys were thieves?

We may cry all we want but we must from now on be on constant guard to prevent a future occurrence, the police must do all necessary to comb out those killers and if it is true that a fifth boy was involved, this boy must be fished out to answer the foregoing knotty questions and perhaps identify the bloodthirsty killers.

“How can the seeds grow when the garden is weary?” Lloyd (Big L) in a song titled “Heart of The City” by Yetty, Big L and Tipsy (RIP).

RIP boys.

Good Night Cynthia Osokogu

Cynthia Osokogu, that name has stuck in my head since I read about her disappearance. I have followed the search with a lot of positive wishes till I got jounced by the news of her undeserved and unfortunate death, as once again our society is struck with a new dimension of crime that depicts depravity in its elegance.

The question I kept asking myself was and is still; how, how, how on earth could a 300 and 400 level student plan and execute a felony of such magnitude. I am yet to recover from the shock; I imagined the value these boys and the young murdered lady would have added to their family and the society had it not been so.

So much for meandering thoughts and questions, the reality at hand is that this lady has been killed, I have listened to various discussions on this issue so much that I began to panic about the possible upshot of this sad waste.

I have heard a lot of young women, even old women, appraise and blame the victim for going to see a guy she met on Facebook or BlackBerry messenger, as the case might have been, like they wouldn’t do same or have never done same. The truth is that internet is here to stay and a lot of people are meeting on the internet and getting married, or at least dating. And it will continue to be so albeit with some caution on the part of those who would be cautious.

As a human being it is part of us to trust, and as much as it is convenient to blame the victim for greed, lust or whatever comes to mind. I have done a thorough retrospection and introspection and concluded that what happened to Cynthia could have happened to any Nigerian girl or boy, she is neither more greedy nor lustful she was only trusting, perhaps too trusting.

Girls leave their homes everyday to meet up with guys they met on internet for various reasons, lots of that is happening right now. Some do it for money, some for dating, and others to feed their sexual requisite. While we may stand on an unmerited moral ground to condemn any or all of these reasons I do not think any of them qualifies a woman for what happened to Cynthia.

Even a prostitute does not deserve to be killed unless the killer is God, it is a good thing the perpetrators were caught as this will prevent them from continuing this horrific sin and probably serve as a lesson to others in the same business. But this is not enough, we must observe a minute of silence for Cynthia and another minute of silence for all the living Nigerians for being the generation that spurred and witnessed this horror.

We are all guilty of worshipping money while pretending to be religious and moral; it is sad and regrettable that we have driven ourselves and our children thus far, maybe farther than we know now.

In any case, beloveth, let us be wary of easy money, gifts and instant friends. We must shrewdly and scrupulously consider the people we let into our lives and we must watch painstakingly how we let them in.

May the soul of Cynthia rest forever. AMIN.

How many will die in God’s name?

I am sure by now we all know without need for argument that we have two kinds of terrorists in this country, Boko Haram and our politicians. The latter have actually killed more; imagine the man who stole 2 Billion Naira from some poor pensioners, do you have an idea how many innocent and hardworking men he has killed?

As much as killing a fellow human is against all my beliefs as a human being, I also know and acknowledge the truth that the human history is laden with a plethora of blood shedding campaigns and strife. That said, we Nigerians as a people have come thus far, with a fight for independence, a civil war and a bloody wrestle of power from our own military as experience, we have come to realize that beneficial changes requires sacrifices which sometimes mean loss of lives.

I have always known and said that whenever we are ready to move this country forward each and every one of us must be prepared to lose our lives and that of those dear to us, do not forget how difficult this present government has found it to expose a singular thief/terrorist. Does this mean we do not have the needed human or technological wherewithal to prosecute these men? The answer is no, we have all the needful to send them all to jail, all we need is what we lack and that is the will, the passion to want to do it right. Alas this passion is lacking in the leadership and it has ultimately cascaded to the followership, how did we manage to have all our past governors walk free today despite the level of decay in every public department and their extremely brazen flamboyances?

As it is we may make bold to say that this present kingdom suffereth violence and the violent may be able to take it by force; meaning a desirable level of normalcy will never be restored by the asking, it will definitely take some violence, believe this, the people in charge of our woes are not willing to leave— Farouk Lawan and Maina’s drama is an apt example of what obtains and there is no end to the injustice and terrorism perpetrated on our commonwealth by these very few. Now when some of the naïve youths who are passionate for a change in their situation unfortunately play into the hands of a waiting opportunist, one, who has seen their pains, need and anger and readily provides them with an option of dying for God. They happily embrace the idea of death not because they love to die but because death is a better choice than the repugnant living condition foisted on them by the past and present terrorists we call leaders. Thus the work of the man shopping for young men to unleash terror on the entire populace was made easy!

It automatically follows that a hungry and vulnerable man whose living condition is more gruesome than dying in God’s name will take up arms against any given enemy, real or imagined, in his state of hopelessness a little brainwash is necessary to make him yield.

Let me state clearly that I am against the idea of Boko Haram actions and I will never for any reason advocate killing innocent men as a means to any end. Whatever the end may be, there is no justification for shooting randomly and throwing shrapnel at unarmed individuals. If we are tired of our leadership we may want to learn from the Libyans and or the Egyptians, we can learn from their experiences before, during and after the uprisings.

As I said earlier the days of an impending colossal awakening are near, we cannot continue this way, it is absolutely unsustainable. It is either Boko Haram shuts this entity called Nigeria down like they did Kaduna in the past few days or some of us for lack of what to eat, where to sleep, cloths to wear and water to drink, arise to say we prefer an uprising to this ghastly living condition and join hands to chase our number one enemy, the politicians, not only out of power but out of town.

DEATH, Once Again!

For this fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being the appearance of knowing the unknown; since no one knows whether death, which they in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. ~Socrates.



Death forgetting that he has taken several lives over the weekend once again struck at the gate of my office this morning.

It could have been me or any of my colleagues that died at about 7: 00 a. m today June 6, 2012 at the office entrance, I was thinking of my lateness and in my worrisome mood suddenly stumbled on a couple of women wailing uncontrollably in anguish. First I was shocked, jolted and in no time I learnt that a car just rammed Joshua a guy who works in the next office, into the power pole at the gate and killed him instantly.

Like an average human, a silly thought crossed my mind to say “thank you Lord I was late” because if I had come earlier it could have been my blood being covered with sands and my shoes scattered about the ground. I instantly think again and knew better; that death comes to all it was Joshua’s time this morning and his death does not mean he deserves to die more than any one of us discussing the incidence. His death does not call for a thanksgiving service from any one of us that narrowly missed the accident, it most certainly calls for soul searching, sober reflection and a total introspection as to why we do the things we do and how we do them.

I am not sure I have seen Joshua before as all the descriptions of him were lost on me, one thing today is sure that those who know him will talk and talk about him but his legacies, what he stands for or did not stand for will live after him.

Socrates in his last speech, the apology, said “The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death” we can run from death all we want (albeit, stubborn death will catch up), the catch is in avoiding unrighteousness. I don’t want to sound like your pastor but my calling is to let you know that while you are alive and here, do all the good you can and avoid all the evil you can.

Ultimately I told myself that death comes to all; mine is lurking somewhere and so is yours, smile today, play with sands if you have to. We have lost a soul too many in the past few days and we shall continue to lose them until it comes around, in the meantime the little positivity we can foster will echo into the future of humanity and be a reason to smile for us when the time comes.

May we live till our dying day and may Joshua’s soul rest in peace. AMEN.

From Brain Drain to Sperm Drain!

I was going for a bottle of beer yesterday when I stumbled on this unlikely couple of a young Lagos boy and an old white woman, I suddenly remembered the speech of a chairman of the occasion at a wedding I attended, last year, between an old German lady in her 60s and a young Nigerian boy who was definitely in his 20s. Just when I was wondering how absurd the union is the so called chairman of the occasion in his speech at the reception described the wedding as a union of “opportunity meets preparation”. I was shock-sprised at his apt description of this dubious union; this generation has totally degenerated such that we no longer know what is required for a marriage.

My fear is that while our African brains are being drained in medicine, academics et cetera the drainage has migrated to other parts of our body and now it is sperm drain. Either we choose to discuss it or not it is a new and thriving small-scale-tsunami that has stemmed from our economic woes and the desperation to seek survival in developed lands. If we do not seriously watch it by instilling values in our children in a couple of decades with the help of internet and our hopelessly failing economy our entire young male population would have been exported as either baby makers or sex slaves as I do know how else to explain a union of “opportunity meets preparation” between a woman of 60 and a lad of 20.

If not for the fact that I cannot infringe on anyone’s privacy and I also cannot say there are not some few cases of genuine love, I would have posted a recent and pathetic picture of such a wedding at Ikoyi Registry. I wish I had the resources to isolate a couple of these weddings and track them into the next few years, no doubt, some of them will turn out well but a larger number will not. I know from watching married folks that it takes more than a sexually frustrated old woman and a hungry young boy to make a marriage work.

I asked myself if I would do same given their circumstance my answer was a strong NO as I am a poet and a humble man I would have written my pains and hope that someone might pay me for it than opt for a hopeless journey with a woman I do not love, and then my worry shifted. While I was occupied by thoughts that my sister’s future-husband might get carried away by this drain—I asked myself if I would be happy to see my sister marry a man that could easily get carried away by ordinary drainage waters, I concluded that such a man does not deserve my sister. The comforting news is that many young men will not do it, so have no fear my sister an eligible and credible one will come your way soon, he will not be drained away so cheaply.

MY PRESIDENT, ONCE AGAIN, HAS SPOKEN

My president, once again, has spoken
“Do not admonish me as a child” Jonathan.

Sir, I shall, I shall admonish you as my child.

In the recent history of our beloved country, Nigeria, I do not think we've had a president that talks with less refinement than the current one. The man has proven that even Obasanjo at his military parlance worse was a lot better.

Our commander in chief once said in a self indicting statement that his government has been infiltrated by the dreaded Boko Haram sect and up till now he is yet to decisively fish them out of his government. Chai! Excuse me, what is it with this man, does he know how to hold his tongue? Perhaps the FEC should create a committee to assist the president on how not to speak in public as a president. Imagine the same man only few days ago in Germany saying our Army is below international standards! What kind of president goes about displaying his country’s weakness without a clear cut road map to fixing it?

It has now become the case of "If the mouth of my village chief smells who am I to tell him" I wonder what the court-jesters and praise-singers who surrounds Mr. President tell him each time he goofs which is undoubtedly is each time he talks. It seems that whenever the man opens his mouth an odious smelling fly comes out. At a dinner in honour of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, My president said “Even though we expect all moneybags to be in PDP, but we don’t want the moneybags to influence the activities of the party and to stop that of course, we must come up with programmes that will make the party self-sustaining in terms of financing.” Once again the man is excellent at isolating problems but lame at proffering solutions even with the retinue of committees he is surrounded with.

Who are the “we” that “expect all the money bags to be in PDP”? What kind of political party wants all the moneybags (without reservations) as her sponsor? If my president thinks that PDP should become a cooperate organization, so be it, let them start a PDP bank or a PDP automobiles for all I care they may have a PDP Oil company so they can suppress the influence of the so called “moneybags” (aka the almighty cabal). It strikes me that this statement may not be unconnected with the Farouk Lawan led committee’s report, however I hope my president knows that Nigerians are waiting and watching patiently for what his government will do as regards this committee’s findings and recommendations and let him also know that we know that most of those indicted are the “moneybags” he does not want influencing the activities of the party, if his intentions are sincere let him use this opportunity to cleanse the PDP of unwanted “moneybags”.

Like my president I shall end my write with no solution besides my earlier suggestion that we create a committee on how not to talk as a president and perhaps another one on how not talk as wife of the president for his wife.

RE: Sabotaging Nigeria’s public-funded university education

My rejoinder to Professor OMOTOYE OLORODE's "Sabotaging Nigeria’s public-funded university education"


Prof. Olorode has done a good job here howevr we must not forget that this is a country where corruption resides in every fiber of the society hence, adequate funding and absolute autonomy (without the nosing around of NUC) may not be the only panacea required to safe our failing and ailing education system.


Our so called professors and aristocrats have also failed us too, even if our weak successive governments have not succumbed to the external pressure to underfund the education system, are we sure that our VCs and their friends wouldn’t have misappropriated allocated funds?


If I may answer “no” to that question; we all can also say that our education system would have gotten this far worse due to misappropriation if not due to underfunding!


This brings me back to where I started from that adequate funding and absolute autonomy would not be the only needed cure for our failing education system; we also need Nigerians that are dedicated to Nigerians just like we need one in Aso Villa.