Nigeria is often described as a country that sometimes either positively committed to negative things or negatively committed to positive things. This oxymoronic description abound in the country. This bittersweet assertion help explains why Nigeria security apparatus, an increasingly incapable entity decided to test the water of their tomfoolery by causing pandemonium at the attempted arrest of that Yoruba activist Mr. Sunday Adeyemo yesterday.
Amid rising tide of existential threats to National security in the North especially with the open and brazen abduction of 317 school girls in Zamfara yesterday, top of Government priority later in the day wasn’t about rescuing the innocent girls whose crime is their quest for knowledge but the arrest of Mr Sunday Igboho over his audacious role in speaking truth to power where they’ve failed — woefully.
Indeed the news and the virality of shirtless Mr. Sunday Igboho being hopped along Lagos Ibadan expressway surrounded by dare devil supporters must have drained whatever modicum of hope and confidence in the system to restore nomalcy and peace and deliver the country from criminals who continue to torment, terrorize, hunt and hound innocent citizens with audacity, and effrontery.
Instructively, this wild chase and misplaced priority has revealed the paradoxical dilemma of a country on the brink of disintegration. No doubt, the country is heading towards tailspin. Various scholars have described Nigeria in many ways imaginable, some even invented negative and derogatory epithets to describe her. “Anyone who claim to understand Nigeria” Richard Borne boldly asserted “is either deluded or is a liar”.
What’s more, a country where more than 1000 students have been whisked away for the last seven years while many more killed for single crime of being Nigerians can not be said to be a saner clime. Because no sane country would watch helplessly as her citizens live in palpable fear and panic without committing her arsenal to rid off the outlaws. Nigeria case is different. As if the ethno religious tension is not boiling enough, or as if the drum of disunity, disintegration and discord is not at the crescendo yet, strong indications continue to emerge of Government complicity and duplicity as the country weather storms of ethnic violence. Unfortunately, those who are looked to for peace are the one adding fuel to the fire, making mountain out of Molehill while turning ordinary fire into inferno. This can consume the the country.
As noted by columnist Abimbola Adelakun, Mr. Sunday Igboho is neither the problem of Nigeria nor the solution. He was thrown up by the pariah system, and only became a force in flushing out killer herdsmen after years of Government repeated failure. And now, with the help of internet, Igboho is a phenomenon to the oppressed and the neglected in the hinterlands where Government presence is near absence. Sort of untouchable. Which further means chasing Igboho won’t stop the current web of criminalities and Insecurity in the country. Continuous chase of Mr. Igboho can only lead to one thing: bloodshed!
This is where the Governor should quickly come in. With Shasha imbroglio where precious lives were lost and properties worth billions lost, the state must not fold its arms and watch helplessly as fifth columnists snatch the relative peace people of ethnic extractions have enjoyed for years.
OYO101, Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion on issues affecting Oyo State, is published on Saturdays. He can be reached via muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850.
