Blowin’ in the Wind…
Last week, the sad news of the gruesome murder of Barr. Udam Moses and his wife occupied the media space. Barr. Moses happened to be a school mate though from a different department, so you can imagine the shock when I went online and saw his pictures all over the internet.
A Page Each Day today ponders on this incident which is just one out of many others going on in Nigeria and how the response from the government is blowin’ in the wind.
Reports had it that Barr. Moses and his wife were killed by herdsmen right in their home at Agboughoul, behind Modern Market, Makurdi the Benue State capital. Altogether, five persons were reported killed that night and some others brutally injured. As I followed up on reactions from the public expressing anger, asking questions, I remembered Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind written in1962 and released in 1963. It was a song of dissatisfaction, that posed series of rhetorical questions;
…How many years can some people existBefore they’re allowed to be free?And how many times can a man turn his headAnd pretend that he just doesn’t see?The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the windThe answer is blowin’ in the windYes, and how many ears must one man haveBefore he can hear people cry?Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knowsThat too many people have died?The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
Really, how many more deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? How many years can many Nigerians exist before they’re allowed to be free from herdsmen attacks and killing? But the more I borrow Dylan’s questioning technique, the more the Nigerian situation responds that the answer is blowin’ in the wind.
The Executive Governor of Benue, His Excellency, Dr. Samuel Ortom was quoted to have reacted to the murder of Moses and the others by calling on Benue Youths to defend themselves. My thoughts couldn’t help but seek for insight. I’m curious. Please tell, how was Moses expected to defend himself? Today, faced with a situation like Moses before his gruesome murder that deadly night, how would you defend yourself? Imagine that you’re in your home, all doors shut. All of a sudden, you’re commanded to open your door. You don’t budge. Then bullets are rained on the door and it eventually gives way to let your attackers in. How would you defend yourself in such a situation? The answer is still ‘blowin’ in the wind’.
The government is responsible for providing security for its citizens. The Nigerian government’s performance in this regard so far has left so much to be desired. Daily, one report of mindless killings or the other comes out. Just a few weeks ago, a lecturer was murdered right in the heart of Makurdi. While this particular death may be blamed on criminal elements, how about those heinous acts by known groups? Why should herdsmen have so much powers to enter a community and kill at will not in defence but with a motive to eliminate a community and take over? The answer is blowin ‘in the wind.
I watched how helpless the national Assembly looked during plenary as they ‘lamented’ the Kankara boys abduction. Thanks to God at least that one was solved and the boys returned. But right after it, Boko Haram reportedly abducted 35 commuters along Damaturu-Maiduguri road.
If Nigeria’s second arm of government that has oversight powers as accorded by the constitution seems helpless, what will the common Nigerian do? Agboughoul, the community that hosted the late Udam Moses and the others killed has come under several attacks by the herdsmen. What has the government done to protect that community and several others experiencing same fate from future attacks and to safe guard the lives of the residents? The answer as with many other posers is blowin’ in the wind.
