By Emmanuel Ebimoh
“I’m afraid because humans are killing humans on the streets without compunction, justice for the innocent and laws against crime have taken a swing across the window, animals are stealing from humans with impunity (quite regrettably), and leaders are busy dining with the devil.”
Rats invade President’s office, destroy air conditioner. Python dances on the streets in Abia state. Mysterious snake reportedly swallows N36million in Jamb office. N70million missing from Senator’s farm, Senator accuses monkey of swallowing the money.
Our forefathers dreamt of a beautiful Nigeria, but I fear that dream is gradually tearing apart. We wake up every morning to a bright new day, to face the sad economic hardship biting down the walls of our country as we fight to carve a living for ourselves. Yet, in the midst of the struggles, we’re unsure of the next ‘big’ news that will filter through the airwaves the next minute. Sadly, while we strive to curb impunity and bring decency among us as humans, we’ve failed to secure our land from wild intruders. Our hard-earned resources are now being ‘swallowed’ and ‘destroyed’ by animals, much to the ridicule of our pride. Now the question is: who’ll check these animals stealing and swallowing our resources and bring them to justice? If indeed they live among us, should they be above the law?
Since our independence in 1960, we’ve trudged through different terrains of political leadership – both the good, the bad, and the worse. We once had the supremacy in the production and exportation of good crops like cocoa, oil palm, and groundnut for our economic growth. We once held our shoulders high and prided ourselves as being the giant of Africa, competing favourably with other countries in world. But today, we’re laden with the reality of nothing, apart from some fizzling drops of crude oil. Even the things we used to excel at, like quality education, sports (football in particular), and more importantly, morality, decency and national patriotism have long since eluded us and taken wings into far flung places. We’re just not sure of the Nigeria we want. Our identity is flawed. We’re gradually losing it.
Nigeria has one of the largest populations in Africa with over 200 million citizens (people). Despite the barbaric onslaught of the Boko haram sect since 2009 that has claimed the lives of over 10,000 people and displaced nearly 2.6million people, Nigeria can still boast of a growing and vibrant population. This growing human population trend however, isn’t the issue. The issue is the subtle invasion of animals into the citizenry that is threatening to cripple the country of its resources, drawing the country toward a state of anarchy and animal exemption. If truly we’ve endorsed animals to live among us, knowing well that they are lower species who cannot think rationally like humans, we should be ready to curb their excesses and put a check on their movements. Perhaps the government should create a Nigeria Animal Police Force (NAPF) that’ll make sure animals found culpable of any crime are brought to justice. Surely, the Nigeria Police Force already has a lot on their hands dealing with humans. To load them with the responsibility of checkmating animals will be a herculean task.
Today I’m afraid of the Nigeria on our hands. I’m afraid because humans are killing humans on the streets without compunction, justice for the innocent and laws against crime have taken a swing across the window, animals are stealing from humans with impunity (quite regrettably), and leaders are busy dining with the devil. This is the Nigeria I fear.
I have always pictured the perfect Nigeria of my dream – a country where people can walk on the streets at 1am and not get scared of possible attack or robbery; a country where leaders are accountable for their words and actions and treat the people as part of an entity; a country where good schools and hospitals are made affordable to all and sundry, and not for the elite alone; a country where food and shelter are common necessities, available for the man on the street; a country where the evil sting of corruption is minimal or almost non-existent; a Nigeria I can boldly call my own without fear of being called a ‘shit-hole’ by a white racist; a Nigeria that can stand for her people and protect the rights and interests of her citizens.
Nigeria has a bold vision of becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020, as outlined in the “Vision 2020” plan. Despite our faults and mistakes as a developing country, we can still stand as a powerhouse on the African continent by virtue of our size. However, the dream of standing on the list of one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020 might just be a mirage in a vast ocean if we continue to give way to animals on our terrain. We must realize that no country inhabited by humans will want to do business with people living in a jungle with animals, much less counting them among economic elites. So, to drive our goal of reaching an enviable height in the world economy, among other things needed to be done, the sooner we get rid of the animals in government quarters and public offices, the better for us.
Emmanuel Ebimoh is an adventurous Nigerian who likes to learn and explore new ideas to become better. He writes news articles mainly on politics and sports for 9news Nigeria.
You can reach him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EmmanuelEbimoh and on Twitter: @emmyebimoh
