“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana.
There are no perfect societies. Those who long endure do so by avoiding their past failings and wisely profiting by the experiences of others. Those who afford equality to all cannot be easily divided. Those who cling to unity, keep the adversary long at bay. If we believe that we are of one human class, if we treat every human life as equally precious, we weave an impenetrable bond of loyalty, and leave little incentive for foreign exploitation. So, when a people are repeatedly plagued by strife within, on subjects of remote origin, and when the primary beneficiaries of their discord are strangers abroad, said people perhaps need an awakening. The “out-of-sight” crisis in Northern Nigeria demands a vigorous wake-up call and a trip down continental memory lane.
As I read another news story about yet another Boko Haram carnage in Borno State, I can’t miss the parallels to our not-so-distant history of trading in our own brethren. I’ve often wondered about how it all went down: “Before things escalated beyond salvage, what did the good people do?” Now in the 21st century, our land is once again being raped, only this time, by the East. The faith is foreign; the slayer and his victim are brothers; but the blood-quid goes abroad. Have we learned anything from our past?
What is a Nigerian life worth? When horrific suicide bombing events that claim lives of tens or hundreds of fellow citizens pass the news cycle as completely normal, without as much as a pause to recognize the lost souls, aren’t we by conduct saying that those lives are utterly worthless? So long as it’s a remote village up north, the casualties are of little national concern? I believe that the existence of an open landfill is an invitation to dump. Are we inviting garbage by failing to recognize the worth of our people’s lives? Let’s further examine….
In 2001, the then U.S. president declared a “Global War on Terror” in response to the tragic events of 9/11. The desire to retaliate, I believe, was well-founded; the methods, I think, questionable. In that fight, the coalition of NATO fighters launched their assault on Islamic extremist targets in the Middle East. As that war rages on to date, howbeit under a different name, the world has learned several lessons. We have learned that an enemy displaced is much more deadly than one never attacked. We have observed the absurdity of making proselytes by war. Most relevant to this discussion, we have learned that this global war on terror was the mother of Boko Haram in Nigeria and more terror on the African continent—an abhorrent seed found fertile soil in our land.
We should ask, why is this so? Why are we so readily collateral damage? I think that it is because we are neglecting the lessons of history. No enticement—religion, commerce, or other–is worth the bondage of any of our own people. There is no gain when any of us is oppressed. If we accept a normal with some as “less than”, we are all inferior. We will not freely prosper and will always fall to exploitation if our national orientation is not angularly bent towards equality and recognition of the dignity of every life. For the future, we should look back and learn.
