By Gbenga Oloniniran
Having read of a late Adeniran who was a corps member in Oyo state, I
drew some conclusions to the theme of this article out of emotions. He
could have passed out with his colleagues in October 2019.
Unfortunately, just yesterday, his family was paid 1.9 Million naira
by the Oyo state INEC chairman to compensate for the loss of
Adeniran’s life which was lost during the electoral process in the
state in February. That was the life insurance policy by INEC and
government for a person’s life lost while serving the
‘government-father land.’
The recently conducted Kogi election was popular for its violence, the
most violent of its kind in the state as reported. Another Corp member
was said to have been murdered and the PDP Women leader burnt to death
too, these are amidst several other casualties reported on daily basis
across the country. The death of the women leader made more news than
the corp member’s death, like we know, this is a country of two types
of citizens.
Until their deaths, these corp members must have toiled hard with
their families to attain that stage before being cut short by state
violence. They could have grown to become breadwinners, just like the
women leader was a mother too, but what we have is an unfortunate
story happening to their families and loved ones.
In what seemed like an unfortunately violent day for Kogi, the same
election day witnessed a fatal fire accident resulting from an
exploded fuel tanker, and this led another eight humans to become
corpses. Another families were put in sorrow. We recall a similar
tanker fire hazard on Lagos highway sometime in 2018 where people and
property were burnt to ashes. Everyday is violent in Nigeria being a
country where government’s actions and inactions have been violent on
the people. The infrastructural decay and selfish governance in the
country kill faster than epidemic infections.
With the death tolls rising everyday in Nigeria, resulting from
avoidable accidents, preventable disease infections, starvation
motivated by poverty, suicides driven by depressions, and from those
killed for the crimes that are systematically created by the state,
in all of these, it appears the fears of Nigerians to fight for
freedom actually kill us faster too. We have seen the most
conservative citizens fall victims of stray bullets and street
violence, and they die in the cause. In our institutions, the fear of
students for victimization, causing inabilities to resist unfavorable
policies actually lead some if not many of them to greater disasters.
In OAU, the inability to resist eviction from hostels and call for
erection of more as against eviction has led many students to den of
insecurities in forms of robberies and killings in their town
residence. Academic delays, cybercrime, prostitution and drop-outs
still rock our students in schools for fear to reject pocket tearing
fees. We recall also how incessant armed robberies and injuries have
greeted students of U.I, and how sex for grade assaults have become
rampant in many schools resulting from the silence of many and failure
to organize. All of these are nurtured by fear.
Many students have always been in haste to graduate and therefore
deserted struggles for their rights on campuses, they hope to get out
and end individual oppression if they can defeat poverty through any
means out there.
Upon graduating, many are still poor and jobless, these are amidst
others who die while serving their ‘father land.’ They forget the
system is rested on the pillars of injustice, that is the poverty of
many for the riches of few. This is what we need to tackle.
We have seen people who fear to come out in demonstration against
insecurity being murdered, raped and robbed in their own abodes.
We have seen the rule of law being raped in case you ever trusted your
justice to be served in the courts. We have seen police paying ransom
to kidnappers to regain their freedom, this is also in case you ever
rely on the state security for your safety. We have seen judges being
kidnapped, including doctors, pastors and lecturers, so you do not
think Nigeria cannot happen to you irrespective of your profession or
caliber. Even the rich are not totally spared.
Fela sang that my people fear too much; they fear to fight for
justice, they fear for freedom, they even fear the air around them.
Nigerians fear to fight, yet we do not want to die, do not want
poverty, insecurity, unemployment, and more. But if the myriads of
these are what we wake up to everyday, how do we end them?
If we must be safe and comfortable; be alive and be a free people,
everything we want is on the other side of fear.
At the mercies of the Nigerian infrastructures and governance,
everyone is a walking corpse, we are more dead than alive.
Oloniniran writes via gbengaoloniniran@gmail.com
