HAVE WE RETURNED TO THE WOLF’S AGE? Sonnie Ekwowusi

Government must up its game of protecting lives and property, writes

Something grotesque is happening to us in Nigeria at the moment. There is something suggesting that we have returned to the Age of the Wolf (a post-apocalyptic adventure series published in the British comics anthology 2000 AD) in which our humanity has turned into bestial lupines and were wolves devour and eat up one another. What is happening today testifies to the loss of the transcendent perception of our humanity. It shows that we are degenerating and retrogressing to the wolf’s age or the Hobbesian bellum omnium contra omnes (war of all against all) characterised by incessant ‘honour’ killings, ritual killings, voodoo killings, cannibalistic killings, kidnappings and open confessions of eating of human parts and sucking of human blood. For nearly one year, cases connected with ritual killings, voodoo killings and kidnappings are continuously being reported across the country. Many WhatsApp platforms are inundated with postings about missing persons, especially missing children. Few days ago I saw on my WhatsApp a photograph of a pretty girl called Anibe Alexandra Odoma. Anibe has been declared missing. She is just five years. She was allegedly kidnapped by some unknown persons the previous night. To this day nobody including her parents could account for her whereabouts.

The most painful aspect is that human life is becoming cheaper and cheaper in Nigeria. We are getting accustomed to the spilling of human blood. The death of our fellow human being no longer moves our hearts to revulsion. The best that happens whenever one is murdered is mere public condemnation. No remorse. No justice sought. No efforts to arrest the crime suspects let alone initiate criminal prosecution against them. Think of the uncountable number of Nigerians murdered by the Boko Haram insurgents without remedies being sought by anybody. Who is bringing the Fulani herdsmen to justice for murdering uncountable Nigerians? Just last week some Fulani herdsmen launched a revenge attack at Ancha village in Plateau State killing no less than 19 people who were mostly women and children. Remember the Southern Kaduna massacre? What has come out of the investigation into the recent Ozubulu church massacre? For all you know it is not unlikely that the Ozubulu massacre case has been closed. No lessons learnt. We are deaf. We have short memories. Instead of learning from our tragic past and avoiding a repeat occurrence of further tragedies we are lowering the guard and allowing more tragedies. For example, who could have thought that Somtochukwu, a 10- year- old handsome boy could be murdered during the recent demolition of Ekeukwu market in Owerri Imo State following the idiotic order? As we speak, the blood of Somtochukwu cries to high heavens for justice. The blood of Somtochukwu is in their hands, and, all the waters in Imo State cannot wash away the blood stains in their hands.

What is happening to us? Is this a return to the wolf’s age? Do

REMEMBER THE SOUTHERN KADUNA MASSACRE? WHAT HAS COME OUT OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE RECENT OZUBULU CHURCH MASSACRE? FOR ALL YOU KNOW IT IS NOT UNLIKELY THAT THE OZUBULU MASSACRE CASE HAS BEEN CLOSED. NO LESSONS LEARNT

we now derive joy in shedding human blood? If other countries are doing everything possible to protect their citizens, why has life lost its value in Nigeria? When David Cameron was the Prime Minister of Britain a five-year-old girl called April Jones was declared missing. And do you know what happened? Almost everybody in the United Kingdom kept vigil in search of her. That is a society that truly values human life. Here in Nigeria life no longer means anything to us. An innocent child can be hacked to death in the full glare of the public and all the public can do is to lament the killing and nothing else. There are many uncertainties trailing human life in Nigeria. And so it is difficult to guess where the next kidnapper or murderer could be coming from. Everybody is a potential victim. Not even the clergy are spared. You will recall that in April 2016 the Parish priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Ukana, Udi Local Government Area, Enugu State, Rev. Fr. Celestine Aniako was kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen who later demanded N10 million ransom. Earlier in March the same Fulani herdsmen had murdered two Rev. Sisters and burnt about 17 houses in Abbi, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area, Enugu State. In April 2016, the Vicar-General of the Otukpo Catholic Diocese Rev. Fr. John Adeyi was kidnapped by some gunmen along Odoba Otukpa-Okwungaga road, Otukpo, Benue State. Sadly enough, two months later his decomposed body was found somewhere even after his kidnappers had collected N2 million ransom. Recently Rev. Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo was kidnapped. Last week the police confirmed that his captors had on September 1, 2017 murdered him. In fact photographs of his captors confessing to the crime are being circulated on WhatsApp. Fr Onunkwo had travelled home from Lagos to prepare for the burial of his father only for his abductors to abduct him and subsequently murdered him. Barely one week thereafter, precisely last Friday, gunmen invaded St. Thomas Catholic Church, Onilekere, Ikeja, Lagos and shot Parrish priest Rev Daniel Nwankwo who had finished his pastoral work and was just stepping out of the church.

We live in a historical moment in which there is virtually absence of democratic statesmanship that protects the people from societal preys as well as advances their wellbeing. A mere custodian leadership that seeks to administer the affairs of the people is not enough. We need statesmanship that seeks a metaphysical dept with a view to transforming the affairs of the people to their ultimate benefit. But French historian Alex De Tocqueville stated that statesmanship does not occur in the abstract: it is a function of a particular socio-political order. If we are serious about protecting lives and property of Nigerian citizens we must envision and enthrone a particular socio-political order capable of fulfilling the primary responsibility of government- protection of lives and property. Sanctimonious speeches of a political leader cannot offer protection to the citizens let alone promote their overall wellbeing. We do not look at the speeches of a true statesman to detect his leadership qualities. We look at what Paul Eidelberg termed the “so many streams of energy” of a statesman directed at promoting the common good.