The parable of real men
According to survivor accounts, the soldiers who were sent to guard the town rushed in to warn them that trouble was on the way. Outgunned, the soldiers took to their heels followed by those who could follow them. The rest of the town were rounded up like cows to the slaughter. By the time the guns went silent, about 40 people were dead and the town was razed.
As the story goes, a man was travelling on Naija’s robbery prone roads in a luxury bus along with other passengers. Halfway to their destination, an armed gang waylaid them and ordered everyone to disembark. After turning the vehicle upside down, the gang ordered the men to move to one side and the women to the other. Passengers complied with automatic alacrity. When everyone had taken position, a man was found standing among the women. The robbers poked him with their gun asking if he was blind, to which he answered that in any given situation, the people with guns are the men.
Forget the chauvinistic slant of the story and think of the last time someone stepped on a soldier in a bus, or a Lagos conductor insists on being paid for the ride. As the jester, Gordons quipped, it takes a slap from a soldier to realise that the police is your friend.
Over the weekend, at a campaign rally for his father to become a senator, the demented son of a southeastern governor allegedly ordered his orderly (no pun intended) to shoot his own personal assistant. The idiot carried out the order and the gathering voted with their feet. In a state of anarchy, the one with the gun is always the man. Gender is immaterial. In a gathering of armed men, the one with the bigger gun is the real man.
Soldiers are the real men until they are posted to the northeast where they are outgunned by the bloodhounds on rampage there. For the second time since the bloodletting began, the people of Konduga were at the receiving end. According to survivor accounts, the soldiers who were sent to guard the town rushed in to warn them that trouble was on the way. Outgunned, the soldiers took to their heels followed by those who could follow them. The rest of the town were rounded up like cows to the slaughter. By the time the guns went silent, about 40 people were dead and the town was razed.
As usual, Hassle Rock maintained an eerie silence. The next day, the Adamawa cell of the group went for soldiers, slaughtering eight of them. Last Saturday night, the attackers moved to Izge where they massacred about 100 people in an attack that lasted several hours.
Did I describe the victims as people? That is not politically correct. There are no people anywhere across the River Niger; only the Hausa/Fulani. For those who may not know, the Hausa/ Fulani are the trouble of this nation. They believe they are born to rule and when they lost out in the elite power game, they created Boko Haram to give the NaijaDelta government (or any other one for that matter) a bad name.
According to conventional wisdom, if the elites of northern Naija want to end the bloodshed today, they can. It is widely believed that this is Buhari’s civil war. With a snap of his benign fingers, he can end the bloodshed, but he just won’t. So, President Jones, the man who calls the shot from Abuja is waiting for the general to blow his bugle and end the war.
In the meantime, the president was in his natural elements during the week as he continued his tour of the monarchy, religious and opinion leaders in the serene areas where his authority is law. You cannot miss his toothpaste smile at the palace of the Emir of Kano or the message from his talking drum in Oyo. He practiced his oratory at the podium at the Redeemed Christian Church as Christianity’s most sought after lay preacher - all decked in white.
His better half, Lame Pat always rumoured to be dead or dying, staged a coup against her traducers by paying a condolence visit to the Emir of the FCT who named a whole street after her. Malam Mugu had lost a brother whose national value is more than the souls of 100 disposable Bornu peasants. Yes, there is a state of emergency in the northeast, but this is the reality of Orkar’s coup speech. These guys are no longer part of Naija.
Armed insurgents have suddenly outmanoeuvred the nation that fought and won a civil war. They roam free in their armoured vehicles, attack military formations and waste the lives of soldiers and civilians at will. From nocturnal raids, they have emboldened to daylight massacres. Our defence forces have radar that cannot detect their movements. Our intelligence gatherers are chasing Abuja millions. The political will is to make the reward of brigandage assume federal character.
We have a dream, that one day Imam Shekau and his commandos would have gated houses opposite Asari Dokubo, Tanko Yakasai or Ango Abdullahi would have their billions to rival Edwin Clark. The air force is dead, long live the presidential fleet! The real men live in Sambisa forest, the rest of us are women, waiting for out time to be kidnapped and ravished or slaughtered.