Over the weekends, I saw a man beat his wife mercilessly in
the presence of their little boy. The blows kept coming and the woman’s shout
for help increased, yet no one volunteered to help because the only entrance to
the house was locked. Neighbours around who saw what was happening just mumbled
few words like
“they have started again… “you people should stop disturbing us
with your noise abeg?” Then it dawned on
me that the neighbours have known this couple with perpetual battling and
domestic abuses. No one wants to do
anything about it. From nowhere, I gathered so much strengths I haven’t seen
myself had for a long time, scaled through the fence, forced my way through the
door, and headed for the little boy who was tired of crying” daddy please”.
People wondered why I went for the boy instead of the woman or better still
resolving the issue. My calculation was simple: an abusive home mostly leads to
a broken home; children from a broken home are mostly exposed to lots of
frustrations and cruelties and when these glitches are not well checked and
corrected in time, they lead the victim into hopelessness and when you don’t
have a reason to live, you have nothing to lose and when you have nothing to
lose, you hate your environment and resolve to destroying your neighbours who
have little hopes. You hate your country and everything it represents and there
by volunteer to destroy it.
That was a passionate story Mr. Babalola Omoniyi Felix,
Group Managing Director of Fashion Business and Inspirational Magazine
popularly called FBI Magazine used in starting his speech at the Just concluded
mentoring workshop tagged “Emergence” held in Abuja. Mr Omoniyi who is also a Senior Consultant at
Alliance Business Consults submitted that the major insecurity we face in our
country today is largely as a result of our negligence in homes. “We all blame
the president for the insecurity we are experiencing today; should we also blame
him for the failures in our homes too? I tell people that care to listen that
the emergence of Boko Haram was as a result of political miscalculations and strengthened
by lack of proper home management. Boko Haram was initially funded by
politicians who wanted to use them to oppress and victimize their opponents; however,
things got out of hand and they therefore became uncontrollable and had gone
weird, crazy inhumane and vicious. They now get funding and supports from
foreign countries who postulated that my dear country will disintegrate in 2015”
He opined that he has a great aversion for politics and he
is not a member of any political party and doesn’t intend to join any; “I am
just a young businessman that believes in Nigeria and feels concern for the devastating
state of our Nation’s security which may paralyze our economy if not checked
“We blame the President for the killings in the North East;
we criticize the federal Government for not been proactive or aggressive enough
to put an end to all these killings. Who really are the government if not you
and I. The solution to our quandary is in our hands and can only be achieved
through a concerted effort. I agree the president is obligated to protect lives
and property, however, he won’t be able to do much if we spend the time we
should channel towards cooperating with him so as to put these nightmares
behind us pointing accusing fingers on him and other people in power.
Taking a clue from the 9/11 US Bombing. The 4th
plane, Flight 93 that was directed to crash at Washington Dc was averted
because the passengers on board decided to do something about it. In unison,
they combated the hijackers and saved lots of lives. They had nothing to lose
if they had wallowed in their mishap, blamed the government or cursed the
aviation minister or the aircraft company. The plane was already hijacked so
whichever way they decided to turn, they still would have died. Instead of mourning
and blaming the government or regretting why they were on board on such an
unfortunate day, they decided to die a hero. We can do better as Nigerians. We
have more than what it takes to fight once more for the freedom we once had. We
can take our stand and rebuild our land. There are traces that give me
confidence that we can do this.
We have been able to checkmate the government on certain
issues in the past. I will never forget how united we were during the fuel
subsidy struggle and how we have been able to reduce and expose corruptions and
societal injustices. Why can’t we do the same to this menace staring us in the face?
Where are the omojuwals, the falanas, the Charlyboys, etc
It’s more pathetic that lots of people are making money from
the misfortunes of others. It’s comical that killings are happening far away in
the North East and we are protesting in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt even
organizing peace concerts in Abuja. A sincere campaign should be strongly channelled
to where it is most needed. We are mostly vocal on issues of corruption and
other petty anomalies but whisper from the comfort of our bedroom when it’s an
issue that concerns boko haram. We choose our words carefully so we don’t
offend them. Our media gurus would also not stop to celebrate these fools. No
day passes without a mention of them in the news and headlines are terrifyingly
magnified to put fear in the minds of a common Nigerian. However, successes
made by the Nigerian forces barely make headlines. Enough is enough! Let’s all
do this together.
Way forward. One of the most agreeable solutions to this
menace was given by the National Assembly when it advised the Army Chiefs to relocate
their headquarters to the North-East. Regardless of our tribes, locations,
political and cultural differences, it’s high time we dropped all that and join
our strengths in redeeming the country we love.
All hope is not lost. I see strength amidst our various
challenges. I see Nigeria rise again. I see other African nations migrating
into Nigeria to live. I see a Nigeria with constant electricity. I see “Manufacturing”
Nigeria and not a “Consuming Nigeria”. I see the eagle in us soar again. I see
us reclaim our position in Africa as Giant of Africa… and most importantly, I
see all these happening soon. “
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