Aluu As Microcosm Of Nigerian State

In the immediate past days, the print and electronic media has been awash with the gory details of vigilante justice meted out to four students of the University of Port Harcourt.

The sheer mindlessness and inhuman brutality of this grotesque incident has pricked the numb conscience of our nation and has evoked a unanimous reaction from a cross-section of Nigerians, censorious criticism and condemnation, which by active participation or passive docility, tainted our common conscience with the spillage of virile blood, the wastage of promising lives.

As shocking as the Aluu bloodshed is, it comes as no surprise. With the entrenched culture of impunity in our society and the gradual erosion of our conscience as a people, it is only a matter of time before we begin our descent into the abyss of social-economic and political debilitation. The Nigerian State has for too long, ignored the trauma-inducing conditions in which its people are forced to live. The average Nigerian, pummelled by the violence of bad governance and assaulted on all fronts by the deceit that is our democracy, socially alienated, politically handicapped and economically decapitated, has resorted to fanatical and near-animal tendencies, all in his bid to out-wit a system that incapacitates him. He will do anything to stay alive.

But it cannot be enough reason to toe the Aluu line of barbarism. Yes, as successive governments continue to shed their responsibilities to the people, and gradually abdicate their place in the mind of the citizenry, an emerging culture of self-help becomes increasingly appealing to the people. From petroleum refining to arresting insecurity, the Nigerian has evolved ways to argument government’s ineptitude. The government is heading in a direction and the people, in another. This is the sad tale of a social-disconnect, upon which our failure as a society is premised.

From Aluu to Damaturu, from Barikin-Ladi to Obosi, Akure to Ughelli, the people are disenchanted with and irked by the system. The growing frustration among the generality of the people, especially the youths, if not speedily assuaged, portends grave danger to the harmonious existence of our nation.

As the Nigerian becomes more estranged by and from the system, there is bound to be consequences. The sheer hopelessness of the present situation in the country, the purloining of our common wealth by a clique of highly placed degenerates, the dearth of infrastructure and social amenities, the endemic culture of impunity, a flawed and deceitful democracy, coupled with the brutality of the State and the insensitivity of its few beneficiaries, has made Nigeria a socio-economic and political wreck. This feeling of alienation and frustration has naturally taken its toll on the mental and psychological state of the average Nigerian, who having endured all the indignities and injustice thrown at him, has now resolved to fight back. But who does he fight?

The system to him, remains either anonymous or unassailable. So, he fights his neighbour, his wife or anyone that dares to give him further discomfort. From the pubs to the churches, from the slums to the palaces, and from classy hotels to over-populated hostels and lowly brothels, Nigerians are fighting. Like in Aluu, Nigerians are cheering, jeering, as lives are lost, hopes dashed and our humanity is further debased.

As it was in Aluu, so it is in Nigeria. A few, claiming monopoly of violence, strip us naked of our rights, parade our economic nudity in the market place, lead us to the boro-pit of poverty and with sadistic glee, continue to whip us in the head with the stick of bad governance. While some are killed, the others cheer and pretend to forget that the hornets’ nest has been stirred and it is only a matter of time before the aggressors seek to further oppress. Then the living will remember what it feels like to die. Nigerians are killed everyday and the rest of us continue to play the role of spectators.

Our docility as a people is the basis for the usury we suffer in the hands of our leaders. But I am sure it is not going to be for long. I don’t need to be Daniel to understand the writings on the wall. There is sufficient anger in the land and it is finding expression daily. As our society continues its descent into depravity and we slowly loose grip of our humanity, I weep not for Ugonna and his friends, for our violence has driven them to find peace. I rather weep for myself and my fellow countrymen, whose lots it is to, if necessary, violently enthrone order, justice and peace in the many “Aluus” that constitute our nation.

Johnson writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Samuel O. Johnson