Comparison Of Killings

Femi Adesina the special adviser on media and publicity to the President says Nigerians should be grateful that the killings have reduced compared to 2015 on the day that two bombings went off in Borno State and a 12 year old was killed. What could be more heartless than that? In recent times Boko Haram and bandits have intensified their killings.

Numerous executions have been carried out by Boko Haram and publicized. A young man from Plateau State who was on his way to school in Borno State was abducted and executed by Boko Haram. How do his family feel about the statement from Femi Adesina that they should be grateful that the killings have reduced.

People are being killed on a daily basis and instead of this administration to act and be decisive and strategic in combating the insecurity they are busy still blaming last administration. When Nigerians voted for CHANGE in 2015 it was not for deaths to be compared! It was for the insecurity to be tackled. A Christian Association Of Nigeria leader from Michika was executed by Boko Haram recently. Before him 4 aid workers had also been executed after warnings to federal government. A few years ago it was Saifurah Ahmed and Hauwa Liman that were executed after warning to the Federal government.

This week alone there has been several attack and killings in the North Central. Plateau, Kaduna and Niger States were affected.
The attack on the Emir of Potiskum and his entourage on Kaduna Zaria expressway and the killing of many is still fresh in the mind of citizens and yet they are being asked to be grateful that the killings have reduced. What killings have reduced? Is it that the life of a Nigerian got diminished by the Buhari administration that the numerous killings are not considered?

How can we be hounded in our own nation by terrorists and our government instead of going after the terrorists tell us that we should be grateful that the killings have reduced. Leah Sharibu has been reported to have given birth in captivity. The Nigerian government negotiated and left a daughter behind. Her crime was simply that she refused to convert to islam. The terrorists declared she is now a slave to them and yet the Nigerian government did nothing. In 2015 she was with her parents who are being asked to be grateful. There is so much poverty and killings in the land today and all that the spokesperson to government can say is that people should be grateful that the killings have reduced.

It is pathetic how time after time people get into government and lose their humanity and empathy. The things they used to see that was wrong they no longer see them as such. One sadly comes to the realisation that they were never about justice, good governance and accountability. Their outrage was at the fact that they were not players in dishing out the injustice, bad governance and lack of accountability. Now that they are in government they defend all that they once criticised and wrote about. It is quite a shame and many today are disillusioned by this and think everyone is just like that. The only ones who can put a stop to all of this are the citizens. The Nigerian citizens must begin to dignify themselves and say #EnoughIsEnough.

They must begin to make demands and ask those elected to do their job and stop focusing on past administrations. Until citizens occupy their #OfficeOfTheCitizen and make demands, those elected will continue to give bad governance. Everyone must take part in governance. You are either on the demand side or on the supply side of governance. Those who are elected are on the supply side while those who vote for them are on the demand side. The citizens have failed to make demands.

Many say they are not ready to die but daily many are dying from the effect of bad governance. People are being killed everyday and it is not because they are making demands but because they have been failed by their government. Everyone of us can make demands. We can use different creative ways to show our displeasure at what is happening in our country.

One of such is the #NaijaBlackMonday which comes up every first Monday of the month. Citizens wear black on this day to signify their displeasure at what is happening in Nigeria. You too can wear black against what you are displeased about. The next #NaijaBlackMonday comes up next week Monday on the 3rd of February 2020. The more Nigerians wearing black every first Monday of the month to signify their displeasure, the more citizens will understand the power that they have and sooner or later the government will be forced to do the needful