Standing on one leg

One creature that loves to stand on one leg is the fowl. Standing on one leg, to the fowl, is purposeful and it is to enable it acclamatise to its new environment . 

However, human beings are not like the fowl. So, when you see a man with one leg, that is usually the result of an accident and if he is to stand he would need an artificial leg. The fowl is not as lucky as human beings. So a man with two legs is a normal person, but one with a leg can accurately be described as a deformed person. Deformed persons are not normal both in their actions and in the way they reason and behave That is why psychologists prefer to describe them as abnormal beings.

Nigeria as a country behaves abnormally in all areas of governance. What often keeps the man with one leg walking is the acquired artificial leg, which helps to stabilize his movement by balancing his stature.

Sequel to the imbalance, the country is not walking well or we may say it is defective in many areas like the economy, health and most especially in the area of security. A country walking with one leg if not well managed would eventually capitulate. No wonder things are not very normal in the country.

Each day, darkness of the night collapses and eventually throws up a new day, offering hope to the people, yet some people, after hatching and perpetrating evil of all sorts to kill, main and  create panic and fear in communities, would be counting their gains in terms of human loss and destruction of properties of innocent citizens. 

Every act of insecurity is always directed at the ordinary citizen and oftentimes sparsely affects the those in the upper echelons of society. These class are majorly affected by targeted criminality like kidnapping and other higher crimes like assassination by hired killers. Painfully, as I write this column, news flashed that three soldiers were mercilessly killed in the East by youths agitating over an issue that ought to have been laid to rest.

The Biafra ghost needs to be laid to rest peacefully and not be used to always spill innocent blood of Nigerian soldiers, some of whom were not even born when the word “Biafra” was created. So, why spill innocent blood because of agitation? Are there no better ways to assert their demand? Must uniformed personnel be the target of venting agitation? These innocent soldiers were serving the country and were mercilessly killed while on official duty for the country. What the agitation was all about should not be vented on innocent soldiers, after all, no civilian was killed during the forced “sit at home” order.

This order, which was illegally issued by someone in another country, had severally been rejected by both the state governments and the  citizenry. It has created a chaotic state where the people resist the order by faceless agitators. These agitators who are mostly unemployed youths of Igbo states (Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo) have become a thorn in the flesh of the federal government, from the Muhammadu Buhari administration to current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which, unfortunately, may have been advised not to heed calls or requests for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a native of Abia State.

He has suddenly become  the electric cable that periodically shocks people in uniform and other government officials sequel to his oratory and defiant behavioural disposition. This behaviour had severally created war zones around his personality. This had also attracted thousands of youthful admirers and supporters with similar  beliefs and dispositions.

Many are unemployed and embrace Kanu’s philosophy on the re-emergence of Biafra, including the popular Indigeous People of Biafra (IPOB), which many see as utopian, as many would want to fully embrace a truly one Nigeria, a country standing on its two legs and walking straight and strong, not exhibiting any trait of deformity or challenges. Unfortunately, recent steps taken by those ruling the system give the impression of a manipulating government. A situation where an agency of government would arrest a corrupt government official and instantly the chairman of the anti-graft institution is summoned and the aftermarth is the immediate release of the culprit.

Juxtaposing such scenario with present situation wherein the highest court in the land emphatically ruled that Nnamdi Kanu did not jump bail as alleged by the security agencies, when he  escaped to Kenya where he was later abducted back to the country. A country walking on its two legs ought to be very functional in all ramifications, where no member of its body would be manipulated for whatever reason.

That the Supreme Court had cleared him, presupposes that he is cleared of the allegation of  “jumping bail.” I am not ready to recast the criminal allegations levelled against him by both the security agencies and the government but following the scenario created, its looks like those handling his case have deep-rooted dislike or should I call it “hatred” for Kanu’s ethnic group, a situation where a defiant fly disturbing the peace can be chased away with wisdom and understanding but which has resulted in the use of a sledgehammer to kill the stubborn fly is uncalled for and not necessary. So, why the continuous incarceration? And of what benefit and purpose would it serve the government and those pulling the strings? 

If leaders of terrorist gangs like Boko Haram could be let off the hook of government’s blacklist and were eventually offered  full amnesty and were later released into society, why not Nnamdi Kanu? What other sin did he commit that is different from the defiant Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho? The SIN the Igbo son allegedly committed was tagged an “act of terrorism,” but was that not the same SIN alledgedly committed by the Yoruba son and was that not what Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta was alledged to have committed, including several northern sons who were arrested at various parts of the North? Unfortunately, all, except the Igbo son, have been given government pardon.

After all Nigerian civilian government of Shehu Shagari pardoned the Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu, so what other reasons does the Tinubu government have in flouting the Supreme Court decision on Nnamdi Kanu? After all, what is good for the gander is also good for the goose. The law need not be twisted when suspects are from a particular ethnic group that is flagged with suspicion.

No wonder, the growth of the country is seriously hampered due to ethnic bias. According to reknowed prophet Kunle James Hezinah of the God Glorious mMinistry, “l don’t know why they don’t want the lgbos to take over the presidency. They know that if such opportunity is given to them, forgetting ethnicity, I can prophetically assure that the country would experience a radical industrial transformation never experienced in Africa.” As a young boy, my mother used to ask me to use my tongue to count my teeth.