MI Abaga speaks on #Aluu4: “The hope is the worst part of it”



The hope is the worst part of it.

The way they lay there, beaten and broken, battered and bruised. Knowing their end had come for certain. Knowing that the crowd meant to see this through to the end. And yet, in the midst of all this certainty, in some small corner of their hearts, hoping. That something would happen, some miracle perhaps.

I am speaking of course, of the #Aluu4, students of University of Port Harcourt who were beaten and set ablaze last week.

I’d heard the news sometime last week and devoted all of 10 seconds of thought to it. I wondered briefly who the students were, and what could possibly have driven them to steal. I briefly wondered if they were really guilty but my mind quickly shied away from where that road could lead. I remembered all the stories I grew up hearing about thieves and the instant justice meted out to them, and mentally shook my head.

That would have been all, I suppose, but for the video. It is probably the most gruesome thing I have ever seen, and the worst I ever hope to see.

Hope.

There, I’ve said it again. Somehow it seems there is no escaping it.

Because when things like this happen, it seems our default reaction is to hope it will never happen to us or any one we know or love. Then we hope that our religion and hard work and luck will exempt us from senseless suffering. Sometimes we hope that right thing will be done, the wrong doers brought to book, and the victims receive some sort of justice.

Every day we hope the country we live in will be a better place for us and for our children.

And that is the problem with hope.

That we have allowed it to cripple us and render us inactive.

You , me, all of us who sit by hoping and doing nothing to change.

The question is not whether or not the 4 boys stole anything. That is quite besides the point.

Let us ask instead: What do I need to ensure my children do not grow up hearing stories like these?

What would it cost to make this country and are we willing to pay the price?

Because if I were there that day, would I have spoken up and done my best to put a stop to it? Or silently stood by, condemning the actions in my heart, but doing nothing? Would I have been seized by the bloodlust and fear and anger myself, and spurred them on with my shouts, and cries for blood, maybe tossed in a rock or two for good measure.

The society is a mirror of each of us. It is sad and sickening that this was allowed to happen. It shows us all what we are capable of, what w will each do given the right set of circumstances.

These 4 murdered men, their deaths should not be in vain. If anything good could come out of a mess so sordid, let it be that every Nigerian begins to think about the problem and what to do to solve it. Let it be that we understand the problem is ourselves and our failure to take a stand against injustice and lawlessness over the years. Let it be that we promise ourselves never to let this happen again. Not on our land. Not as long as we’re alive.

I hope this time we get it right.

http://miabaga.com/p/opinion-aluu-4-the-hope-is-the-worst-part-of-it/

Nice one MI but can you and your fellow artists start doing political songs that identify with the suffering of the masses and also taget our civilian rulers who are corrupt to the point that it is now evil. They are the ones that keep the people in the mess. I think that will be a better sevice to society than those Indecency lyric that Nigerian artist like you are obsessed with. Just a thought.

That was touching enough,bt I bliv if we join hands and start from our selves,I bliv we can get it right,al I beg jonathan is for him to make sure justice is done.ma sympathy to d bereaved family.so sad

These clowns stay writing 'pieces' when the country is in abyss...

Are there no activists in Nigeria?? If African Americans were writing 'pieces' during Jim Crow laws and civil rights movement - there would still be segregation in America... Fight for your country and your future, and stop writing nonsense... We know you can write, we need action... Get busy, or shut the fvck up...

Go hard, or go home..

So so sad still can't get d whole thing off ma mind...but 1 thing is certain,d blood of those guys(guilty or not)would definitely hunt dat community...

The problem dat is always associated with dis kinda situation is dat,it will affect d whole community & not just d murderers.

May d good Lord help us in dis country of ours

M.I ILLEGAL MUSIC PIECE

i wish dis can become a song. but for me: dis killing story ll make a track in my upcoming album. who can tell me d datf of dis incident.

Mister Incredible. Nice rhymes and punch-talks, and to all the beefers above me, what have u done in ur own capacity? Xo shut d f up.

I see another album/single in the works - move to stay in the spotlight.

1ndidi2:
I hope this time we get it right.

he still hoped at the end

I have listened to a song by two amongst them, av seen the pictures, the backgrounds, certainly can never be a thief!
Questions are:
What is a laptop and phone to be stolen and got them that pain to death with so much torture, when our government and top politicians are robbing use everyday without going through any pain or challenge?


These boys claimed were not found with any material that could hurt anyone.. How or where was the police when this was taking place?

And even if an object was found! What right do they have for this mass torture..?

Where is justice in Nigeria ?

I cannot say R.I.P to this.
Their soul and spirit must avenge these evil doers.

Any body can be a victim of this.
it might be you, it might be your relation, brother or sister.

From information gathered so far, am believing it was the way of getting rid of paying money borrowed they organised a setup.

It could be you somebody raised his/or her voice calling a thief and with false evidence to organise such evil.
LET JUSTICE BE DONE.
WE NEED ACTION IN NIGERIA, WE ARE TIRED OF WORDS.

Ni-ge-ria jagajaga
Everything scatter scatter
People dey suffer suffer
Gbosa! Gbosa!!

Hmm hard as I try I can't seem to stop crying and thinking about the pains those boys must have gone through, how much they must have begged for their lives to be spared all to no avail, well if only something will be done about it, I don't even know what else to say, its all too painful.
If those boys weren't innocent I don't think their demise would have generated so much controversy, their blood is already speaking for them. The people of Aluu just succeeded in placing a curse on themselves.

He is a good Nigeria

I’d heard the news sometime last week and devoted all of 10 seconds of thought to it. I wondered briefly who the students were, and what could possibly have driven them to steal. I briefly wondered if they were really guilty but my mind quickly shied away from where that road could lead. I remembered all the stories I grew up hearing about thieves and the instant justice meted out to them, and mentally shook my head.

MI was kind enough to have dedicated "all of 10 seconds" of thought to it! He even wondered "briefly"!!!

Most people, me including, probably spent a couple of minutes after watching the video, with our hearts in our mouths and our eyes agape whilst screaming silently "OMG, how could this have happened"

In MI's case, he dedicated "all of 10 seconds".

10 seconds!..after which life went on as usual. I woke up this morning not remembering how 4 young boys were beaten, and forced to watch their death coming in a most gruesome manner in the hands of a mob who are so eager to see their flesh roast up in flames. Their human flesh roast up in flames!

Perhaps I'd take a different stance from MI on this. The hope was never the worst part of it all! The lack of humane feeling is!

A corpse they say, is just a corpse until that corpse is your pops! While the families of these boys will have to go on with the rest of their lives with the realization of how the lives of the people they cared for came to an end, MI and I (and perhaps many others) have simply spared '10 seconds shedding a tear' and then moved on with our lives only with an occasional reference to the incidence and some faith that Justice will be served.

In a much civilised environment, the public will be outraged by this singular act of savagery, so much so it may threaten the stability of the government of the day. People wouldn't just sit back and wonder...and curse...and hope...and pray...and write fancy notes and then move on with lives. In those communities i described, there's a genuine humane feeling, borne out of the realization of the knowledge that we all share a common heartbeat.


The story of April a girl of 4 who went missing in the UK comes to mind. The immediate community reaction was forceful, hopeful, urgent and pronounced with hundreds of people volunteering to help the police in their search. This is a community where true humane feelings are found in the minds of people. In my own country, where four men were beaten to a pulp and burnt to death by their own friends, people simply dedicate "10 seconds of full thought"...then curse...then wonder...then hope...then pray...then life simply returns to normal!

#ashamedtobeNigerian!

Jadela: Ni-ge-ria jagajaga
Everything scatter scatter
People dey suffer suffer
Gbosa! Gbosa!!

lmao @ u 4 bringing idris to the mix

I decide this day, not to follow the crowd, nor be indifferent, when a fellow man's life is threatened by many.


I ask for discernment to understand the truth from convincing lies and courage to say it even if I am alone.


So help me God.

shymexx: These clowns stay writing 'pieces' when the country is in abyss...

Are there no activists in Nigeria?? If African Americans were writing 'pieces' during Jim Crow laws and civil rights movement - there would still be segregation in America... Fight for your country and your future, and stop writing nonsense... We know you can write, we need action... Get busy, or shut the fvck up...

Go hard, or go home..

hahahhahaahhaha shymexxx ma g i second that, what the Bleep is MI writing a piece gonna do? somebody please tell me

shymexx: These clowns stay writing 'pieces' when the country is in abyss...

Are there no activists in Nigeria?? If African Americans were writing 'pieces' during Jim Crow laws and civil rights movement - there would still be segregation in America... Fight for your country and your future, and stop writing nonsense... We know you can write, we need action... Get busy, or shut the fvck up...

Go hard, or go home..

Yes boss! ...and they are still hoping just like everyone else

Orblonde: Nice one MI but can you and your fellow artists start doing political songs that identify with the suffering of the masses and also taget our civilian rulers who are corrupt to the point that it is now evil. They are the ones that keep the people in the mess. I think that will be a better sevice to society than those Indecency lyric that Nigerian artist like you are obsessed with. Just a thought.

whoever u are,for this comment u've made here bring you immense blessing,grace and courage in all that u do. Let the honest at heart be inspired by truth! Thank u

eyah !!!!! ... How sad .. MI u rock jare

mruknaijaboy:

hahahhahaahhaha shymexxx ma g i second that, what the Bleep is MI writing a piece gonna do? somebody please tell me

Nigerian artists are clowns... These fools sound the same way, I can't even differentiate one from the other, yet they stay writing 'pieces' every time... Bunch of untalented dolts...

America had Public Enemy 'fighting the power'; Tupac's 'White man's world'; NWA's 'Fvck the police' etc... Even black people in UK had Brixton riots and Tottenham riots forcing the government to implement policies favouring them...

Nigerians artist just sit there and write rubbish 'pieces' all the damn time like fools... Who's going to save Nigeria, if the youths are docile

Burn the bytch down and effect a change, or shut the fvck up... Military mindset! - save Nigeria!!

They're scared of death, but thousands stay dying everyday... I hate the way things are in that country, truss bruddah...

Action they say,speaks louder than words.. The funny thing is that everybody is presently shouting and boiling on this matter,i even love the way many people have used this matter as a medium to reflect on the sorry state of the present day Nigerian society in all aspects which doesn't exclude the level of corruption displayed by our leaders and other pressing issues opposing the developememt of the whole country in general.. But i give you two weeks,everybody will just forget about the whole situation and move on with their normal life,pretending everything is okay,when it's not...
What is the essence of living life,if you live most,if not all of it pretending?....
For most people,life is just to go to school,make money,marry,have children and die...
If we really want change,each and every one of us must be ready to make sacrifices...You are afraid of fire,but love to eat roasted yam..
All real heroes have one thing in common,"they all view life from a different perspective,and are not afraid to die".... According to the popular saying, "nobody wan die but everybody wan go heaven"...
God knows i must try my possible best to make change happen. Even if it doesn't happen,atleast i know i died trying. It might sound like a joke,but i know that a fire that can consume a country must start from somewhere....
An ordinary man who is afraid to die cannot fight for my dear country naija.. The kind of people that can change things in this country are very rare.. Nigeria's problem is too big too mention..

@if MI really wanted change like he claimed,then i think he has the popularity and medium to start spreading the message.. Other artists should also follow and things will start from there,before you know it,things will start getting hotter.. These bunch of people we have as celebs dont care about anything but money,they dont even have the guts to challenge the government... Are they even mentally fit to understand the essence of life...
I tell you unless we have people who care less about money and greed,we cannot ever ever ever move forward...
We all like to HOPE,HOPE,HOpE and hope and forget to remember that every hope has a source.. We can be the hope of the future generations to come,only if we want to.... Like they say,actions speak louder than words... Till then

shymexx: These clowns stay writing 'pieces' when the country is in abyss...

Are there no activists in Nigeria?? If African Americans were writing 'pieces' during Jim Crow laws and civil rights movement - there would still be segregation in America... Fight for your country and your future, and stop writing nonsense... We know you can write, we need action... Get busy, or shut the fvck up...

Go hard, or go home..

bros the thing tire me o! As im write finish wetin come happen now? Nothing! O ga o!

xtrafly:
Yes boss! ...and the nigga still hoping just like everyone else

Vicious cyle of death, poverty, and destruction - I tell ya...

I saw people's brains popped out by a shotgun in that Mubi incident, and I also watched the video of the UNIPORT students on worldstarhiphop... Yet, people can't say enough is enough, and do something about it... How many people are going to die before we stop this madness??

Power belongs to the people, and only the people can effect a change by asking for it... It's just sad!!

GhostFaceKiller:

he still hoped at the end

He did that delibrately.

violent:




MI was kind enough to have dedicated "all of 10 seconds" of thought to it! He even wondered "briefly"!!!

Most people, me including, probably spent a couple of minutes after watching the video, with our hearts in our mouths and our eyes agape whilst screaming silently "OMG, how could this have happened"

In MI's case, he dedicated "all of 10 seconds".

10 seconds!..after which life went on as usual. I woke up this morning not remembering how 4 young boys were beaten, and forced to watch their death coming in a most gruesome manner in the hands of a mob who are so eager to see their flesh roast up in flames. Their human flesh roast up in flames!

Perhaps I'd take a different stance from MI on this. The hope was never the worst part of it all! The lack of humane feeling is!

A corpse they say, is just a corpse until that corpse is your pops! While the families of these boys will have to go on with the rest of their lives with the realization of how the lives of the people they cared for came to an end, MI and I (and perhaps many others) have simply spared '10 seconds shedding a tear' and then moved on with our lives only with an occasional reference to the incidence and some faith that Justice will be served.

In a much civilised environment, the public will be outraged by this singular act of savagery, so much so it may threaten the stability of the government of the day. People wouldn't just sit back and wonder...and curse...and hope...and pray...and write fancy notes and then move on with lives. In those communities i described, there's a genuine humane feeling, borne out of the realization of the knowledge that we all share a common heartbeat.


The story of April a girl of 4 who went missing in the UK comes to mind. The immediate community reaction was forceful, hopeful, urgent and pronounced with hundreds of people volunteering to help the police in their search. This is a community where true humane feelings are found in the minds of people. In my own country, where four men were beaten to a pulp and burnt to death by their own friends, people simply dedicate "10 seconds of full thought"...then curse...then wonder...then hope...then pray...then life simply returns to normal!

#ashamedtobeNigerian!

Dude do u think if he dedicated just ten seconds he would be able to write that or even bother to?

Understand figures of speech bros, figures of speech.

shymexx:

Nigerian artists are clowns... These fools sound the same way, I can't even differentiate one from the other, yet they stay writing 'pieces' every time... Bunch of untalented dolts...

America had Public Enemy 'fighting the power'; Tupac's 'White man's world'; NWA's 'Fvck the police' etc... Even black people in UK had Brixton riots and Tottenham riots forcing the government to implement policies favouring them...

Nigerians artist just sit there and write rubbish 'pieces' all the damn time like fools... Who's going to save Nigeria, if the youths are docile

Burn the bytch down and effect a change, or shut the fvck up... Military mindset! - save Nigeria!!

They're scared of death, but thousands stay dying everyday... I hate the way things are in that country, truss bruddah...

No offence but u sound like a guy who could ''Bleep the police'' and take the law into your own hands.
We obviously know how that ended up in this event.
Anyway I am not saying we shouldn't be active, just don't get overwhelmed with violent emotions and do something diabolic like these guys.

All dese haters abeg make unna free m.I oh... D guy jux poured his heart out. He is not a politician or a police man dat would investigate d case...

violent:




MI was kind enough to have dedicated "all of 10 seconds" of thought to it! He even wondered "briefly"!!!

Most people, me including, probably spent a couple of minutes after watching the video, with our hearts in our mouths and our eyes agape whilst screaming silently "OMG, how could this have happened"

In MI's case, he dedicated "all of 10 seconds".

10 seconds!..after which life went on as usual. I woke up this morning not remembering how 4 young boys were beaten, and forced to watch their death coming in a most gruesome manner in the hands of a mob who are so eager to see their flesh roast up in flames. Their human flesh roast up in flames!

Perhaps I'd take a different stance from MI on this. The hope was never the worst part of it all! The lack of humane feeling is!

A corpse they say, is just a corpse until that corpse is your pops! While the families of these boys will have to go on with the rest of their lives with the realization of how the lives of the people they cared for came to an end, MI and I (and perhaps many others) have simply spared '10 seconds shedding a tear' and then moved on with our lives only with an occasional reference to the incidence and some faith that Justice will be served.

In a much civilised environment, the public will be outraged by this singular act of savagery, so much so it may threaten the stability of the government of the day. People wouldn't just sit back and wonder...and curse...and hope...and pray...and write fancy notes and then move on with lives. In those communities i described, there's a genuine humane feeling, borne out of the realization of the knowledge that we all share a common heartbeat.


The story of April a girl of 4 who went missing in the UK comes to mind. The immediate community reaction was forceful, hopeful, urgent and pronounced with hundreds of people volunteering to help the police in their search. This is a community where true humane feelings are found in the minds of people. In my own country, where four men were beaten to a pulp and burnt to death by their own friends, people simply dedicate "10 seconds of full thought"...then curse...then wonder...then hope...then pray...then life simply returns to normal!

#ashamedtobeNigerian!

Nice piece but would it have been asking too much for you to have properly read what M.I. actually wrote? You would have seen that both of you are trying to make the same point on the "10 seconds" analogy.