Dear Boko Haram,
I thought long and hard about this
letter before I decided to put it out
there (and by extension…put myself
out there). For a faceless group
holding a country of over 160million
people hostage, I wonder why you’d
need a letter from this unknown
writer. It’s still scary about that
number though… the over
160million and that hostage talk I
just mentioned. These days, I
wonder if that number is not yet a
gross exaggeration.
Am not writing to tell you all the
scary things you do – the senseless
and incessant killings of men,
women and children, the bombings
of churches and mosques, the
slaughters of uniform officials, the
maiming, mayhem and pains you
leave in your wake. You already
know all that. The only things I find I
am left with are – questions…yes,
questions.
You know, when the bombings
started, my first question was, how
in the world did Nigerians get into
this? When the bombings
continued, I relapsed into shock and
amazement… like, how do a people
as religious as we are, show so little
empathy? How in the world did we
get to believing that we are worthy
enough to fight for our God? You
know, it’s funny how the most
religious nations show the most
abasement.
Do turn around and look at the
people you hold hostage – a people
held hostage by a corrupt, negative,
uncaring, self-serving and self-
righteous leaders. A people who
come out from under the scorching
heat of the sun into their own
heating homes as there’s neither
light nor water to even cool them
down before the cockerel crows
again. A people whose only joys
remain very simple – the birth of a
child, the graduation of another, the
return of a sister’s child from
abroad, the marriage of a brother,
the car-gift to the old retired
parents and other little predictable
joys.
Note that I started with the birth of
a child as this has become a scary
anticipation for couples living on
more hostile grounds of your
captivity. A hen, as “brainless” as
we often call them, would cry for
hours after its chick is taken from it
by either a human or a bigger head
of prey… imagine how couples who
have to look for the bones of their
children feel when they either can’t
find anything to bury or even when
there’s something to bury. There’s
no God anywhere that wouldn’t feel
what we humans feel…no one
deserves being ripped apart by your
shrapnel. And I used ‘children’
loosely because, even the oldest
human is the child of God.
Keep looking at this nation you’ve
held captive a while longer and let
me tell you something else, for a
people you build your bomb-
factories, purchase high powered
weapons, curse and war over,
millions have nothing on their hands
to even begin contemplating a fair
fight… and remember, if death was
human, it wouldn’t be standing….
All these unprovoked attacks are
still against a people who’d only
breathe a sigh of relief if you just go
away and leave them be to…to heal
and count their losses to gradually
heal.
You know, another festive season is
around the corner, the fresh pains of
last year’s black Christmas day still
burns fresh. Have you already set
your sights on your next target to
use to send your “message?” Which
message anyway? We only hear
hate, sadism and cruelty. Even with
all your weapons, you can’t purge
even one heart of those.
I am no one you should be concerned
with. I am a face in the crowd (just
like all other hostages). Today or
tomorrow it might be my
neighbour… or it might be me. I
think that though, but, my biggest
fear isn’t dying. No, it is having to
meet a loving father and not being
prepared. That fear even trumps the
fear of losing a child to all these
mayhem.
I leave you with questions and only
hope that one day… soonest, you’d
find it in your heart to put down
your weapons and leave us to heal
and to forgive… leave us with our
undeniable and inalienable right to
choose our God, the way to dress,
the place to worship and most
importantly, our right to life.
————————-
Adaobi Okwy blogs at
www.adaobiokwy.com and tweets
from @adaobiokwy .