As news of the unfortunate Associated Airlines plane crash involving family and friends of late former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Agagu whose corpse was being transported to Akure for the commencement of his burial rites broke yesterday, several issues arose for me.

The first was the disbelief that another plane crashed had occurred in Nigeria, then the need to report the news as accurately as possible on my blog which is sadly essential if I want to be a top blogger. Then came the monitoring of the reactions of Nigerians to the tragedy and this is where I got a big shock. Sympathy for the dead, injured and their families was not prevalent; it almost became “comedy” on Twitter as several people sort to be “funny” with the tragedy.

I took this to be a case of pervasive youthful indiscretion as majority of Twitter users are young people by the anecdotal evidence that we are the major part of the population that have embraced the Internet and by extension social media.

However, my thoughts on the matter would change later on in the day when I discussed with a married man with kids whom I estimate to be in the early forties or thereabouts and who is not Internet savvy. Hence, there is very little chance that his opinion is influenced by a social media fad. His reaction to the plane crash was that it is just an expression of divine justice to the corrupt Nigerian elites who continually plunder the resources of our country and leave the “masses” in abject poverty.

The gentleman retorted to my inquiry on whether he felt any sympathy for the deceased and their families: “Why should I feel pity for them when I have been struggling to raise N15,000 for my children’s school fees and have failed at it. Whilst they (the elite) squander money, dashing out millions of naira to their girlfriends as gifts?”

The coldness of his words really struck me and I came to the realisation that Nigeria is on the verge of great turmoil. Not one created by terrorism in the form of Boko Haram and its likes or one created as a result of political upheaval or is it “rascality” as evidenced in the PDP vs. NewPDP fiasco but one created by the disparity, dichotomy and gulf between the rich and poor, haves and have-nots, elite and ordinary citizens of Nigeria.

This reminds me of Karl Marx’s ideas on the need for communism based on the fact that a society that leaves resources and means of production under the control of individuals will end-up with violence as the proletariat (working class) revolt against the Bourgeoisie (wealthy elite) who control economic resources and the means of production.

Whilst I am not an advocate of communism, I do agree with Marx that in a society like ours where there is too much of disparity in the lifestyles of the rich and poor, there is bound to be conflict as is now being witnessed in Nigeria in the form of kidnapping, rampant crime and insurgency first from Niger-Delta militants and now groups like Boko Haram, Ombatse cult and others. The ranks of these groups are majorly swollen by the poor and the disillusioned that are the foot soldiers for their more cerebral leaders.

Nigeria’s elite still have the chance to save themselves from the looming battle with the masses but they have to act quickly to ensure that there is a more equitable distribution of Nigeria’s wealth amongst its people and I do not mean through the debate on derivation or resource control as the many so-called activists clamour for.

I mean an end to impunity, corruption and exploitation of the country’s resources, wealth and its people. Nigeria’s elite in government and the private sector have to stop taking the masses for granted. Their patience is drawing thin and the consequences of this promise to be dire for all of us as things fall apart when the centre cannot hold to borrow from the wisdom of the late literary icon, Professor Chinua Achebe and in this case we might all get buried under the rubble if the required changes are not made by Nigeria’s elites.

Source: http://www.coolstuff49ja.com/2013/10/the-dangerous-gulf-emerging-amongst.html#.Uk6nmlOF2JB

We are becoming too insensitive.

Personally, even if I don't like someone, I will never wish misfortune for such a person, and when one happens to someone I don't like, I'll never make a joke out of it. At worst, I keep quiet. I make jest of Patience Jonathan, for example, on the grammatical and protocol blunders, but I wished her well and waka pass during her illness. Same to other political figures. The limit of my dislike for a person (public figure) ends when personal misfortune sets.

^Unfortunately, many people do not feel like this and more and more seem all-too-eager to see other people in pain and misery. It is a very alarming trend.

it's an overdose- when something is too much- it just becomes 'normal'

Nigerians getting used to killings

Going through maclantunji's post, i discovered i got the same response from a family man in his mid 40s when i updated the status on the plane crash conveying agagu's corpse on facebook, the man who happens to be my neighbour said, 'ojo esan lo n ro yi o'(this is a rain of vengeance falling'). Didn't give it too much thought and consideration throughout until i read this thread.

We all know what is going on with our politicians. But where i gat a little difference with Tunji is that the violent reactions to the problems created by our politicians are not directed to the real people(politicians) giving us problem but to the common man.

Imagine the boko harams bombing and killings have been centred on the common men and not the leaders.
The ombatse cult atrocities have been towards the police.
Only the kidnappers/militants' activities have been affecting the politicians to a little extent.

So the violent activities envisaged to occur in capitalism can't be really be said to be absolutely fitted into nigerian system cos the issue is not really rich class versus the poor class but the poor class against the poor class.

I watched an interview on TVC this morning when a man (can't remember his name) was asked about the ill fated plane crash.The man was a friend to Feyi Agagu and he came to visit him at LASUTH. To my surprise,the man said his main concern was Feyi's survival and nothing else simply because Feyi was the only son of Segun Agagu, that it would have been a calamity if Feyi had died. His utterances simply meant he cared less about others who lost their lives.

The kind of sympathy that Nigerians had for the victims of the Dana air crash is entirely different from the one that happened yesterday.The reason is very clear an obvious.Most Nigerians do not pity or sympathize with those who have destroyed and made life difficult for them when they die. Such attitude is bound to happen. The question is would you blame Nigerians for their behaviour?

berem: I watched an interview on TVC this morning when a man (can't remember his name) was asked about the ill fated plane crash.The man was a friend to Feyi Agagu and he came to visit him at LASUTH. To my surprise,the man said his main concern was Feyi's survival and nothing else simply because Feyi was the only son of Segun Agagu, that it would have been a calamity if Feyi had died. His utterances simply meant he cared less about others who lost their lives.

The kind of sympathy that Nigerians had for the victims of the Dana air crash is entirely different from the one that happened yesterday.The reason is very clear an obvious.Most Nigerians do not pity or sympathize with those who have destroyed and made life difficult for them when they die. Such attitude is bound to happen. The question is would you blame Nigerians for their behaviour?

Berem, would you blame your hungry dog for biting you?

shachris03:

Berem, would you blame your hungry dog for biting you?

....and why should I keep my dog hungry when I know it might hurt me?

Jarus: We are becoming too insensitive.

Much rightly so. I pretty much do the same as per your following sentiments but at the same time I understand their plight. If there's any people on earth that have tried to accommodate their leaders over the years despite their blatant disregard for human life, it is Nigerians. Even Fela had to coin the word 'suffering and smiling' to describe Nigerians because we tended to look the other way despite glaring discrepancies and wicked policies perpetuated by their 'patriotic' government. If there's any legacy the government/elites have left for it's citizens it is THE DESENSITIZATION OF THE NIGERIAN POPULACE. That is the Nigerian heritage.

berem: ....and why should I keep my dog hungry when I know it might hurt me?

Exactly. So why should they blame us for acting the way we did?

it would be unfair to train a child as an animal and expect him to act as a gentleman.

shachris03:

Exactly. So why should they blame us for acting the way we did?

Do they really care about our feelings towards them? I don't think so! There are many instances to show they don't give a phuck about us and how we feel towards them.

berem, you seem not to understand the message in which shachris is trying to tell you, why should the masses sympathize with those who have impoverish them.

It's a global trend not peculiar to Nigeria alone.

The time is coming when the poor will literally feast on the bones of the rich and the elite.

It is unavoidable - There are finite resources and too many people, and most of the resources are controlled by a very small circle of people world wide.

Global Anarchy is inevitable, the writer is advised to acquire some arms and ammunition in preparation for the impending doom -instead of soliloquizing about the obvious.

Bro, the end is near for our corrupt leaders, we'll soon take our destiny in our hands soon. The nation is getting paranoid. We'll go berserk soon.

For the fact that most of them usually feel unconcerned about us doesn't mean we should wish bad to our fellow human being.

Some people might just feel unconcerned because the Victims were not members of their political party, but that doesn't mean.

Perhaps Death can come at any time and at any fvcking place so we don't need to say this' my party member or not, i know some people might be celebrating their death and would say is already 2015, let the Dead come and cause Trouble, theank God they are gone.

In any situation we should thank the Lord, because we don't know what would have happened if this didn't happen.

-there's a reason 'their' fences are 10ft high- they dont care and want you around
-there's a reason why 'their' cars are blacked out- they dont want to see your 'misery and pain'
-there's a reason why they drive past so fast-- they dont want you to catch up and vent


the ordinary toothless LG chairman rarely walk about alone to meet his constituents, the 'representatives' dont meet their constituent without security or some peace offerings [bags of rice, oil, sewing machine, some envelops full of cash] before running back to their secured abuja quarters

It's a jungle!

walex_biz: berem, you seem not to understand the message in which shachris is trying to tell you, why should the masses sympathize with those who have impoverish them.

maybe you didn't understand my post too. We are both saying the same thing with different perspective.

maclatunji: ^Unfortunately, many people do not feel like this and more and more seem all-too-eager to see other people in pain and misery. It is a very alarming trend.

other people in this context would be the politicians and usually those perceved to be previledged few associated with their own misery either directly or indirectly

Dis Guy:

other people in this context would be the politicians and usually those perceved to be previledged few associated with their own misery either directly or indirectly

exactly! Just like the fool I mentioned in my first post who cared less about others in the crash.

Wetin concern agbero with overload? They are rich enough to be flying a dead man to and fro on a charted jet, how's that concern of an average man on the street that lives below $1 a day?

Freegifts: Wetin concern agbero with overload? They are rich enough to be flying a dead man to and fro on a charted jet, how's that concern of an average man on the street that lives below $1 a day?

If they had travelled by road,what happened yesterday would have been averted. Ondo state is about 4 hours or less from Lagos if am not mistaken.They were trying to avoid the bad Lagos-Ore road which is accident prone especially the Ondo axis. They decided to take a chartered flight. At the end what still happened? The corpse was still transported by road to his hometown. Why was his body deposited in Lagos and not Ondo state? Does it mean there are no mortuaries in Ondo state? This shows the level of decay the man left behind in his state. Pathetic!!

[size=14pt]Government of the people, for the people, by the people.[/size]

The @op is wrong. Nigerians are insentitive people. It is not a result of what they feel politicians have done to them. In fact, it is the other way around. It is because of their insensitivity that politicians could do such damage over a 40 year period. Starting from our streets, no one cares for the other person. Especially in urban cities like Lagos or PH. If you ask people on your street to come out so you all go and besiege the PHCN office to handle a transformer problem, no one will come out. When there is a national disaster and hundreds of lives are lost, people feel little or no remorse. They just say eyah, and continue with their jobs and beer parlor things. In other countries I have been to, people mourn for days on their own when they see such disasters. One simple thing that will tell you that Nigerians are insensitive people is this: Nigeria is the only country I know, where people drink and eat and celebrate when someone dies. Burial ceremonies are always a solemn thing everywhere in the world, but in Nigeria, people drink themselves to stupor and dance like its a birthday bash.

I find it a little disturbing that we have lost our values in Nigeria but everyone wants to lay the blame on politicians. Politicians themselves are simply fellow Nigerians who also have the same crooked value system like the rest of us, including everyone on this thread! The false claim that every politician is a child of the rich is always laughable. 70% of politicians I know came from poor backgrounds. They have become as corrupt and sometimes even more wicked, than politicians from rich homes. We all need to look hard into the mirror. Until we all accept that we are the problem, it will never change. The corruption on NL alone is a proof of my position

^^^
Omokri, so you think if you and Abati kaput tomorrow, I will not order nkwobi and small stout to celebrate. MUHEHEHEHEHE ANIMAL

The coldness of his words really struck me
and I came to the realisation that Nigeria
is on the verge of great turmoil. Not one
created by terrorism in the form of Boko
Haram and its likes or one created as a
result of political upheaval or is it
“rascality” as evidenced in the PDP vs.
NewPDP fiasco but one created by the
disparity, dichotomy and gulf between the
rich and poor, haves and have-nots, elite
and ordinary citizens of Nigeria.

You forgot to add RELIGON

theoctopus: The @op is wrong. Nigerians are insentitive people. It is not a result of what they feel politicians have done to them. In fact, it is the other way around. It is because of their insensitivity that politicians could do such damage over a 40 year period. Starting from our streets, no one cares for the other person. Especially in urban cities like Lagos or PH. If you ask people on your street to come out so you all go and besiege the PHCN office to handle a transformer problem, no one will come out. When there is a national disaster and hundreds of lives are lost, people feel little or no remorse. They just say eyah, and continue with their jobs and beer parlor things. In other countries I have been to, people mourn for days on their own when they see such disasters. One simple thing that will tell you that Nigerians are insensitive people is this: Nigeria is the only country I know, where people drink and eat and celebrate when someone dies. Burial ceremonies are always a solemn thing everywhere in the world, but in Nigeria, people drink themselves to stupor and dance like its a birthday bash.

I find it a little disturbing that we have lost our values in Nigeria but everyone wants to lay the blame on politicians. Politicians themselves are simply fellow Nigerians who also have the same crooked value system like the rest of us, including everyone on this thread! The false claim that every politician is a child of the rich is always laughable. 70% of politicians I know came from poor backgrounds. They have become as corrupt and sometimes even more wicked, than politicians from rich homes. We all need to look hard into the mirror. Until we all accept that we are the problem, it will never change. The corruption on NL alone is a proof of my position

Why are you lying? What happened in the UK when Margaret Thatcher was to be buried? Didn't the Britons celebrate her death and threaten to pelt her coffin with eggs and stones?

The insensitivity which some people find to be alarming is probably a natural reaction which should not be alarming. What is alarming and insensitive is for those who enjoy freedom, to express shock when slaves who have been in bondage for over 50 years express ill will towards thier masters - so to speak.

berem: Why are you lying? What happened in the UK when Margaret Thatcher was to be buried? Didn't the Britons celebrate her death and threaten to pelt her coffin with eggs and stones?

What? Where did you get that from? You are a real clown!!!

Some people who dont like Margaret Thatcher are now the Britons? You no dey disappoint!!!

homesteady:
You forgot to add RELIGON

I can assure you that he didn't. He just can't bite the finger that feeds him.

theoctopus: The @op is wrong. Nigerians are insentitive people. It is not a result of what they feel politicians have done to them. In fact, it is the other way around. It is because of their insensitivity that politicians could do such damage over a 40 year period. Starting from our streets, no one cares for the other person. Especially in urban cities like Lagos or PH. If you ask people on your street to come out so you all go and besiege the PHCN office to handle a transformer problem, no one will come out. When there is a national disaster and hundreds of lives are lost, people feel little or no remorse. They just say eyah, and continue with their jobs and beer parlor things. In other countries I have been to, people mourn for days on their own when they see such disasters. One simple thing that will tell you that Nigerians are insensitive people is this: Nigeria is the only country I know, where people drink and eat and celebrate when someone dies. Burial ceremonies are always a solemn thing everywhere in the world, but in Nigeria, people drink themselves to stupor and dance like its a birthday bash.

I find it a little disturbing that we have lost our values in Nigeria but everyone wants to lay the blame on politicians. Politicians themselves are simply fellow Nigerians who also have the same crooked value system like the rest of us, including everyone on this thread! The false claim that every politician is a child of the rich is always laughable. 70% of politicians I know came from poor backgrounds. They have become as corrupt and sometimes even more wicked, than politicians from rich homes. We all need to look hard into the mirror. Until we all accept that we are the problem, it will never change. The corruption on NL alone is a proof of my position

Did anyone else notice that this Never-Do-well mentioned 40 years while conveniently leaving out the last 13years of PDP misrule

@op, blame jonathan.