“The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny” – Wole Soyinka

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle” – Edmund Burke

The opening quotes could not be more apt to the moral issue we face today with respect to recent happenings in south-east Nigeria. I will not focus much on the actors, but attempt to address the Nigerian people directly, especially the youth.

I have refrained from commenting on issues related to the IPOB agitation because I didn’t think it worth my time. However, to remain silent in light of recent events make me complicit in the crimes perpetuated in my name.

It has been heart breaking reading the comments put up by some regarding the dehumanization and murder of our country men and women. Phrases such as “kill the bastards”, “waste them all”, etc have been thrown around loosely. I wonder how many of such people have put knife to the neck of a chicken, or have witnessed its jerk while its life is being drained? If not, I recommend you do so, maybe after that you would understand the sanctity of life. Is it not ironic that such people prefer to contract their murderous cravings to the men in uniform? I can only attribute some of the characteristic I see Nigerian soldiers display daily to symptoms of post traumatic stress due to such unwanted killings and destruction.

It is heart wrenching to think I share the country and living space with people who hold such disregard for human life, and are willing to extinguish life because they disagree with a group, despite the many tools available in the law to address such issues. Such is the joy of liberty and freedom, your right to expression, something you have relegated others to the grave for exercising.
Your hypocrisy is striking. I bet you probably criticized President Assad of Syria for using deadly force against his citizens, but have cheered the Nigeria army on in this dance of shame.
More striking is the fact that you envy western societies, but despise free speech and expressions. Yet these are the very foundations upon which such societies are built. The joke is on you.

It has come to this, that we have been desensitized to the extent we have lost our sanctity for human life. You have cheered the murder of your fellow citizens who have not robbed you of sleep or possession. Who have only expressed their ‘constitutionally enshrined’ right to freedom of expression or association. I realize that this is not a phrase many are conversant with, quite understandable considering the fact many suffer from military dictatorship hangover.

Despite this murderous orgy, normal life goes on in the country. No protests among civil society groups, no high profile government resignations to protest the use of brute force against unarmed citizens. To this is ask, where is our conscience as a people? How could we as a nation go to sleep in good conscience knowing what is done in our name to unarmed fellow citizens? I may disagree with a man, but that does not give me a right to snuff out his life or wish him dead. It gives me no right to deny a child of a parent and vice versa, especially in a system that has no social welfare. Having ‘killed them all’ as many have prescribed boastfully, do you expect the rest to fall in line due to fear? No man can love that which he fears.

Hate them all you want, Organizations like Amnesty International exist for a reason. They have seen the depraved extent that governments could go if left unchallenged. They protested the summary executions meted out to ‘suspected’ boko haram fighters, and you balked at them, calling them unprintable names. They protested (and were joined by well meaning Nigerians) against the summary execution of Shia worshippers, you balked at them, and called them names. Do you not realize that your silence has empowered the Nigeria military to be a law unto itself? I pray you do not find yourself at the receiving end of injustice some day. Maybe only then will you realize that the law exists to protect you and me.

It is disheartening that in the 21st century, with all the resources available for crowd control, namely, water cannons (some that paint you for future arrest), sonic weapons, laser weapons, taser shotgun, heat rays, skunk guns, pepper sprays, rubber bullets, etc, all of which have been efficiently applied to the most violent of protests, yet we resort to deadly force against fellow citizens at slightest provocation. For the umpteenth time, snuffing out life seems to be our preferred choice.

To the men and women of the Nigeria armed forces I say, your actions are a disgrace to your sworn oath. It is a disgrace for anyone to put on that uniform and walk the streets proudly. Al-Qaeda would have treated its citizens better, I dare say ISIS. You have murdered, yet you sleep. You have marched through streets of unarmed people and occupy like victorious conquerors. This is a dance of shame by all standards. You have denied people of their loved ones you are sworn to protect, yet return to yours. You have certainly not done this in my name, or in the name of any right thinking person who understands the sanctity of life. There is no glory in your actions, not even in the face of armed opposition who have surrendered in battle. Like the repeat of the Boko-Haram saga, a non violent and ‘accessible’ group has been radicalized by your actions. Only time will tell. I can only pray I am wrong in my assessment, and we have not gone beyond the point of no return.