got this from another site!

The Spirit Of Naija By Dike Merije

There was a horror story in the Leadership last week. The first I heard about it was in church. My pastor could not believe that such terrible things could happen in Nigeria. There had been a robbery on Lagos-Benin Road. That’s no news; another robbery. It was the manner of the robbery. Those who had money were robbed. Women were raped. All this happened at 4 o’clock in the afternoon on one of Nigeria’s busiest highways. But that was not all. Those who did not have money were made to lie down on the naked road. You can only imagine the terror of pressing your cheeks against the steaming asphalt in those conditions. Women, children, young boys. Then a gun was put to the driver’s head and he was asked to run those people over. He did- several times. Human beings, mangled to death in the most horrible manner.

This robbery made it unto the Senate floor this week where it was raised in a motion sponsored by Senator Ayogu Eze. Everyone was outraged. Condemnations flowed freely, most especially for the Nigerian Police. But there was also very strong condemnation for the driver of the ill-fated bus. The Senate President referred to him as the greatest criminal of all for choosing to save his life rather than those of all those people lying in the path of his bus. How could he perpetrate such a selfish act? He should have chosen to die a hero rather than do what he did.

But I have a different view. Here was a man, a Nigerian, faced with a brutal choice- your life or that of your fellow Nigerians. He chose his life. Is that so surprising? I dare to say that selfishness is a typically Nigerian trait. From the way we drive, to the way we jump queues, to the way we use public resources; this country is full of people who, daily, choose to put their own individual and personal good above that of the public. We are in self-denial when we talk about the bus driver as if he has done something quintessentially “un-Nigerian”. Just like we all denied Abdul Farouk Mutallab in December. Perhaps, as a society, we need to take another look in the mirror. These people are not aberrations. They are manifestations of the spirit of naija. Extremism is extremism. From Boko Haram to blowing up a plane there is not such a big jump. Selfishness is selfishness. From stealing people’s salaries to driving a bus over them, there is not such a big jump.

Look at what is happening with Yar’Adua’s health. How many of our political elites are taking positions that are in the public interest? Is the move to close ranks around Yar’Adua motivated by the desire to protect the interests of the millions of Nigerians lying prostrate before the bus of this Nigerian state? No. Instead, people are thinking of themselves and their political careers. The Governors’ Forum has suddenly come out in support of maintaining the status quo of an acting Presidency indefinitely. Most likely, they are thinking of themselves and their own Deputies. Not surprisingly, the first Governor to speak in support of this position was Timipre Sylva, the Vice-President’s political rival from Bayelsa. Rumors have started circulating of a South-South agenda to deprive the North of power, scheming to transform a constitutional matter into a sectarian war. Moves to bring up the issue at all have been killed in both the House and the Senate. It is like a grand conspiracy by the political class to protect one of its own.

Of course, it’s not because there is wide spread love for the man, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Like I said, people are thinking of their own political careers. Northern politicians want to make sure that the seat remains open for one of them in 2011. An acting President can never be as powerful as a President. The Governors’ Forum is already openly grumbling about Jonathan’s decision to inaugurate several committees without “consulting” with them. Since when did an Executive Presidency become a Collegiate Presidency?

But that’s one of the reasons why contending politicians want to ensure that the acting President remains as acting President; there is a greater chance of exerting under hand influence in the Presidency. Looking at the way things are going, the acting Presidency of Jonathan would be one of “consensus”. In the bid to court the support of everybody the Presidency would be effectively incapacitated as an Executive President cannot please everyone. Others are willing to fan the dangerous fires of sectarian conflict just to protect a narrow political interest.

So, who is thinking of our own interests? A quarter in the year has almost passed and all the energy of our government has been absorbed by the intrigues surrounding Yar’Adua’s health. Is it in the public interest? Is it in the public interest to prop up an incapacitated President in office and, essentially, spend the rest of the time till the next general elections “marking time”? Will our constitutional democracy be in any way enhanced by this “political solution”? This culture of horse trading, rather than rule keeping, permeates our whole society; so does this culture of putting self-interest above public interest. It is easy enough to condemn the bus driver and demand that he should have chosen to die a hero rather than take the lives of others; it is infinitely more difficult to “die a hero” politically and stand up for the right thing even when it could hurt your interests.

And what about the victims of that terrible robbery; those people who lay down and watched a bus bearing down on them? I cannot imagine what their last thoughts would have been. I keep thinking; would it not have been better to have been shot than to have been trampled upon several times by a bus. How many times did they have to be run over before they died? What levels of pain and horror did they suffer? Maybe, up till the end, they hoped the bus would stop, or swerve out of the way, or the robbers would change their minds, or some kind of miracle would occur. But nothing happened. The bus came, climbed over them; backed up and climbed over them again; and again, and again- till their lives were crushed out of them. The thought squeezes one’s heart.

But we are all victims in Nigeria. Maybe, Wole Soyinka will organize another march to National Assembly. Maybe, they will have a change of heart and do the right thing. Maybe, God will intervene like he did in Abacha’s case and help us resolve the crisis. So, we just lie down watching death and catastrophe heading towards us; hoping till the last second that somebody else will do something. That’s how our society keeps sliding deeper into anarchy. In 1978, Phillip Asiodu remarked that given the small size of the population of the Niger Delta, no matter how long their resentment lasts, it would never threaten the stability of the country or affect its continued development. Today, the Niger Delta, if not for the amnesty program, would have bankrupted Nigeria by now. For years, we used to say that Nigerians could never be suicide bombers. Today, courtesy of Mutallab, we are bed fellows with Pakistan and Algeria in the eyes of the world. Wishing away the madness will not turn the bus away. We have to get up and get out of the way if we want to live.

That terrible robbery on Lagos-Benin road was caused by the failure of the Nigerian system. It is a failure that put the pot-holes in that highway that made that robbery easier. It is a failure that ensured that the Police did not show up at any time during such a drawn out robbery. It is a failure that kept those poor people glued to the ground hoping for a Divine intervention. It is a failure that guaranteed that there was no accurate manifest to even correctly identify the dead. It is a failure that chased possible on-lookers away. It is also a failure that encouraged that driver to close his eyes and kill other people in the hope of walking away with his own life.

It was a tragic error of judgement on the driver’s part. The robbers shot him after he had done their terrible bidding. It is the reality; you cannot escape the fate of the society you find yourself in. When “kata-kata” comes it will not discriminate. No matter how high the walls you’ve built with the money that should have gone into better roads, a better Police Force and a better society, someday, somebody will come by angry, hungry or frustrated enough to scale it. Others will not drown without taking you with them. Individual brilliance will not save us from what is coming. We need to pull together. More of us need to defend the public good and build a system that caters for all.

On September 11, 2000, there were four planes that were supposed to crash into strategic targets in the U.S. Three of them did so, two into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon but the fourth plane did not arrive at its destination. When the passengers on that plane heard what was happening, they decided to take their lives into their own hands and tackle the hijackers. The plane crashed in the woods, killing all those heroic passengers. When push comes to shove, that’s what it takes to make a difference. As long as we all keep docking for cover that bus bringing death and calamity will not stop until we are all dead.

It is time for our leaders to stop thinking they can advance individual political careers at the expense of the greater good, indefinitely. It is also time for each of us as individuals to start realizing that things cannot go well with us when the rest of the country is deteriorating, indefinitely. Someday, the chickens will come home to roost.

i agree with the writer and think david mark is a brainless twit for his remarks, the driver should sue him jo(who knows he might win 50million)