Ìlùdún Double Whammy Afflictions: An Unwelcomed Parametric Spiral
Brightening was the night in the town of Iludun as the atmosphere is enveloped with a captivating sky, enlaced with an alluring moon, entwined with charming stars and drizzling is the pour from the sky. The nook and cranny of the settlement were lightened by the radiance of the moon, the brightness that quickly fetches one, the identity of the person coming afar. The conspicuous beautification of the environment was apparent as a result of the illumination. Birds vacated their roost as they flew around with their mind-blowing songs. Not relegated are the sheep and goats as they bleat around to express their level of excitement. The children were playing with a song of praise put forward to OLODUMARE as they sprinted around the village. The people of the land match out in their numbers, in different attires, wearing smiling faces with dancing and singing instruments in their hands, waiting for the appearance of “Egun Olomowere.” The ruler of the land headed the assembly, Oba Adeyeye who joined the company of his people in waiting for the apparition of the masquerade, Egun Olomowere as the night marked the commencement of the year’s festive period. Abruptly, he appeared to them, stumbling, somersaulting and taking amazing steps with the help of his aides. Reading his eulogy is a man in “dansiki” attire and beating the drums are bands of an artiste. It came to a halt as the king commenced his welcome speech, appreciating the people of the land for their usual support and perseverance. Oba Adeyeye ended his speech with a prayer asking OLODUMARE not to put a full-stop to Egun Olomowere annual festival. Everybody murmurs by saying, “ase.” After the king welcome address was a prayer session to be offered by the masquerade. He stepped forward, and the children formed a circle around him anxiously anticipating for his glad tidings and prayers for the future years. Sorrowful it was when the fortuitous masquerade turns into a disastrous one by incriminating the sons and daughters of the land with a rain of curse. Within a twinkle of an eye, the delightful atmosphere swings into a graveyard recession as parents grabbed their children hands and dispersed to their various abodes.
I took a break from my reading position of the historical adventure of Iludun Township which has been afflicted with a series of challenges ranging from insurgency, kidnapping, and herdsmen clashes with the current incessant intake of chemical substance, depression, a vicious cycle of suicidal increment and among other ocean of problems confronting the people of Iludun.
Iludun is once a prosperous town, trying to regain her garment of prosperity by fighting the evils of the land which flows in like a periodic seasonal condition. A season that bags a particular evil and overcoming it is kindred to climbing of Mount Everest. Here, comes the devil of the time: drug abuse; depression and suicide. Iludun is not a town in Mars neither was it in Jupiter. Iludun is a country in the planet, having her bearing in West Africa, located on the most fertile land and that Iludun is my country, Nigeria.
Nigeria has been battling with a number of problems and to phantom, whether it is as a result of the spell cast by the masquerade or our hand-fetch problem is a riddle difficult to unbundle by me. Drug abuse, depression, and suicide are misfortune ladder of new development that Nigeria youths have mounted. Having the erroneous thinking of subjecting themselves to excessive intake of hard drugs and thereby committing suicide is perceived as the only way out of their bewilderment.
Suicide, drug abuse, and depression have a very close and interconnected relationship. More than 90% of people who fall victim to suicide suffer from depression, have a substance abuse disorder or both. Depression and substance abuse combine to form a vicious cycle that all too often leads to suicide. Many, who experience such severe depression as a result of academic flag-down, loss of a job, relationship breakup frequently turn to drugs, alcohol, gambling and other risky behavior to numb their pains and ameliorate their negative feelings.
The rate at which drug abuse and suicide tragedy are increasing in our society is alarming that a day will not pass by without having a record of suicide. Disheartening is the level of its expansion as it takes a geometric progression (GP) of acceptability among youths and that of an arithmetic progression (AP) of abatement among concerned stakeholders. This menace of suicide and chemical substance needs to be curtailed in order to protect our teeming workforce and to declare a state of emergency in the health sector would not be considered as an irrelevant choice at this critical state of ours. Organizing town hall meetings or seminars by community or religion leaders will also assist in extinguishing the fire outbreak of this apocalypse.
It’s featured in my last article that our entertainment industry (music industry and Nollywood) needs to be regulated by the concerned regulatory bodies because the promotions the so-called entertainers gave to narcotics and stimulant drugs such as marijuana, alcohol, Indian hem, shisha, and the likes penetrate and dismantle the status quo fabrics of the cultural value and norms of the society and getting a wide coverage among the youths is indisputable, as a result of the competitive market of the telecommunication industry which makes gadgets affordable to all and sundry. More so, taking of alcohol, cocaine, heroin, tramadol, caffeine, glue, and smoking of marijuana among youths of this era is an adulterated exposure of demonstrating Big Boys and Big Girls. What a warmth embracement given to calamity!
Not quite long, this year, are the sardonic reports of adults jumping into the Lagos lagoon and others hanging themselves. But the trend has dramatically changed as more teenagers engage in the suicidal act through consumption of SNIPER and other insecticides or pesticides drugs. Lugubrious is the wrong baton collected by students of higher institutions as reported cases of suicide flow in day-in, day-out from the academic garden of our educational sector. The fruits keep falling off, and we are incapacitated. Where have we gotten it wrong? Is this how we will continue to wallow in this ocean of disaster without a remedy?
How can we quarantine the society from this imminence of suicide? It’s apposite we launch a war against drug abuse and its twin sister, suicide (WADAS) by having an inclusive fight from all stakeholders in order to exterminate the devilish root of the hazardous tree. This synergetic fight cut across the family institution, political institution, religious institution, and civil society.
Repositioning the family structure to the ancient day’s setting where the father’s patriarchy attributes are not debased or interchange. The father still maintains the normalcy as the head and provider of the family, and the mother also sustains her mentoring, grooming, nurturing, pruning, and shepherding position. Knowing the company that our children keep, the friends or peer they go out with, the books they read, the TV shows they watch is a job that does not need to be outsourced or contracted out to a third party. Forming an alliance with the religious centers in preaching against drug abuse and cleansing the minds of their congregation with the words of GOD shouldn’t be taken with levity hands by our clerics.
Nigerian governments need to wake-up from their slumber state. They should buckle up their shoes of protectionism; fasten up their belt of vigilance and not to expatriate their role of watch-dog. A conjoint relationship needs to be reinforced among the three arms of government to tackle the catastrophe. Expanding the workforce of NAFDAC and equipping them with sophisticated and modern apparatus that will assist them in detecting the higher concentration of these chemical substances. NAFDAC in their capacity should ensure that an uncompromised monitoring and inspection of pharmaceutical industries, distribution channel of drugs, and our borders in order to eradicate the prevalence of hard drugs. The national orientation agency (NOA) needs to rekindle our opulent cultural norms and values which strictly frown against unethical behavior. Having a nationwide orientation via social media, placement of adverts, jingles, and seminars to educate and enlighten Nigerians of the damages and effects of drug abuse to our society and the next person that might fall, victim, if we fold our arms might be our relatives. It is also incumbent on our legislators and judiciary to rise up and shield families and their children by passing Drug Safety Bills and impose stiffer penalties for drug peddlers. More needed is the active voice of NGOs’ in making sure that the fluke doesn’t survive.
Iludun glory is dwindling as her rock of bounties is weathering off. Oba Adeyeye is a man of honesty and impeccable characters, fully robed in a white garment that’s devoid of dirt. A king that fetches the love of his people through his unmatched gallantry and unrivaled uprightness. However, his celerity in nailing down the evil of the land proves otiose. Iludun revitalization of greatness lies in the hands of the king and his people, but they fail to untapped the root of the matter that; “he who plants venomous corn at his backyard will surely have the company of his kinsfolk in harvesting its fruits.” The venomous corn is cultivated by the masquerade with a grown-up plant of the kinsfolk and a deadly fruit of menace. Oba Adeyeye was restless as the cry of rescue was uninterruptedly gushing out from the council of Chiefs, elders of the land, and sons and daughters of the soil consistently reverberating to the ears of the king to proffer a lasting solution to the monster that sites his headquarter in Iludun. The king did not have any other option than to declare a curfew for the purpose of having a spiritual sacrifice to OLODUMARE in order to cast away the demons and make peace reign in the land. The name acquisition of “Iludun” to “Ilukan” is at stake. Who will pay off the debt of Iludun and thereby protect her from patent and trademark encroachment?
Dauda Taoheed writes in from Lagos via Dawood.taoheed94@gmail.com