Repeatedly I have argued that a nation that prioritize sympathy in lieu of competency will suffer in terms of economic and social development. Everything we are witnessing today- the thriving of abnormality, the shutting down of common sense, the justification of all things in the name of politics and unjustified rewards for incompetence are all indicators of the sickness of this society. If the system is not sick, NEPA Bill wouldn't have been substituted for WAEC certificate. Regrettably the President has no fault in all of these, it's we the people that made the obscenities possible. We have tolerated abnormality for so long that we now deem it normal.
Few days ago, at APC campaign rally in Ikeja Lagos, three journalists were shot including the Political Editor of The Nation newspaper. A leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo) was reportedly stabbed with knife at same venue. Of all the people affected by this sad incident, only MC Oluomo got people and government attention while nothing was heard about the health status of the affected journalists.
At Eko Hospital where MC Oluomo obtained quality treatment before he eventually traveled abroad, armed policemen with patrol vans were on stand with many top politicians trooping in and out to register their solidarity and presence.
I witnessed a similar situation in Lagos Garage, Ijebu Ode late last year. I arrived there around 6pm and the entire environment was volatile. Everyone looked terrified as they gathered in groups discussing. Suddenly, a team of heavily armed mobile policemen that stood in front of a security patrol van parked near the Oando Filling Station by Ondo Road axis of Lagos Garage began shooting into the air..
Later, I gathered the mobile policemen were those attached to a popular Chairman of the garage transport union and that the shooting was because the Chairman was in the neighbourhood for a meeting. Never have I witnessed an open display of obscenity like this. A garage Chairman guided and escorted by federal security men! This is sickening.
After the Lagos incident, I realised it's now a normal practice but the question I have been asking is when did we get to this stage of depravity?
Until we challenge this scourge, we'll end up building a society where thugs and miscreants will not only have a say but decide for intellectuals and credible Nigerians. Our politicians need to have a rethink and realize we cannot achieve greater Nigeria by their myopic and selfish attitude. This practice cannot elevate any society to anything significant other than raising people with nuisance value. Credible individuals with integrity and legitimate work no longer have any value yet we say we are making progress. Our banana is rotting but we say it's ripening.
