ASSASSINATIONS IN NIGERIA:

By Philip Odoemena, Publisher/Editor, Aroundtownusa.com

THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN YET

Political assassinations in Nigeria! What a price to pay for politics. With all the political killings currently going on in Nigeria, isn’t apparent that voter apathy may become all time high and voter turn out may become all time low? Conventional wisdom could assume that voters may decide not to vote on election days. at least for fear of one’s life. With all these in mind, several questions may come to mind. Does politics matter any more? Is political killing a threat to democracy? The answer to the first question is in the affirmative.

Yes, politics matters, more than ever in Nigeria, nothing could be farther from the truth, politics does matter. And the second question is even mind wrecking. Have we not been thought that killing a human being is a sin against God? Why is it then that political killings, disappearances, and torture are the order of the day in Nigeria? Isn’t true that politics for murder is unlawful, and is capable of causing devastating damage to the Nigerian society. Isn’t true that political killing is felonious and is an anatomy of genocide at its highest point?

Only three and half years into democracy, Nigeria is becoming the world’s least democratic democracy. Big money or money politics is showing that our politicians have short-term special interests rather than long-term national interest. These assassinations are only the beginning of the first hurdles in an obstacle course built by the “do or die” disconnected, selfish and purposeless desperate politicians. What a society. Every political assassination has many stories. A nation where the “young” democracy is at best a hopeless fiction, and most politicians are collaborators by necessity. What is Nigeria portraying to the rest of the world: a dark atmospheric portrait of a nation?

The question everyone is asking now is; who could be murdering these politicians? If you are looking for factual or serious investigative accounts of these killings, I suggest that you don’t hold your breath. More likely than not, all you can get might be some meandering and disjointed accounts, full of incomprehensible references, and sometimes, with an overwhelming tone of arrogance, everyone accusing everyone else. Has the few years of democracy made it possible for Nigerian politicians to become that cruel to each other? Would this become the Nigerian way of life every four years?

Having gone through civil war, military regimes, social crises, religious problems and ethnic conflicts, how could one be insane enough to be killing human beings for purely political reasons? A nation with a severely corrupt political and legal system, in addition to, a desperately poor populace has more serious problems to contend with than killing innocent politicians. After all, most of these assassinated politicians had contributed one way or another to the good of the society. Termination of their lives for political reasons is rather highly unfortunate. Nigeria does not need political candidates for murder. It does not need political warfare academy either. What it needs are politicians who can move the nation forward.

Nigeria already has a history of been a blood-drenched nation. Why killing more people in the name of politics. A country cannot continue endless catalogue of bloodbaths and genocides and still hope for progress. Political murder is a terrible crime against God and humanity. It is also explosive and shattering tragedy that has the potential to become a vicious circle. People may think that these killings are signs of human psyche gone temporarily berserk. It does not look like it. People who think that these assassinations are perpetrated by nutty people need to think deeper. The question is, among the politicians, who are safe and who is dangerous? In times like this, none of the politicians are one hundred percent protected from the flashes of irrational political violence that can erupt from the killers among themselves at any given time.

Irrespective of the political tragedies and democratic injustice that are present in the current polity, politics does matter. There are viable choices at the polls and countless crucial reasons to vote. The fact that political assassinations have the propensity to strangle new political voices, new ideas, and new leadership, and may even force voters off the ballot boxes and out of the public mainstream is excellent reason to make one’s vote count. The current trend of events is by no means the right way to give a much-needed new political direction to our country. For the few proud Nigerians, dot not dismay, take a political stand at this crucial stage. Be proud because you have faith in God. Be proud because you have the choice to vote for the candidate with which your soul deeply agrees. And that is all you can do.