IN THE NORTH, SCANDALS SELL MORE THAN INSURGENCY
BY CHRISTIANA BABAYO
That news resonated round the globe and there were millions of tweets all talking about the scandal, now whether that was true or not, no one cares but one would wonder why it is such a big deal when this said “scandal” has not taken any life.
Not long ago, Bobrisky revealed that he had found a doctor that would carry out a surgery which would make him a complete female. That news got millions of reactions too.
In the ending part of 2020, the very famous Kannywood/Nollywood actress Rahama Sadau wore a dress that was said to have exposed her back. The picture was virtually in every social media platform and everyone’s phone. We tweeted and tweeted about it as if there was no tomorrow. They even wanted to sentence the beautiful girl on the grounds of her dressing, generating blasphemous comments on social media. How Nigerians stood for her is however a different story for another publication.
But what an irony. During the course of time, Nigerians especially Northerners, have made more noise about morals than the continuous killings that have made headlines longer than I can remember. One wonders if dead people are the ones who will actually uphold good morals.
The insurgency in the country has been no doubt a major concern but the attention given to scandals is even more overwhelming. When it comes to the security catastrophe that is showing obvious signs of obliterating the country, especially the northern region of Nigeria, we just throw a few tantrums here and there and move on as if it is a normal situation. The energy we use on these issues that best be described as frivolities, if channeled to the age long insurgency, we would have made appreciable progress by now.
Amnesty International reported that over 1100 people have been killed in rural areas in northern Nigeria amidst an alarming escalation in attacks and abductions during the first half of the year 2020. The northern Nigeria consists of about 19 states and statistically, this unrest in the north has killed over 8000 people and displaced over 200000 people in recent times alone. This figure gives me a big reason to worry. At this rate, the entire planet will be wiped off in a matter of years.
With this calamity dangling on our heads like a sword of Damocles we are supposed to dissipate our energy on issues that are in the vein yard of promiscuity and moral adjurations. Judging of celebrities, drifting our attention to scandalous issues and sticking to them cannot ever portray us as serious people that we are supposed to be. In some cases we even try to obstruct the law from taking its course just like in the case of Maryam Sanda. By stabbing her husband to death on ground of cheating, it was a despicable thing that she did and must not go unpunished, said Nigerians. But when she was sentenced to death by a court of competent jurisdiction, they turned round and accused the judge of being heartless.
There is no direction in our perceptions and judgments. This cannot take us anywhere.
If we put in same vigor into advocating for peace and frowning at the killings of these innocent men, women and children that are being killed on a daily basis, their souls will be proud that they belonged to this country. But what we do is shout for a while and then we grow quiet or meander into our old fashion of dissipating our energy on scandals, some of which are not supposed to be our business.
If we cannot not shout about these anomalies till we get results, if we cannot stand still against marauding scourge of insurgency, kidnapping, etc, things that are threatening our existence, let’s equally be quiet about rich folks and what happens in their private lives
