Tragedies have a way of reminding us of our frailties. Indeed, no matter how much humanity can claim to have conquered the forces of nature, there are simply some things that are beyond him. In the circumstance, the best he can do is either to reduce the frequency of occurrences or mitigate the impact once they show up. One of humanity’s greatest lessons of adaptation must therefore be in his ability to learn from disasters, and to put in place, structured responses to when they occur. It is the absence of the latter that makes him different from lower animals.
It is amazing how ordinary things come to remind us of how far down the nation is on the evolutionary ladder, so to speak. While yours truly has been doing some reflections on the state of the nation in recent time particularly our man-made disasters, this piece is actually prompted by the death of veteran journalist Mr Dimgba Igwe, penultimate week. Ten days after the passing of the journalist, everyone who matters have extolled the late journalist’s qualities as humanist, thorough-bred professional, an outstanding Nigerian and many more. Nearly everyone I have heard speak on the death somehow agree that his death was tragic as it was unfortunate. Whereas the closest to “inevitability” of his death was probable outcome(s) from the injuries suffered after being knocked down by the criminal now on the run, I haven’t heard anyone succumb to the fatalistic nonsense that his death was anything “decreed”. In all, there was a sense of admission that he was yet another victim of cold, indifferent and uncaring society.
Accidents are of course, sometimes inevitable. However, death, in the circumstances in which he was alleged to have been killed, in a relatively busy neighbourhood, should ordinarily provoke deep, probing questions much of it about what we have become as a people. I hasten to say here that while the outpouring of outrage and grief, are in order, it comes to nothing without the larger society’s acceptance of moral culpability in its making. For while it was bad enough that an innocent man was knocked down in the course of an exercise to keep his body in shape, that the culprit could take to flight in such circumstances obviously says a lot about the state of our humanity, but even more about the urban jungle which we now live. Obviously, it starts from the onlooker programmed to indifference; the numb public who wouldn’t care that a fellow citizen was cut down, right down to the atomistic players in the half-way home described as hospices – all – including the larger society – must see themselves as principal casts in the long play that evinces our collective retrogression – our famed descent to the state of nature.
As they say, there’s no need crying over spilt milk. Clearly, no amount of outrage will bring the dead back. However, if we agree that the society is served when appropriate lessons are learnt from tragedies such as that, we can begin at least to make some headway.
The question is – are we ready to learn?
If it seems any reassuring, the Inspector General of Police has assured the public of the “determination” of the police to arrest and prosecute the killer. I say big deal. The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on its part wants information from the public. Story, story…
At the moment, the much we know is that the killer drove a Toyota Corolla car. Was the vehicle registered or not? None of the eyewitnesses claim to know and there has been no suggestion of anyone stepping forward to assist the police with vital information on the basis of which it might proceed with serious investigation. This unfortunately in the age of phone cameras and mobile phones. Save for the lone corpse in the morgue, the incident of September 6 may well have passed as a fiction. That’s how bad things are. In the circumstance, Nigerians are left to wonder whether police assurances mean anything. It comes close to a classic Nigerian tale of citizen-indifference reproducing class inaction with the usual suspects – the police –tasked to play the magician.
Where do we go from here? Tough question. Just as the culprit may never be found, we console ourselves that the tragic death and the equally tragic circumstances surrounding it are somewhat mitigated by a life of solid accomplishments. We are supposed to move on, hoping and praying as we are wont to do – that such occurrence never happens again. Just like that? That is what I call the big delusion – the idea that a problem will disappear by wishing it away.
Moving on – I believe that we have a big problem in this country. Admittedly, the problem is a complex one. I have heard it said that the problem with Nigeria is leadership. While there can be no overstating the leadership dimensions of our problem, it seems to me also that the problem of follower-ship has been somewhat understated. I am not here referring to flashes of aberrant behaviour that is routine and commonplace, but rather the pervasive delinquency, which very much like cancer, now runs through the entire gamut of the normative order, particularly among the class described as followers. It’s seems now only a matter of time before anarchy is loosed upon us all.
By then, the question of how to build a society of the future on a wobbly sub-structure of citizenship would be superfluous. It’s like seeking to erect a 10-storey building on straw foundation – an impossible task.
Clearly, omens are bad. The symptoms of the anomie are obviously as engulfing as they are unsparing. The deluded but now regular Jonathan-forever TAN-crowd now plaguing the nation with their rallies – stomping stadiums across the country may have just become the latest raw materials for the looming anarchy. As for a section of the student movement –NANS – giving President Goodluck Jonathan administration, uncritical, unthinking and above all, unqualified endorsement for another term at a time one out every two youths are out there looking for a job, theirs’ at best is a catalyst to the coming self-help republic where everyone is on its own.
Think it’s far fetched? Think again.
