Prayers for Our Soldiers, Our Nation, and Against Darkness -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

After all, we’re a nation of prayer warriors. Issues needing serious attention and practical solutions are often addressed with prayers. We’re spiritual people who prioritize spirit over physical reality. This mindset might be why the world has left us behind, yet we’re not bothered. We even defend our failures tactlessly and stupidly while the world laughs at us as it finds our attempt to defend failure amusing. This isn’t a dig at Daniel Bwala or anyone specific!

Nigeria is boiling. Its citizens are burning. Soldiers are being killed daily. Bandits are having a field day, celebrating the fall of our gallant men. They believe happiness means being trigger-happy, displaying utter incivility as if we’re in a primitive era — in a country that  has a government.

Our rulers are strategizing — not on securing citizens, residents, or territory, but on securing their seats through the ballot. Every elected politician pitches their tent with the ruling party in a democratic system where being in opposition means being in isolation or quarantined.

The country is in darkness. Those in Lagos are in darkness. Those in Borno are gasping for oxygen. Theirs is a double heat: heat of gunfire that led to the fall of our gallant servicemen and of the blazing sun. Electricity that could have helped cool down the ‘coolable’ heat is virtually absence.  The North is losing its sense and memory of light. What it knows is darkness.

The Southerners are deeply in debt. Electricity bill is now unbearable. Yet, paying the bills does not guarantee power supply — stable or unstable. What it guarantees is darkness which leads to collapse of businesses.

Democracy has lost its meaning except within the context of darkness and insecurity. Darkness is truly democratized; so is insecurity. Everyone is insecure and in darkness. The Yoruba think they have got the President. They think it is their turn to have the lighthouse that would  illuminate their paths. They are wrong! What they got is darkness — thick and frightening darkness.

The Kanuris and other Northeast ethnic groups were overjoyed when one of theirs became Vice President. They had one dream they thought would come true: an end to Boko Haram and its devastating attacks. With recent attacks sending servicemen and civilians to early graves, that dream looks like a mirage — an illusion. It’s a dashed hope.

The spate of insecurity, kidnappings, and killings is alarmingly unprecedented. Bandits operate freely with no resistance or with resistance that many see as choreographed resistance. It’s as if Nigerians are sitting on tenterhooks, waiting to see if democracy will give way to autocracy or banditocracy.

For the first time, a ‘serving’ senator confessed they’re doing nothing as an arm of government. This raises serious concern about government’s existence in Nigeria. Does a government really exist here?

“There is no oversight at the National Assembly anymore. We are doing nothing. The way the National Assembly is functioning amounts to nothing. I don’t know which is better between its existence and nonexistence. I am one of them,” said Senator Ali Ndume.

A government that no one questions and can’t be questioned only exists in name. A government lacking a neutral oversight body can’t be called a government. If it insists it’s a government, then it’s one that exists for its sake to serve itself, not the people.

Since the beginning of this month (or should I say this year?), our national dailies and internet have been flooded with news I detest reading. Every Nigerian should find killing of soldiers in dozens and in scores disgusting, disturbing, and unsettling. These soldiers are not killed by powerful countries with superior weapons, not by Iran’s missiles. They died because some guys hiding in our forests keep attacking them. This is painful.

What is even more painful is that the Nigerian government knows these terrorists’ locations and names, according to Dr. Ahmad Gumi. Yet nothing tangible has been done to bring them down. It’s safe to assume Gumi is right to have said government has the details of these terrorists because, to the best of my knowledge, the government has not refuted his claim.

In March alone, as I write, only God knows how many soldiers we have lost to terrorists. It’s not that they died for a peaceful Nigeria. True, they paid the ultimate price, yet we live as fragmented and insecure people gripped by fear. It feels like they died in vain. May our soldiers’ souls rest in peace. It’s our duty, not just government’s, to help their families — though we all need help.

Muslims are in Ramadan’s last ten days. Christians are deep in Lent. Let’s use this time to pray for Nigeria. The relentless killings of Muslims in mosques and other places in this month of Ramadan by terrorists have made Christian genocide claims seem hollow. As I’ve said before, what is happening in Nigeria is genocide against innocent Nigerians. No religious group is singled out for genocide. We need to pray for Nigeria. The country needs our help, though we are helpless too.

Our economy is battered and shattered; more than ever. Yet Iran is threatening the global economy when Nigeria’s economy is already on the brink. This chilling headline has been reported globally: “We are ready for a long war that will destroy the world economy – Iran” . It’s not an empty threat. The war’s impact — the energy crisis that it engenders — is already devastating Nigeria. Fuel price has soared astronomically with its ripple effects on staples, commodities, transportation, and on general cost of living. Yet many bigoted Nigerians see the America/Israel vs Iran conflict only through a religious lens.

To say Nigeria’s future is bleak with the ongoing conflict is neither to sound alarmist nor sound alarming. It is to face the reality. It’s preparing for the rainy day already knocking on Nigeria’s door. And since common sense doesn’t make sense in Nigeria any more, we do not need to act. All we need to do is to just pray, pray, and pray. May Nigeria not go down with us. May we not be in eternal darkness as the challenge of electricity continues to defy a solution.

My condolences to the families of our fallen heroes who died for our peace.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen 

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com