As a country, we hardly pay attention to the most important things. On the contrary, we are often occupied with trivial, age-long divisions and matters of that nature which as mindset are not very different from fiddling while Rome burns. That is why, for instance, the nation’s cash cow, the oil sector, can be in dire peril with Nigerians cruelly shortchanged in terms of earnings, and most of what we hear are lamentations and wailings devoid of decisive actions. It is the same mental software that explains, at least to a large extent, how Nigerians can be besieged, their occupations in jeopardy, their movement drastically curtailed by terrorists, their future rendered uncertain and life goes on as usual.
A few months back, this columnist warned about the growing terrorism in Yorubaland and asked the question whether Yorubaland is becoming the new battleground for another terrorist-offensive. As far as I can remember, characteristic official silence, even from those who are supposed to care, was the response to that warning. Life continued as usual. So, if the bandits were test-running a strategy to invade Yorubaland or turn it into a war zone as they had done to the North-West and the Middle Belt, they had learnt enough from us to conclude that an escalated attack would be met with little or no resistance. Mark you, the politicians are still campaigning and saying very little about the enveloping and dangerous miasma.
A fortnight ago, The PUNCH, carried the ominous headline “Bandits return to the South-West.” This was in the immediate aftermath of the capture on his way from work of well known Political Science scholar and former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Adigun Agbaje, who escaped death by a whisker, with the windscreen of his car penetrated by bullets which were partially shielded by his cap. He was to be in the kidnappers’ den for another two nights before he was released. Some others were captured along with him in an intensive raid on the outskirts of Ibadan. It is remarkable that the incident sent shockwaves around the country and within the global community.
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