Nigeria: A Nation Of Cultists, Rapists And Pedophiles In High Places By Ikechukwu Mbachu

My heart bleeds as I write; I can’t
help but ask how did we get into the
sorry pass? How did we sink this low?
Where and how did we lose it as a
people and a nation?
Nigeria is rapidly becoming a theatre
of the absurd, not a single day goes
by without news of one sordid tale or
another. In Nigeria, the obnoxious and
awkward does not rain, it pours!
Nothing is news in Nigeria anymore.
Nigerians have sadly developed a thick
skin for bad news. Nothing shocks
Nigerians anymore. According to the
late cerebral journalist, Dele Giwa,
Nigerians have been shocked to the
level of “un-shockability.”
In just three weeks Nigeria have
witnessed enough absurdities that
would probably totally crumble some
other countries. In the last three
weeks, news headlines include stories
of multiple buildings collapsing in a
day, in a country where there was no
natural disaster. The incineration and
painful death of 42 innocent persons
in a school in Yobe State; children
whose only crime was seeking for
knowledge. The scandalous score line
in two football matches, (67-0 and
79-0) which is reminiscent of the
Nigerian example of democracy, where
16 is greater than 19 and 5 is greater
than 27. Add to these, the River State
House of Assembly mayhem, the news
of a pastor raping two eleven years
old girls and the Senate’s indirect
approval of marriage of underage
girls.
If happenings in Nigeria in recent
times are indicative of the future,
then I am afraid we are in big trouble
with our leaders both spiritual and
temporal as their only purpose it would
seem is to ruin the country. How else
does one explain the sight of
lawmakers frolicking and associating
with miscreants? How does one
explain the rape of children by
pastors? How does one explain the
circuitous endorsement of marriage to
minors by people who should be making
laws against such condemnable
practices?
Nobody is in doubt that cultism, rape
and pedophilic activities are very
prevalent in Nigeria and constitute a
real menace. But it becomes
particularly worrisome when leaders
both spiritual and temporal indulge
and actively promotes the very evil
they are supposed to fight against.
The first case in point is the River
State House of Assembly mayhem.
Watching the YouTube clip of the
melee, one couldn’t help but cringe in
horror at the barbarity of the whole
thing, the vulgarity, the viciousness
and savagery, I couldn’t help but
shudder in disgust at the kind of
leaders (I find it very difficult to call
them leaders) we have in this country.
Is this the kind of democracy
Nigerians deserves? Is this the
democracy we fought for? Rivers
state legislators seem to have
contrived their own version of
democracy; democracy of thugs for
thugs and by thugs?
Watching the clips, I was appalled by
three things; The invasion of the
hallowed ground of the state assembly
complex by hoodlums and the chanting
of cultist slogans right in the
presence of so many law enforcement
officers. Apparently, the security
officers were so focused on making
their individual paymaster happy that
they simply forget their duty and
joined in the fight. The sight of a
lawmaker boasting to fellow cultists
about how he viciously attacked other
lawmakers made my gut churn with
revulsion. But the most brutal and
unforgettable image was that of a
lawmaker attacking a fellow legislator
with the intention to maim/
permanently incapacitate him. What
kind of human being does that if not
a hoodlum or hired killer? In saner
climes, all the lawmakers and officers
who took part in that show of shame
would have been rounded up and
brought to justice.
But this is Nigeria, a country where
anything goes. The only thing that
matters is the power behind you and
the higher the power behind you, the
greater the level of obduracy.
Watching these clips, I am deeply
worried about the future of the
country. A lot of people in Nigeria
agitate for the generational shift in
terms of leadership. They oppose the
preponderant proportion of those they
see as old and tired men holding
political positions. They desire more
space for youths in our political
landscape. While, I share the same
sentiments, however the
“wrestlemania” fight in rivers state
has partially forced me to have a
rethink. Most of the gladiators in the
melee were youths full of gladiatorial
energy and they exhibited it very well
in their fight. So how are we sure the
youths are better than the so called
elders?
Away from the Rivers state brouhaha,
it is clear that the country is
descending into moral anarchy when
news of pastors who are supposed to
act as moral guides raping underage
girls turn to a daily headline. How
come pastors who are supposed to be
on higher moral grounds are
descending to the level of brutes?
What could be responsible for this
perversion? How come the so called
spiritual leaders are giving in to the
allures of the flesh? How come our
spiritual leaders who should serve as
moral compass for the nation have
become the very people committing
the most heinous crimes?
While one is reluctant to comment on
the current controversy in the senate
concerning the age of marriage
because of its controversial nature,
suffice to say that considering the
precarious state of the girl child in
Nigeria, any law that remotely looks
like it supports underage marriage is
simply abhorrent. While on the surface
the bill may have nothing to do with
underage marriage, however its
passage will embolden pedophiles
(especially people like the bearded
senator from Zamfara state) with
such sentiments.
In conclusion, while, the Fela Anikulapo
Kuti called those in high places VIP
(vagabonds in power) I chose to call
them CRPP (cultists, Rapist Pedophiles
in Power): In all honestly, there is no
gainsaying that conduct of our
leaders (spiritual and temporal) leaves
a sour taste in the mouth. If we don’t
get it right morally, how are we going
to get it right developmentally and
technologically? The truth is with
these kinds of morally bankrupt
leaders Nigeria might remain in the
cul-de-sac of underdevelopment for a
very long time.
Everything happening in Nigeria points
to a nation that is plummeting, a
nation that is decaying, a nation
whose moral fibers is been torn to
shreds by its leaders. Nigeria has
become a nation of cultists, rapists
and pedophiles in high places. Can we
continue like this? I seriously doubt it,
something just have to give!

Ikechukwu Mbachu
Brandenburg Technical University,
Cottbus, Germany
Email: ikechukwembachu@
gmail.com