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Sunday 1 July 2018

If It Rains Tonight, How Do You Plan To Keep Warm?


It's a cool Sunday evening and I just had a meal of hot rice and goat meat stew.
Shortly before I did, it threatened to rain and so I had to bring in the clothes I had hung on the line to dry.

As I packed the clothes in, I wondered how those who live in flood prone areas here in Port Harcourt will cope as it has been raining heavily for the past days and many people have already been forced out of their homes because of the flood.
Some business owners have closed shop too like they did for most of last year because of the flood - the government is yet to deal with the issue as promised.

As I thought about those in flood prone areas here in Rivers state who will have a hard time scooping water from their homes and keeping their children and property safe, I remembered those who probably wish all they had to deal with was flood. 

The mother who probably didn't have time to grieve her dead children because she had to scamper for safety and only heard about their mass burial on the news.

The man who probably watched his darling raped brutally before she was murdered in cold blood. He pictures her face now as he looks at his legs that have been cut off and he realizes that he may never walk again but even that wouldn't have mattered if his pregnant wife was by his side.

Then there is the little boy who has no idea where his parents and siblings are. As he sits amongst strangers he sees his sister's face and as he looks at the plate of food that has been handed to him - a plate of watery soup and eba, he wishes he could share it with her as he always did and he wonders why nothing has been done to catch the men who broke the peace and quiet he knew and took everything that was familiar - his parents and sister, their farms, food, property and friends.

He watches the men and women who have become his family in this place called a camp for Internally Displaced Persons as they discuss their ordeals - one woman has no idea where her children are, another watched her husband decapitated before her eyes and yet another man is still in shock as all he remembers is the heat from the fire he was saved from, he has no idea where his life has gone.

I think of them and I feel the tears drop from my eyes because while I have my warm room to lie in when it rains, my fellow country men have been deprived the right to warmth, peace, freedom of movement and association.

Some have been murdered in cold blood and others have been made refugees in a country that is not at war.

Over 200 women and children have died in Plateau, thousands have been buried having been murdered thoughtlessly in Benue and so many others in the Middle Belt live in fear because they know they are not safe and there is nothing they can do about it. 

The President advised that they learn to tolerate their fellow countrymen and even told them not to blame him for the killings.

The Defence Minister stated that whatever has happened is a communal clash resulting from the law against open grazing.

The Senate President thinks it is unfortunate that such killings are happening at a time when the country is preparing for an election.

The world is tweeting and talking but no one is accepting responsibility and none has been held accountable so far in a country where the lives of Cattle have been prized over that of Human beings.

A mockery is being made of humanity, a people's trust have been broken, a child is being made to feel that the world is against him, an army of aggrieved children is being bred, a generation that know nothing about love, warmth and kindness is being raised and all the leaders care about is the next election.

The killer herdsmen have brought terror like have never been witnessed in the history of Nigeria and no one has been made to pay.

We must keep talking about it and require a righting of this wrong as the next bloodshed may be closer than you think.

The cloud has gathered and if nothing is done, we may experience a downpour like we have never seen.

It may rain anytime, maybe tonight.

If it does how do you plan to keep warm?

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