Several months ago, four young Nigerian men were lynched by a mob for stealing. The young boys ranging from the ages of 21-23 were stripped and beaten with hands, sticks, cement blocs and metal, until they died by a crown of men, women and children. I oscillated between being horrified and angered at what happened to those young men. In response, I wrote an article for an online newspaper. Although it is yet to be posted and the issue is no longer topical, I think it is nevertheless a relevant message for today’s Nigeria.

Ochlocracy

A few weeks ago, four young Nigerian men were brutally murdered on the conviction of a group of vigilante villagers. A community of mothers and fathers watched as four little boys; healthy toasts to vibrancy and potential slowly burned to death. A brother’s hero, a girl’s future, all reduced to four charred and contorted remains.

Their deaths are not an isolated event but a symbol of an insidious Nigerian problem. In the last month, at least one woman in Nigeria has been publicly stripped and violently molested by a mixed mob for stealing. In the next week, a boy will be beaten to unconsciousness and judged without trial as guilty of an offence punishable by death. We will hear the story of the ‘Aluu4’ in its many variations. We will be instantly outraged…then just as quickly retreat into our worlds; work, gossip, kids, traffic, church harvests, cheating spouses and DSTV schedules. We have bigger problems.

In the days since the killings, many have berated the state of the nation, and indeed Nigerians, as barbaric and inhumane. Perhaps. We must note howevert, that mob killings are not unique to Nigeria; ochlocracy seems to be an acceptable method of dispensing justice in many developing nations. Kenya, India and Tanzania for instance, are also countries where tires are used for more than earthly locomotion. In fairness to developing nations, incidences of extreme deviance occur even in the most advanced countries; countries with the strictest and most enlightened of laws. Accordingly, one can only imagine the interminable potential for evil in a society where laws are non-existent.
Welcome to Nigeria.

A nation where getting bombed in the office, shot in the market place or stabbed in your own home is not out of the ordinary, is a nation in crisis. Until we become truly concerned by how easy it is to die in Nigeria, we may continue to miss the gravity of the situation. Nigeria is a country at war with pockets of peace and temporary sanity.

While other nations create progressive laws, Nigeria lacks even the most basic law, one that guarantees the dignity and safety of the human spirit.

In a country where the police force inspires more terror than security, it is unsurprising that violence is the default solution to the simplest problems. Where an accused is jailed for decades without trial, it is understandable that good citizens ask, “Why wait?” as they exact retribution through savagery disguised as justice. As we generate our own electricity, water, entertainment, security, it is curious that our government expects us to wait for their action in the matter of our protection. Vengeance might be the Lord’s but the Nigerian certainly regards himself and the lord and the law. This is the reality of our nation; the inheritance of our fathers. It is the promise for our children.

The state of Nigeria’s legal system and legislation is disturbing. Comparatively, legislation around the world is expanding to cater for intellectual creativity, to regulate rape by husbands within marriages, to provide strict liability laws that automatically protect children and teens from predators. Legislation pertaining to even the most sensitive subjects, including organ donation and euthanasia, exists in many parts of the world! Realistic, progressive, tangible and fundamental, that is the law. Where are the Nigerian equivalents?

Our laws are comparatively primitive.

The key purpose of any government is to institute relevant laws. Where the law fails to align with changing social norms, the nation will remain stagnant. Where the law is disparate from the stark reality of the people, chaos must ensue. As Nigerians, we are well aware of our penchant for ‘jungle-justice’ and private retribution. Amazingly, we act scandalized on witnessing our lynching culture captured exposed via modern media. Shocked, we apparently are, to see those charred remains with macabre tire necklaces wound about their thinning necks, as if such only began on the 5th of October, 2012.

In our quest for answers, we must look closer at our lawmakers, reevaluate our judiciary and fundamentally, examine ourselves. Let the abomination in Aluu stand to us all as a reminder of the danger of our silence in these troubling times.

Until we wake up to our responsibility as Nigerians, we will witness the ‘Aluu4’ in many forms and watch with growing dread as larger numbers follow the noun Aluu. As typical Nigerians, we will of course continue on our knees in fervent prayers to God. We will ask Him to bless the works of our hands, our endeavours and our nation. We forget that in stooping to hear us, His ears are even closer to our soil; a soil wet with the blood of a million souls crying for justice. Nigeria is a pagan goddess; she swallows her children’s unborn dreams, and drinks the blood of her sons and daughters. Nigeria revels in her sin as with bloody palms her people raise unholy hands to God in a savage cry for vengeance upon Aluu.

He reminds us, “You are Aluu”.