The Society After The Election

WHEN we bemoan insecurity, we tend to talk about terrorism, which is terrible because of the mass murders involved. But there are other ways that make Nigerians to live in fear, more than ever these days- other senseless killings.

This past February, it was around 6pm when I used the pedestrian bridge at Lekki phase 1 before ascending, I observed that the usual crowd was absent -quite unusual. At the top, I saw a young man who was sat, with his back on the wall of the bridge. A shirt was thrown over his face. Closer, I noticed that the right leg was a little swollen and out of position. I saw smears of dry blood on the knee area and on the Khaki trousers; not so much.

He had on canvas shoes on both legs. That person wore pink socks which went well with the check shirt with a blue background.He was a colourful young man who looked forward to a bright and colourful future.

With the traces of blood and the clearly battered state, I concluded that he must have been involved a in a fight and hurt the leg seriously. As I passed, I glanced at him with a look, I hoped conveyed to him what I felt about public fights; with his face covered, I was sure, he felt ashamed about his appearance and waited for the dark to crawl home. But I turned back and accosted him “Hello, what happened to you?”

No reply to the repeat of my question. I looked hard at him frowning when a man hurrying past told me “he is dead”.
There was no pool of blood to show he was so seriously wounded which meant he must have been brought there after he passed away through violence.

As another young woman who stood and pondered observed that it could have been a fight otherwise, they would not have hidden the body, she reasoned. Why did they take so much pain to take him to the top of the bridge? Why not to the hospital where help could have reached him if he were a victim of an accident. Would the state of his dress not be worse? There were no tears, no blood stain on the shirt. So who dressed it up and took the body up there?

One man summarized that it reflects Nigeria of today which could not be argued because at the foot of the bridge, quite a number of big men were gleefully engaged with the antics of tadpoles in the drainage. So who did it? Who was the young man? Whatever, we want the law to take seriously those other killers; ritual killers who in other societies may be identified as serial killers. Anybody who kills for the sake of it is sick. We still condemn violence and demand that it ceases in this country after 2015 elections.
Be watchful

It was just one week after the incident of the mystery body that I had to use the bridge again. I was not surprised that even fewer people were about at about the same time, at 6pm. But the paraplegic beggar was on the bottom steps as usual. At the top, and huddled together were about five or four beggars who carried sticks. Well away from them was a sightless beggar who was led by a young woman; the way we see them most of the time.
At the sight of the men, the thought that came to mind was that one had not seen beggars with so much vigour in a long time.

The lull in activity as we await elections must have brought them out was the thought; they did look very tired and so dark the way they sprawled, crouching showed that they were hiding. I had to hurry down when one of them wondered aloud, something about “madam” to the others amusement.

I was still wondering about it the following day when it came to me that a blind man could not have seen, and neither would he gossip.

But I have not stopped worrying ever since. Were they talking about me? How did they know that a woman passed by.
Of course it would be glorious if all the blind have sight. The situation would make a comedy in the good days. These days though, it makes for suspicion. With the one on terror, everyone needs to be watchful so that it does not repeat itself. There is no need to be delicate about it we have listened to the call to look out for strange situations. In the aftermath of terrorism repentant insurgent will have to be rehabilitated; criminals should be made to see the result of their action and murderers would have to face the law of the land. That is the society we want after the elections. We want a society we can live in safely as it was a long time ago.