They Don't Really Care About Us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
– Michael Jackson
On June, 25th, the world will mark the
third year anniversary of the death of the late great Michael Jackson. Three
years ago when Michael Jackson died, the world witnessed a joint frenzy of grief unlike no
other time. For those of us who absolutely adored Michael, our appreciation of
his achievements in music and the legacy of his philanthropy shows no sign of
waning.
Michael left behind music that
still echoes in every corner of the globe. In his melodious body of work,
Michael told the world stories of unity, understanding, patience and peace. As I
write my annual tribute to the King of Pop, I can’t
help but recall that final image of Michael dancing just hours before he passed
away. As Michael and his dancers navigated in military-style movements, the
stereo blasted; “(Doom, Doom, Doom Doom) All
I wanna say is that they don't really care about us (Doom, Doom, Doom Doom) All I wanna say is that they don't really
care about us).
Michael’s song, ‘They
Don’t Really Care about Us’ conveys the
undeserving injustice inflicted on people together with the strife suffered by
the innocent, in a world that is often cruel and uncaring. Michael expressed
his songs in a highly personal way. They were often about what was going on in his
life from his perspective, but his messages were almost always about the bigger
picture. In this song, Michael represented himself as everyone in society who
has been on the receiving end of abandonment. The song was one of his biggest
hits and an aggressive hip-hop production about social ills.
One would be hard pressed to find any other country in the world at present
that has more social ills than Nigeria. From the barbaric suicide mass-murder
of innocent people, to the counter-accusations of a most sensational bribery
case, to the ineptitude and disorientation of the densest leader we have ever
had, to an increasing surge of ethnic suspicion and incessant bigotry, Nigeria
has definitely seen better days. But of all these issues, the one that has left
Nigerians in a daze is the degree of violence targeted at innocent citizens
while the government looks on nonchalantly.
It would probably be fair to say that the final act in the tragedy of what
Nigeria is becoming is yet to be written. But enough of the story has already
unfolded to conclude that the Jonathan administration is a catastrophe that has
failed to deliver on their primary duty to protect the citizens of this
country. Judging by the bewildered look on President Jonathan’s face every time
he is confronted with a tragedy, one wonders if, before he took his oath of
office, anyone took the time to explain to him that an integral part of his responsibility as the Head of State is to protect Nigerians,
take accountability for the welfare of the country and stop any destabilization
of authority.
After last weeks’ tragic mass murder of innocent Nigerians, it was a
forlorn looking President we saw speak about his despair, telling us in a
rather pathetic manner that Nigeria must now look for God’s intervention. It
is really ridiculous that a national tragedy occurs in a nation Mr Jonathan
governs and all he can offer to a people who are scared, lost, disunited and
confused is basically…, next to nothing. Meanwhile, his administration is
diligent in colluding with oil marketing ‘armed-robbers’ to plant secret
recording devices and mark dollar bills in order to thwart a report likely to
expose their bosom-buddies.
Since the violence started, the president has made several hollow pronouncements
on the state of security. He has told us of far reaching conspiracies, of
boogie-men in his government and given us dates for the total amelioration of
Boko Haram. But regardless of what he has said, even he has to come to terms
with and address the yawning gap that exists between his shallow oratory of
peacekeeping challenges and his ‘will’ and capacity to meet that challenge. The
president’s words of ‘never again’ and ‘by June, it shall be over’ are of no
comfort or importance to anyone unless he can put an end to the violence or
give us an understanding of our Security forces inability to respond decisively
to the present threat in Nigeria.
Towards the end of 2011 Mr Jonathan announced that he knew who the sponsors
of the Boko Haram offensive were and that some were in government. But till
this day, we have not seen those people exposed and brought to full justice.
Instead, the one man who the world has identified to have been instrumental in
igniting the initial conflict with the original Boko Haram, Senator Ali
Modu Sheriff, appears to enjoy a sort of presidential protection from Mr
Jonathan.
To understand and learn from
the still unfolding tragedy, the president must go beyond his rhetoric and answer
hard questions about why his administration has been unable to translate its security
commitments into effective practice. He must accept that he has failed woefully
in his position to protect and make provision for the welfare of the Nigerian citizenry. He must confront
the fact that the careless and stubborn choices he has made regarding
who runs our national security and how they run it has contributed in bringing
this country to the brink of total chaos.
The buck stops with President
Jonathan! He is the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian armed forces; he has
authority over the military and law enforcement. He has a duty to use all
necessary apparatus to bring an end to the offensive against Nigerians. The
burden to find ways to deter the
mass murder and act on early warning signs to protect civilians before the
death toll becomes uncountable is his and his alone. If the president feels
overwhelmed by this primary duty, he can explore alternative options such as reorganizing
his security in exchange for a team that is better able to handle the disaster.
He can also ask for assistance from intelligent external forces or better still,
he can step aside. Leadership is not meant for everyone and if President Jonathan cannot handle the
job that he opted for, then he should just resign. The later option seems more
pertinent now that Mr Jonathan makes the outrageous judgment of jetting out to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to attend a UN Earth Summit, at a
time that the earth in his country burns and his people die.
We
are witnessing dark days in Nigeria; days of abandonment, threat and undeserving injustice
inflicted on people, together with a strife suffered by innocent people, in an
atmosphere cruel and uncaring. People take the law into their hands because
they feel anxious and they feel as if the people in authority don’t really care
about them. As I consider the un-seriousness of our national security chiefs
and ineptitude of President Jonathan and as I recall the desperate words
Michael Jackson sang at a time he felt abandoned, I too am inclined to repeat
his words and tell Nigerians, “All I wanna say is that they don't really care
about us!”
Michael Jackson was my favorite singer. His inspirational
songs and strong lyrics are very powerful and three years after his death, he
is still very much missed. As we mark the anniversary of his passing, I believe that the messages his music conveyed still inspire and motivate
people to change the world for the better. Let’s hope it can do something for
us her in Nigeria.
Peace to you brother!
Twitter- @hanneymusawa
By far the worst administration. Gej has to go. If u r a GEJ fan then u shud be whipped in this country. And why northern Nigeria? Just why? I defntly knw the muslims are not behind the bombings. Whoever thinks so does not have a brain. Sm1 is trying to kill the north off, and we think we r better off without them but that's a blatant lie.just look at the case in kaduna now, when we r watching football we are all united, screamin and huggin one another, we don't know religion then, when thers a rise in fuel price we are also united.Gej has to GO! The insecurity is way out of hand.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Tony. While I think that there is more than meets the eye with the whole Boko Haram issue, I dont think I'd go as far as saying that someone is setting the North up. I think there are different components of what we know as Boko Haram. Hopefully time will expose those who harm innocent people with this Boko Haram tool. Again thanks.
Deleteyaaap u r sooo right
ReplyDelete