by Jumoke Aruleba
I have a confession to make. I love Nollywood movies. In fact I long for moments when all chores are done and everyone is asleep so I can put my legs up and watch a good ‘home video’. I particularly enjoy the Nigerian action movies, the ones where the gunshot rings several minutes before a shot has been fired, where the dead man keeps breathing and even more interestingly, where a ghost would carefully look left and right before they cross the road. I love the incredulous scenes in a Nigerian movie.
Sadly, each time news breaks about the Boko Haram sect, I literally have to pinch myself to be sure that I am not watching one of my Naija films. That is how incredulous it always sounds to me. For example, just a few days after the military informed us that the leader of the BH sect had been killed, he resurrects from the dead and says, o boy, I never kpai o! Then the ‘I’m alive, you’re dead’ tug of war commences and quite frankly, I cannot remember how that scene ends. I have also lost a count of how many times he has been killed. I think this is his third death. Is he dead or alive today? We don’t know. Do we even care?
Can you count how many bomb blasts we have had in this country in recent years? Do you have an idea how many times President Jonathan has condemned killings and bombings in several locations? In fact, I believe his team already have a ready made template for bomb blasts. Once there is a blast, they just edit the name of the location and issue the press release. And you say this isn’t like a Nollywood movie? Do you have an idea of how many State Governors have taken pictures with bomb blast victims lying in their hospital beds? A photo op must not be lost. Just like actors, they contort their facial muscles and try look like they care.
How about the big one? That of the Chibok Girls? The debut of Mrs Jonathan’s short lived acting career. Chai! Chaaai! This blood that you are shearing! I think she gave up when she realised that tearing up is not as easy as Genevieve and Omotola make it look. It is several months after that drama, six long months since it became fashionable for us to carry a placard with a hashtag like Mimi O and take a picture for Instagram. It would make our IG followers think we give a damn. And you say we aren’t all actors?
Today marks the 180th day since the kidnap of the Chibok Girls. Coincidentally today is also the International day of the Girl Child. This year’s theme is Empowering the Adolescent Girl: ending the cycle of violence. How apt! In fact, I think the United Nation had Nigeria in mind when they were choosing that theme. Today, the drama continues. We do not seem any closer to either returning the abducted girls or ending this terror. Like a badly written Nollywood script, it looks like the end will never come.
Whilst I am aware that the Nigerian Military is currently fighting the insurgents, I wonder how much of it is propaganda. Like Shekau, will the dead rise again? I know it sounds absurd but is this absolutely impossible in Nigeria? Seriously though, how did we even get here? How did the Boko Haram gain so much ground? How do they get funded? Are they truly in existence just to frustrate Goodluck Johnathan as a lot of my Niger Delta friends believe? Will they ever disappear? Will this drama ever end?
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Jumoke blogs at The Naija Verdict.
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent
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