by Habeeb Kolade

The continual defective approaches to issues that border our sentimentalism seem to be the bane and have thus destroyed our sense of judgement and subsequently affected our actions are bothering issues. 

“FIVE ABSU STUDENTS GANG RAPE FEMALE STUDENT.”

So  read a screaming headliner late in 2011 after a rape video went viral online and gathered the interests of several Nigerians.

September 2011. Let me take you back! If you are one of those who has been infested with the social networking bug by then, you would easily recall! It was our own 9/11 when the atrocious “ABSU” rape case flooded the internet and made a massive impact on the emotions of Nigerians, both local and in the diaspora.  And virtually everyone that read about the incident or watched it exploded. When the Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, came out to dissociate the incidence from his state, many immediately came out with comments that he was a lying coward who just wanted to sweep the case under the carpet. Would you blame them for such assertions on a Nigerian state governor?

It wasn’t also surprising that some blogs revealed from “sources”, which they even termed reliable, the names of the raunchy students who were involved in the nefarious act after conducting the investigation from the corners of their rooms and probably with the aid of their internet or their simply sound “ingenuity”. Names like Zaki came up and the ingenuity of these bedroom detectives also germinated the departments as well as the level of the students! Those site traffic vampires!

While though it must be said that the viral video was what enabled the story to be revealed in the end as the man whose wife was raped knew about the incidence almost a year after it occurred, and after having lost his new child from the consequence of the rape of his pregnant wife, when he laid his hand on the video from his colleagues, it must also be said that it also in many ways showed the ease at which the gullibility of Nigerians, especially social media freaks can be played upon and the emotions easily toyed with. This some might say is due to the emotionality of an average Nigerian but it would be to run from the truth if not pointed out that Nigerians are susceptible to being fed stones in the name of apples and guess what, they take it in lock, stock and barrel without raising an inquisitive eyebrow, not the least.

Well, wasn’t it the same that happened when our great grandfathers traded their sons with the white men for mere pieces of mirror, salt and gunpowder? Well, we claim to have lent ourselves to civilization but unfortunately reverse is its impact on our civility as we have rather become rumour mongers who are impolite to rigorous enquiries about incidence before begin to drive home our conclusions from our error premised suppositions. Some even go on to garnish their stories and before you know it, the entirety of substance that might had been the iota of truth in the rumour gets debased.

The most pained were the students of Abia State University, most especially the accused students as well as their student leaders, who suffered asinine attacks from “fellow” Nigerians both local and surprisingly too in diaspora for being fiendish to have been associated with such inhumane and scandalous act. And all their efforts to refute the arrowed claims fell on deaf ears and were regarded as just a political means of quashing the evil incidence.

The inefficiency and the wavering reliability of the investigative department of the policing system of Nigerian might have been a cause of the shift in trust from the Nigerian detectives to traffic seeking bloggers who would do anything pull traffic to their sites and their jobless rumour mongering colleagues. And why won’t they do that when they have a ready market of gullible Nigerians who would accept stories and make conclusions without enacting the least form of enquiry or wisdom of judgement of filtering and balancing judgements!

Was it not paradoxical that the ferocious veracity of the claims of the mongers that the incidence had taken place within the boundaries of Abia State, particularly the state university, and by students of the state university turned out to be out of place and excessively false as the incidence whose tape went viral had indeed taken place in a local community of Rivers state, a certain Obite town in Etche Local Government Area, and was indeed carried out by students who had never visited the university walls for its purpose and people to who were in-laws to the raped victim who was again pregnant. Would you then begin another rampage of fury after revealing the truth? Definitely not! The Nigerians of today would cower into the webs and probably shoot out again when the next available unsubstantiated story pours out into the internet to serve as the ever ready amebo!

Would it not be paradoxical too that when the said case, whose justice has been delayed ever since, has received no support from the howling internet activists who suddenly disappeared when the real story came out? The man whose wife was raped, and lost their child to HIV complications from consequences of the rape, is now being repeatedly victimised by his inhumane commune who instead of reproaching the rapists have suddenly turned to bribing the police into dismissing the case! And it wasn’t surprising too when crucial items of the investigation disappeared from the court file and thus inhibited immediate judgement! And especially in a country in Nigeria, often is the case that Justice delayed is eventually denied. Where were Nigerians when he needed them? Well, the fact is they were never there? And what has happened to the real case? Well, nobody cares anymore! Sad.

The continual defective approaches to issues that border our sentimentalism seem to be the bane and have thus destroyed our sense of judgement and subsequently affected our actions are bothering issues. While it must be said too that most Nigerians have eschewed proper and analytical approach to issues but instead lend credence to and rush into conclusions from stories that carry mostly half-truths or sometimes no truth at all leading to corroded nous of judgment. Would this lead us anywhere? No! Never! It is also of note that most Nigerians too have turned mouth warriors and find it credible to “run their mouths” on issues, mostly sentimental, and when called to action cower in their rooms and leave the war for the victims alone to fight! Those feigners! Or would this be attached to the sudden disappearance of proper intuition in today’s youth having been sacrificed for frivolities?

And more would you wonder especially with the much talk about corruption, the bane is only escalating? Why? Well, most people that stand against it on public platforms are indeed vanguards of this immorality and are quick to bribe their way through difficulties! Are wars won on rostrums?

Evidently, our faked attention to issues would continue to sway the progress of this nation and until we begin to show genuinely our interest towards issues in this country through unrelenting actions rather than cooked words, our hopes for future glory might in the end turned another piece of joke – another of Baba Sala clownish theatrics!

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Habeeb Kolade, a Mechanical Engineering student of the University of Ibadan tweets from @Habeeb_X

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.