In our everyday lives we encounter enduring testimonials of the warmth and beauty of the Nigerian mind which is daily obscured and tarnished by bad rulers.
For me, one of such testimonials occurred a couple of years back, at an obscure
Station of the Nigerian Police Force located in Ofosu, Edo State Nigeria.
Whilst driving from Lagos to Imo State, my vehicle, at the unholy hour of about 19.00hrs, packed up. Aboard, I had my
entire family: wife and kids and two others. Anybody familiar with the terrain
knows full well that getting stranded, after nightfall, with a faulty car on
the Benin-Ore road was as near a death sentence as one could get.
Lo and behold, out from the blues, come men of the
Nigeria Police Force, who’s Station though nearby, had been out of sight, to
the rescue. The Policemen assist in pushing the vehicle over to their Station
and virtually roll out the carpet for yours truly and my household. The
Divisional Police Officer (a man from a segment of Nigeria our warped political
rulership will want to portray as being in perpetual conflict with my part of
Nigeria), after advising that he could not vouch for the Guesthouses in the
neighborhood, offers and does actually vacate his official quarters for the
convenience of my family, On my part, I spent the night on 'guard duty' with
the officers and men discussing Nigerian issues.
The Police Men and Officers I encountered at Ofosu
were neither from Neptune nor Jupiter, they were merely doing what most
Nigerians will do to someone in need – render good natured assistance. No
mention of any gratification whatsoever and my efforts to appreciate (in material terms) the
hospitality of the policemen at the station the next morning was staunchly
rebuffed.
When such security operatives who sacrifice
enormously for the country die on duty or retire from service, payment of their
entitlements becomes a problem as often times, their bosses (the people I refer
to as insecurity agents) have done away with the monies.
Add the retinue of kleptomaniac rulers who have
invested massively in fanning the embers of ethno-religious and geo-political
divides for personal gain to the polity and what do you get: our present
brutish reality
Effective restructuring and renegotiation of
Nigeria is a sure panacea to our likely doom.
http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/
Picture: Nigeria Police Emblem
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