Don't die in Nigeria; nobody will remember your name

We do not know the names of any of the 73 people killed by suspected Fulani Herdsmen in Benue in one day. There are too many similar instances in the North-East.

Death is a part of life, however ironic it may sound.

We begin to mull over and prepare for our death from the day we become aware of the life that courses through us.

If nothing, we quickly learn that one can lose his lease on life, slowly after decades of living, or abruptly, at the end of a bullet or by accident.

From Nigeria to Nepal, when a life ends, cultures prescribe various rites to carry out.

There are many similarities across the board: the body is cleaned and treated with substances that delay the process of decay and decomposure. Then it is buried after necessary rites and ceremonies.

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The challenge usually comes where there’s no body to direct this care and goodwill towards.

Situations like these are why we have memorials.

 

After hundreds died in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, a center of peace was erected in memory of the victim and as a tribute to encourage peace between the religious and political ideologies that influenced the attack.

Till today, many of those victims have had centers, foundations and scholarships created in their names.

America is not an elite older brother in this regard; memorials abound, even in Nigeria.

One thing is certain though; if you die in Nigeria, it doesn't really depend on whether your body can be found. Except you have unlocked the higher levels of wealth and influence, nobody will remember your name.

Take the 73 people killed by suspected Fulani Herdsmen in Benue in two local government areas in the space of one day.

"Suspected Fulani Herdsmen"

Violence meted by gun-wielding bandits reported to be Fulani Herdsmen has ravaged much of Nigeria’s middle belt for decades.

However, in recent months, it has escalated.

Shortly after dealing with the floods in his state, Governor Ortom has been tasked with finding a solution to a nomadic army that enters into farm lands and leads its cattle to graze as they like.

These bandits have dominated the news for months for carrying guns and commiting acts of murder that the FG fails to address or even acknowledge.

Perhaps it is why when these unfortunate souls were buried; they were sent to the afterlife with not so much as headstones.

Weeks after the massacre, local news media had demanded for details of the victims. None was forthcoming.

It is a running theme through numerous instances.

Who is in the unmarked coffins?

When Nigerians die, they can be buried in a Ikoyi cemetary with marble headstones that carry their names: but if you’re a poor Benue farmer, your name will be forgotten as if it has never mattered.

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We should and must point out this is the province of a government that doesn’t care about things that have no direct influence on the coming election year.

 

When disasters like the Benue massacre occur, the government assumes a tone that implies that it would rather get these out of the way than address the issue at its root, or consider the Nigerian lives lost.

On the other hand, we have created a culture that places to much emphasis on the now than anything else.

It shows in the need for instant gratification, how a septuagenerian and former dictator can don an agbada and sell us change and freedom so well that we vote him in enmasse.

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The sad implication is that when the present ends as it always does, the past and future come haunting and we have nothing to refer to.

Death is intriguing.

It is common to hear people say, “the dead have no needs so let’s focus on the living” and when you think about it, it is hard to argue with the sense of such a statement.

Yet this has little to do with disregarding the identity of an entire group of people because they cannot protest being bundles with no reference to the identity they enjoyed their whole lives.

This attitude shows beyond unmarked coffins to how we treat our heroes and the individuals who shaped our very existence as a nation.

There's no incentive for being a Nigerian

The allure of doing something great for your country may be strong: but if you’re Nigeria, don’t die here, at least not in these conditions, because noone who would remember your name.

Our way back to a respect for human beings is not as long as it seems.

 

The first step is teaching young people about those people who at one point or the other, left a footprint on Nigeria’s history. Doing this will immortalise them in a generation’s memory.

It will also help us understand the beauty of humanity that beyond the stories that bring them to prominence, everyone has a story that entitles them to be remembered for who they are.

One thing is very certain.

Ther's little incentive right now for being a Nigrian.

And even when you muster up the courage (or are restricted by the contraints of opportunity) to stay here and make something  of the harshest of circumstances, whether you admit or not, you have to come to terms with the fact that you're only important when you're here; it all ends when you die.

That your value only lasts for as long as you are active and you will be made to understand this. Because, like the 73 who were killed in Benue, whether you are part of the nation's most importatnt arming communities,

It's a hard reality to live with.