|
Season of Lamentations! Cry, My Beloved Plateau, Cry! By Joseph Dangme Rinyom It is a season of lamentations. Cry, my beloved Plateau, cry! An orphan lies at the mercy of the parented, a hungry man is at the mercy of the rich, a weak man falls victim to the strong! Cry, my beloved Plateau, cry! Why does a single man lay you to waste? Why does one name become a recurring decimal in your misfortunes? Why does a person you sacrificed your sons for turn out to be the monster that inspires nightmares and keeps you awake all night? Why does a man you crown at your expense wield the big stick at you each time you dare but sneeze? Why does Obasanjo hate you so? Cry, my beloved Plateau, cry! Are other’s children more precious than yours? Was your womb not begotten after tumults of sleepless nights? And are the seeds of your groins not fit to make them heard? Are your passions not greater for the bereavements you have suffered? Cry, my beloved Plateau, cry! How can anyone forget so soon the blood of your sons shed to keep the nation together? Who can count the number of children you sacrificed to mend a nation torn apart? Who can question the bravery, patriotism, and courage of your children in the unhallowed civil war that made Obasanjo “supreme”? Were your sons not among the best that fought battles, clearing the grounds that commander Obasanjo could “inspect” the warfront, miles away from the seat of death where men, on both sides, failed to recognize brotherly love and chose to die for causes they knew not what? Did one of your sons not sacrifice and betray his brother that the nation “may progress”? Did you weep for the complete routing of your children, who rose in mutiny, when Obasanjo, its chief beneficiary, wrote into the books of the land the new law that would ensure the elimination of a whole generation of your future hope? Have you forgotten the pain that still nips at your heart, the cruel murder, in cold blood, of one of your princes who, despite evidences to the contrary, was tried in the dead of night when righteous men slept, convicted and executed by Obasanjo? And do you not remember when, in a rare show of cowardice, he came to you and read his speech in a bus full of your sons for fear you may kill him “like a chicken”? And what did you give him but dances, smiles and love even though he had just murdered your children and was even too frightened to stay the night? Did you not house him, feed him, clothe him, and reconciled him with God when he fell prey to another “supremo” by the name of Abacha? Did he not publicly declare that his best days in his bondage where spent in your ambit? And when his days of sorrows were over, did you not give him a new lease of life at the Rwang Pam stadium when, on your soil, he was crowned to dine and wine with Princes and Kings again? And did you not crown your efforts with a resounding vote of his acceptance? But was his first declaration of thanks to you not an act of humiliation? Did he not humiliate one of your sons who has brought back sanity, order and excellence in the Ivory Tower that one of your princes had, against all odds, brought home to you? And what terrible offence did he commit that he was singled out, amid all his peers in the region, for such undeserved humiliation other than he was too courageous for some people and your son? And did you not, in inexplicable solidarity, nod your accent at the injustice meted to you, the silent one? And when he decided to steal the mandate for another one term, were you not at his side all this while? Did he need to steal in the elections on the Plateau as he did in other places knowing that you were already his friend? Was his conspicuous absence from the Plateau during the campaigns not evidence and assurance of your loyalty to him? When he needed a rest from his “Drakeian” travels around the world, did you not grant him and his wife a hospitable welcome? Did you not open your gates to him and his entourage? And even though he never sympathized with you over the rape of your innocence, did you not still empathize with him over the many problems of leadership he was harrowing through? And did he not leave his wife behind in trust that nothing shall befall her as he left for his Aso Rock cave? Remember 7th September 2001 when you were raped and robbed of your peace and love? Remember the accelerated demise of your pride, the Ultra Modern Main Market, the only one of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa by terrorists? Remember the sacking of your villages-Rim, Bachit, Kasa, Kuru Jenta and the innocent blood of your children (among them a one-time Deputy president of the Church of Christ in Nigeria Worldwide who was killed with some members of his family in his house in cold blood) wasted by agents of man’s inhumanity? Remember the attack, massacre (in their hundreds) and sacking of the Tarok in Wase? Remember the killing of your children in Yelwa, Sarkin Kudu, Lakushi etc? Did the man raise his voice, though inelegant it is, in sympathy with you? Did he come to your aid when you were helpless in the face of these irrepressible provocations? Why does he now breathe fire and rain brimstone at you now when you need just a modicum of understanding? And why should he, in your distress, throw you away with the bath water? For instance, has the Delta region found its peace? Has Benue not had a share of their recurrent violence? Has Lagos not experienced communal clashes? And has Kano not been the worst of them all? Does Kano not kill “non-indigenes” at the slightest opportunity, even when unprovoked? Did Kano not inflict death on “non-indigenes” when the US attacked Iraq? Did Kano not “respond” by mass condemnation and killing of “non-indigenes” at the excuse of retaliation at your retaliation for the death of your children? Why is your sentence and conviction different from Kano’s, even if circumstances of recent events are to be advanced as excuses for the state of emergency? Is one retaliation better than another even if the latter’s magnitude is greater? Are you the cradle of violence that has continuously rocked the country? Why would your problem “spread” only to Kano and not Sokoto, Katsina, or even Zamfara? Does Kano ever need an excuse to “retaliate” when all its life has been spent killing “non-indigenes” in “retaliation” for problems in far away places like the Palestine, and Iraq? Why then should Obasanjo repeatedly stab you at the back for your endless kindness to him? Why should your hospitality be used against you? Why should your simplicity and humility be seen as a weakness to be harnessed for your subjugation? Would anyone think that the man would still be harboring malice and vengeance on you for the eternal humiliation he suffered when, offered the supreme office of Head of State, he displayed total cowardice in fear of the “boys” from Plateau and declined? And would anyone still think that the man, after uprooting his sources of terror in bloody execution, bear any grudges against the Plateau after he had been convinced against his will to take office as Head of State? And would anyone think that the man, after all these years would, even in his present senility, vent his hatred on the Plateau in his ever ready and renowned vendetta for a flimsy excuse? Why would you, my Plateau, always be Obasanjo’s guinea pig, inflicting vaccines untried in you, arming you with impotent anger and frustration? Why, you alone and always? Cry, my beloved Plateau, cry! By the hills that ring you in, by the rivers you generate, by the beauty of your surroundings, hide your face and cry. Look not to the east nor to the west for help is not in those horizons. The north and the south bear no good winds either. Look not to those who swear to stand by you in times of your need for they no longer hold their fort; it’s abandoned. Look not to those who promise you bliss untold for they know not what tomorrow holds for them. Turn not your face in anticipation of help from your persecutors for this is their season of joy. Ask not for aid, cry not for help, and plead not for mercy, for JUSTICE HAS FLED THE LAND! Seek strength in you and look inwards towards yourself. Within you lay strength unknown. No, you shall not be broken. Remain firm and resolute for the day of your vindication is at hand. Your foes shall not triumph over you and your back cannot be bent. Very soon you hall weep not, my Plateau, weep not. “The ravening clouds shall not be long victorious, they shall no longer possess the sky”! An orphan lies at the mercy of the child with parents, a hungry man is at the mercy of the rich, and a weak man falls victim to the strong! It is now a season of lamentations! Cry, my beloved Plateau, cry! Joseph Dangme Rinyom Jos, Nigeria |