By Aliyu Bashir Limanci
It is Martin Luther king Jr who few days to his untimely death said “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” — Dr Martin Luther King Jr. As we approch six years since the most serious atrocities Nigeria has ever committed against its own citizens in peace time, we are today reaping the consequences of our silence and failure to speak out when the Nigerian military laid siege to Gyallesu, massacring hundreds or even thousands of followers of Sheikh Zakzaky and burying them in mass gaves. Their crime was not taking up arms against the state like the IPOBs, Boko Haram or bandits for blocking a road for a general. Despite the international uproar, not a single person was brought to trial for the crimes, instead Sheikh Zakzaky is standing trial for crimes he has nothing to do.
The people were supposed to be on the side of the oppressed who have been victims of state-sanctioned persécution, but alas, a lot of people were seen celebrating over the dead bodies and even filmed themselves stealing from the dead. Buhari's popularity reached an all-time high. In fact, any any critic of Buhari would be derided as a Shiite even if he was not. That was then.
Today Nigeria is burning. From the Boko Haram in the North East, banditry in the North West, ethnic violence in North Central, the IPOB in the East to Yoruba ethnic nationalism in the South West, Nigeria is closer than ever to becoming a failed state. It is nobody's interest to see our country sliding towards the precipice, but the root cause of all this is the way Buhari divided the country, oppressing others and favouring another and thinking it would serve his political objectives. The people are more divided than ever. Sadly, we are sinking.
As the notorious bandits and Boko Haram terrorists continue to enjoy amnesty and incentives for their crimes, Sheikh Zakzaky is left alone fighting for his life and that of his wife in detention without any hope in sight. In a country where killers and criminals are glorified while the victims of injustice are antagonized, it is harder to see it going in the right direction. To heal our wounds, we must not forget that nobody is safe until everybody is safe, and justice for the detained leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is a precursor to our stability and entrenchment of justice in our country.