THANK YOU FOR THE PERMISSION TO KILL YOUR BROTHER It was your silence that killed me, that moment you turned away, as if nothing happened, while I was being pelted with stones of injustice. You cowered and did not raise a finger or raise the thought of doing so! You see, Robert Collier said Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out! I think he forgot to mention Failure too. My mother used to tell me as I grew up, that these little things we overlook turn out to be the disturbances on our great days. There were very great examples! An extra pinch of salt and spoil the broth! You know, as kids, we tend to twiddle without focus, losing things willfully, sometimes not! We throw away important things and keep the trivial ones. We were sane but we could not think, at least not in a good sense of it. And those little words pass by our ears, gnawing silently at our future, like termites on an Iroko! Have you ever wondered how those tiny termites bring to the level ground high and mighty trees! They have no chain saw, they just gnaw silently, slowly while the farmer or his friends take no notice, until you wake up and the tall and mighty trees is lying on its sides, disgraced and defeated. Those tiny termites! But I have not picked my pen to write about termites! I am writing about this thing that you have heard about but have been silent about! That little thing! Is not just the SU elections! What if he still loses at the end! Will there be any difference? And to some others, the verdict is – I wouldn’t kuku vote before! Whatever they like they should do, na 7 points I dey chase no be election. Again, I will say When you do great things, you give others the permission to do so too! It is also same when you do bad things too! You would easily remember Adam and his beloved Eve. Whether by persuasion or mental coercion, Eve’s decision to eat the apple led to the breakdown of Adam’s reluctance and obedience. Our continual indifference towards injustice, unfairness and prejudice shows our support towards it. Fair and simple! And it gives others the permission to do so too. It is the same whether it happens on a larger scale or on a little scale. What matters is your reaction; that reaction that you have carefully hidden when your brother gets tucked away from relevance. And several times, we have refused to lend our voices to the tyranny against our brethren. Maybe because you consider it far away from you and you could barely feel it. But then remember the Yoruba proverb that says Death that kills one’s kinsmen and neighbours, cautiously sends one a parable. So today might not be your own day nor the day of someone close to you! But it will come, it is not a curse, it is the simple law of life that what goes around comes around. You might not necessarily be contesting for a post in the Students’ Union or any political post for that matter. But that feeling is the same. Injustice is injustice no matter its state of origin. We must rise to say no to this prejudice employed by those who have chosen to wield their power against the seemingly hapless students. But it is our choice whether to rise in support or cower in our caves. It is our choice whether to rise in unison or remain silent while our brother dies. It is our choice whether or not to give permission for the slaughterer-the killer to lay our brother on stones in the sun and slaughter his voice slowly- to not be heard because his men has forsaken him. But before I leave I will say again to you that If Petals be petals, And bullets be bullets, If your tea be served with Bias and prejudice; as mine, Would you remain as still in silence? NOW CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY! Because this wolf that has come to hunt once, and is now doing so again, and next time it just might be you! Habeeb Kolade E-in-C, IndyPress Org. Everyone has a story to tell
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 06:01:37 +0000
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