I must state from the outset that the title of this article is not original to me. The legendary pop star and music icon, Michael Jackson in 1995 released a song titled, “” they don’t care about us””. With the recent dastardly act of premeditated mass murders of many worshippers in St. Francis Church, Owo, Ondo state by bandits, terrorists, or whatever name anyone wishes to call those agents of darkness has made the late pop star song title an apt description of our ugly circumstances and conditions of insecurity in Nigeria today. This is especially in reference to the attitude and response of government to the citizens.

I do not need to recall all the tragic events that have befallen this nation, from the bombing of a Christ Embassy Church to the abduction of the Chibok girls, the brazen attacks on passengers on a moving train from Abuja to Kaduna, thus, defying the age long held belief that you cannot stop a moving train, and to the numerous attacks by herdsmen and bandits running riots across the length and breath of Nigeria has turned the country to a war zone and a failing, if not already a failed nation. When tragic events occur, as a result of the insecurity all we hear from the government is, “we condemn, we are saddened, we commiserate” and it ends there without further ado.

Now, some may hope it would be different this time with the level of casualties of innocent and defenceless citizens worshiping on a holy day in the church. But I would advise everyone to take a cue from the words of Alexander Pope, which says “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Someone once complained to me that anytime he watches the news, it’s just bad things happening everywhere. Apart from the fact that bad news sells, does anything good really happen in our country nowadays?

Recently, I was watching a series called, Stranger things, where evil creatures and forces attacked a town called, Hawkins, but a group of teens were always there to save the day. They came to the rescue of the people and community. Despite the horrifying forces in that town, I strongly believe that Nigeria is similar, maybe worse, because we really do not have saviours here, at least they have not acted in that light. Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. For many years our leaders have done similar things, same lukewarm responses to incidents of insecurity, and yet continue to expect positive results, thereby making the citizens suffer for their inadequacies.

The basic duty of a government is to protect lives and properties. That is a constitutional right of every Nigerian, as stated in section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Unfortunately, successive governments have failed to live up to its responsibility. They have failed us. Some members of that church in Owo, might have prayed against untimely death, only to be dead by the end of the church service. WHAT A COUNTRY! Imagine if Fela and Gani Fawehinmi were still alive! They would be weeping for this nation in their graves because despite all their warnings, the country is far worse off. But is Nigeria doomed to be retarded? After all, a retarded nation is one that is continually better in the past and one were failed leaders of decades ago are still vying for the top positions today. Sadly, Nigeria fits that bill. This is a country where some people believe that the presidency is a birthright, and it is their turn.