Some time in February this year, the violent ethnic-religious conflict in
Southern Kaduna was heightened, and the destruction of lives and property
dominated our news. I cannot claim that the situation in Southern Kaduna has
been resolved. What could be said is that it has now assumed national dimensions,
and what could be described as the theatre of hate has moved to the
South-Eastern parts of Nigeria.
One of the painful realities of the moment is that many of us
are taking up roles in this unfortunate theatre, including those of us who had
a clear vision of fighting for a nation based on the internationalist
principles of the equality of all classes, races, gender, etc. It was a dream
that made us to unapologetically rebel against all forms of established order.
Today, we have discarded all our dreams and have joined what we used to
referred to as forces of destruction.
I still believe that only a show of LOVE by all and across all
divides can rescue our nation, Nigeria. For those who believe in hate,
consciously or subconsciously, it is my prayer and hope that God will put you
back on the path of humanity driven by LOVE and not HATE. The message below is
to remind us that LOVE is the most important defining attribute of our
HUMANITY!
The current wave of hate violence across many parts of the
world, is a sad reminder of how far we are from our noble dreams of being a
united people in love with one another, irrespective of our nationality,
ethnicity, religion or any other difference. In the Nigerian context, we have
unfortunately become violent and almost overun by lunatics, while being forced
to respond to this on the basis of factoring ourselves into a hate calculus
that destroys our humanity.
As a result, many decent and rational people, including our
religious, traditional, political, civil society, and labour leaders, etc. have
become merchants of hate. Innocent citizens are unfortunately also becoming
fixed variables and consequently, we, the citizens, in our inverted state are
the result of the hate calculus, irrespective of our faith and our differences.
Sadly, many of our political leaders across all the divides
think very narrowly to imagine that the violent situation consuming our people
present an opportunity for them, whatever that means. We need to wake up to the
reality that our defining attributes as human beings is love and the best
weapon against hate and violence is love.
With little amendment, we need to remind everyone of us of those
words of Thabo Mbeki in his “I Am an African” speech delivered on May 8, 1996:
“I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains
and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and
the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land”. My emphatic
addition is, “Our humanity is defined by my LOVE for every human being,
irrespective of our differences”!
The disheartening situation in Nigeria will come to an end, not
by violence, and perhaps also not by hate speech against anyone of us, but
through the show of indiscriminate love to one another. It is so disturbing to
read and watch clips of fellow ‘Comrades’, some of the finest breed of
Nigerians, now descending to promoting ethno-religious divisions in our
country. It needs to be stated with very firm conviction that I recognise and
respect all identities and will never support the domination of any identity,
be it religious or ethnic, by another. This is the vision that informs our
ideological orientation as young activists in the students movement of the
1980s.
It is true that we have, in the past three decades, grown to be
very frustrated activists as we witnessed the mismanagement of our nation and
the shrinking of opportunities for engagement to influence national
development. The facts of that reality have not changed the most important
attribute of humanity being LOVE and it is in fact the only solution to human
conflict.
Pope John Paul II of blessed memory demonstrated the best
illustration of this in recent times. Before narrating this story, let me
emphatically say I was born a Muslim, I have been one all my life, and in sha
Allah, I will die a Muslim.
On May 13, 1981, one Mehmet Ali Agca, attempted to assassinate
the Pope. Without going into all the details, Agca was sentenced to life in
prison, but was pardoned in June 2000 at the Pope’s request, following some
unprecedented interventions by the pontiff. First, immediately after the
shooting, the Pope called for prayers for Agca, who he referred to as ‘my
brother … whom I have sincerely forgiven’. In 1983, the Pope met Agca privately
at Rebibbia Prison in Rome and it was reported that he kissed the Pope’s ring.
It was also reported that in 1987 the Pope met with Agca’s
mother and his brother, Muezzin in 1997. Pope John Paul II and Agca became
friends and in February 2005, during the illness of the Pope, Agca sent a get
well wish letter to the revered pontiff. Agca was reported to have converted to
Christianity in 2007 and in December 2014 visited the tomb of John Paul II.
The big lesson here is how the Pope was able to successfully
covert hate to love, through which he was able to reform Agca. It is all about
endurance and not cheaply finding excuses and justifications to hate one
another. The Pope had every reason to hate Agca but instead chose to show love
to him and his family in an unprecedented way.
Perhaps, this appears simplistic. But the simple logic is that
you get what you produce. Hate and be hated or love and be loved. May God
Almighty bless all of us with the courage to forgive and demonstrate love to
other citizens, the wisdom to unite our people and may He also guide all of us
to love one another! Amin.
The madness must stop!!!
smlukman@gmail.com
Source: premiumtimesng.com
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