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A lady called Nigeria writes 'Dearest Job'

By Guinness Ohazuruike

Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com

"I am the most religious woman in Africa, if not the whole world. If you thought you were more religious than me, brother Job, I have news for you: all my children are religious, either Christian, Islamic or traditional religionists. Only few worship God without allegiance to any religious constituency, yet they worship God. My children read, memorise and recite the Bible and the Quoran more than the children of any other woman on the face of earth. But what is the benefit of my house being s

Like you, I sit naked on the rubbish dump of the global village. Your rubbish dump consisted mainly of ashes but mine is full of cow dungs, human waste, decomposed bodies, crude oil, adultrated kerosene, all sorts of toxic waste. I watch them daily, as they pour load after load of these poisonous stuff over me. Now I too feel like a piece of rubbish.

My body like yours is full of sores. The other time I had a festering and smelling sore on my broad hairy chest, otherwise known as Biafra. It has not healed completely as I hear from distance the drumbeats of war. Now I suffer excruciating pain deep in my stomach and on my face. Jos is burning, Jesse is ruined, Zaki-Biam is destroyed, Odi is no more; Ikeja is a war zone after the mayhem in Ketu subsided. It seems not a single organ of my body is functioning properly; even those organs which showed no symptoms of illness.

You see, brother Job, I was once worth more than this, though conceived by an illegitmate mistress. I have been oppressed and exploited by slave merchants and colonial masters, but none can be equated to the violence and rape I have suffered in the hands of local substitutes, mercinaries masquarading like messiahs, closet dictators pretending to be democrats. If you see how corrupted, violated, and brutalised I am, worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, you will count your blessings. I am afraid I am no longer worth oppresing. I am abandoned and forsaken, even by my offsprings pampered and protected, provided for by generous nature. They say I am not an entity, just a mere 'geographical expression' a 'cosmic error' and 'there is no basis for unity' the unity of my organs. For this reason I truly lack identity in the comity of nations.

And my children, yes they are many, but my identity is a horrendous burden to them who carry it. none is proud to be my child. You will understand my misery since you too had proud sons and beautiful daughters.

My sons and daughters are strong, intellegent, industrious, creative, but greedy and selfish. My little children are abandoned in the street by their seniors. They take to fraud to comply with section 419 of the criminal code.

I ask Lord to forgive them, they know not what they are doing. What worries me is the fraud going on every day in the Presidency and Parliament. These ones know what they are doing, they cause more harm and shame. I am alone and abandoned, my labour all in vain.

At least, you had three friends who 'raised their voices and wept aloud. They sat with you on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word, for they saw that your suffering was very great'. I am all alone. My former friends will not spend an hour with me, let alone a day.

Zimbabwe is almost turning politically senile at the age of twenty-two, marching relentlessly towards perdition. South Africa has fallen into the pit of corruption as well, struggling to contain criminal gangs, AIDS pandemic, and other forces which seem determined to push her to the brink of monumental fall.

Britain, as usual cold, cunning, and cruel, is brooding over the decline of aristocracy and the loss of her vast empires. America is too busy sweating in search of Bin Laden, forgetting that I have been laden with similar terrorist attacks. Terrorism is evil, but what about the poverty that provides her with fertile soil. The only person that consoles me and ready to assist is the undertaker called IMF. She is patient waiting for my last breath, may be after Argentina. This is the new world order, whoever wins election, it is IMF that rules. Howevr, between the rich and the poor, it time to reason from our hearts, this is my new world order. What do you think?

Brother Job, I know that your three friends and your wife gave you a hard time, just as my own children are disowning and ridiculing me. Your wife advised you to 'curse God and die'. Yours is still better by all standards. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and forgot married men, all the leaders or dealers are married, hard luck for me. The First Ladies are doing their things again and the treasury is bleeding to death. Now we even have Mother Excellencies, they are not happy with their share of the loot. Many are these offices not created by law. The law is for the poor and weak to obey. For the rich, every conduct is permitted including that which is prohibited. May God save my soul.

Your friends said that you must have sinned and that God must have been punishing you. But at least they were there to discuss your plight with you. Mine friends, if any, stand afar ashamed of me. They know I have sinned no doubt, in sin I was conceived, the master's mistress gave me name. But they also know how generous nature has been to me. Blessed with abundant natural resouces, with five super senses including money without which the other five cannot function. But what do I have to show for it; selfish children, mutual hatred, ethnic violence, nepotism, religious bigotry, bribery and corruption, dictatorship in disguise, a beggar colony, the junkyard of tortured souls.

As usual government is the only vessel that leaks from the top. Aso Rock is leaking and few spineless bootlickers are swimming in the cesspool of corruption, while angry masses are sweating in open field, their dehydrated lips yawning, waiting in anticipation of the elusive dividends of democracy. One of these days they will invite you to 'come and chop'. There is money to waste, the pump price of petroleum products has just been increased and it is business as usual. Thank God, the masses are surviving in spite of the government.

Like you I want to know why the innocent suffer while the wicked go unpunished, most times, rewarded with higher office? Those who stopped the music midthrob, who aborted a baby after it has been delivered are here to commence another round of rape. They hate communism, fear capitalism, suspect welfarism and prefer 'kampeism'. You don't know what is kampeism? See no evil, hear no evil, assume that nothing has gone wrong. The bland look of tactical bemusement and feigned ignorance of events in the immediate surrounding. 'Any person who says there is corruption should come forward with evidence'. 'So far I have not heard of any loss of life in the incident'. Meanwhile many shreded bodies of victims of the armoury explosion were littered around for him to see. 'Shut up! I don't need to be here'. This is kampeism in its purest form. I ask for democracy they give me civilian dictatorship. Should a god that demands blood accept palm oil simply because it is red?

I am the most religious woman in Africa, if not the whole world. If you thought you were more religious than me, brother Job, I have news for you: all my children are religious, either Christian, Islamic or traditional religionists. Only few worship God without allegiance to any religious constituency, yet they worship God. My children read, memorise and recite the Bible and the Quoran more than the children of any other woman on the face of earth. But what is the benefit of my house being so religious? My children are being sacrificed daily like the British slaughtered cows to counter the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease. My childred are divided, discriminated against in their own country and exploited. There is no love among them, even within the same religious group. Which religion are they practising? My daughters are particularly vulnerable, all the religions join forces to keep them subjugated. And the more religious they are, they more pregnant teenagers I see in my house. It's sad.

Is it possible, brother Job, that the religiosity of my children may be part of the problem rather than the solution. I ask this question because the more churches there are, the more criminals are in the household. Now crime and religion have become the two fastest growing industries in the land. The more crusades in the land the more evil dorminates the heart of man. The more miracles on the television the more the more sick and possessed are the people. Nowardays there are miracles for sale, one size fits all.

Not even Sharia pretends to offer solution to the moral backruptcy pervading the land. In the contrary it offers shelter to all the retired generals who plundered the treasury. Why is it not a shame in their midst for one to amass wealth far beyond his means. I means some have only worked in government all their lives, yet they have more than is possible even if they were earning the salary and allowances of a Generals or President from birth. What other evidence do you need to establish corruption.

Any way it take an honest man to clean up a corrupt system. A blind man cannot lead a blind man. One must remove the log in his eyes before he can remove the speck in another's eye. So the anti-corruption crusade in the mounted by the present regime is doomed to failure. Let him who has not sinned cast the first stone, and the crowd dispersed. The crusade has failed as three armed divisions involved in this war could only capture a widow. Any way she surrendered on her own. The lord of corruption, the supreme annuller of elections, is free as air smarting for a comeback to Aso Rock. What a shame! Really it takes an honest man to check corruption.

I remember when an honest man was appointed Chief of Police, the mafia don, Al Capone moved his headquarters from Chicago. But my problems are many, between the police and criminals it is not clear which is better. The roadblocks mounted by the police and the ones by armed robbers like cigarette smoking are dangerous to health. One thing good about the police, they take bribe from all irrespective of race, religion, tribe or tongue. But they don't ask from soldiers, for the eyes of childhood fears a painted devil. Who said all men are equal?

I must say you do intrigue me, brother Job. I have a mixture of admiration and resentment for you. I admire your steadfastness and your integrity. You never doubted your own innocence, I am not sure that I can do the same. But you must understand the nature of politicians, they have no conscience. I believe politicians are people blessed with abundant brain power who for some reasons are no longer capable of doing honest work. Pardon me if I sound vulgar, there is bitterness in my heart, experience has ruined my sense of respect. Pardon me if I have insultedthe memories of Abraham Linclon, Julius Nyerere and Leopold Senghor. Nelson Mandela is still around, thank God he retired, who knows what would have happened. Indeed the dividend of democracy are sweet. As the level of poverty is increasing so is the number of emergency millionnaires, as if some peoples' fortune must necessarily obliterate the lives of others, the less privileged.

Here and there are signs of profit but no gain, and government is the biased umpire in this diabolical game, taking from the poor to give the rich. Everything has been privatized including violence. Armed robbers operate as if they have been granted license. Who knows, wonders never end! People are smiling though, in self mockery, self pity, heads low in misery. Bachelors are worst hit, the banks refuse to give loan for matrimonial purposes, and a cruel wind blows bent on enforcing conjugal rights

Suddenly, my children are shouting marginalisation. There is no tribe that is marginalising the other, you know what I mean. There is a class, united by greed and selfishness, less than one thousnad in number, which is marginalising the rest of my people. This class cuts across tribe and religion. The make up include traditional rulers, military officers, politicians, businessmen, contractors, praise singers, pseudo-intellectuals, lawyers, accountants, doctors, cvili servants, in facts vampires of all sorts. Their guiding philosophy include among others; 'politics without principle' 'wealth without work'.

The forget that it is only in the dictionary where success comes before work. Why won't democracy increase suffering? When dealers pretend to be leaders, when stablemen parade like statesmen, and fraudsters take the position of superstars. Legislative fraud is just the tip of iceberg, who knows what is happening behind the curtains.

Brother Job, I marvel at your ability to engage in such profound self-examination even as your body was riddled with sores. I am encourage to follow your stride, may be a national conference could offer a chance for self evaluation and opportunity for redemption. I am even more surprised that you were still able to hold God in awe and to say: 'The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away'. I will face my predicament with equanimity, full of hope for a better future, strenghtened by faith in some of my children, few they are, who have not been corrupted.

In the end, your fortunes were restored two-fold. Tell me, brother, do you think that my fortunes will be restored too? I hope yes, for the sake of the poor, the weak and downtrodden. For the sake of my founding fathers, the heroes whose labour shall not be in vain.

My pen can no longer flow on writing paper so wet with tears. I must stop here for a writer has a soul. I will do well to remind my children of your favourite verse in the Bible.

My warm regards to Moses; tell him I am yet to reach the Promised Land. Greet, also, my brother, St. Paul; tell him about Christians who do not practise the religion of Jesus Christ. In thes aprts anmd these days, our pastors outdo politicians in the theatre of deception. The more you look the less you see. In the fullness of time Christ will come for His own. Regards also to Mother Theresa, many children are still starving with no one like her to help. As for me, to quote Nigeria's president retired Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, 'I dey kampe'!

Your loving sister, Nigeria

Ohazuruike is a human rights lawyer and a United Nations Volunteer in Botswana. he plans to contribute policy and human rights perspectives to USAfricaonline.com and USAfrica The Newspaper.

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