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One year after: Reflections on September 11

By JONATHAN ELENDU

Exclusive commentary for USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at my desk doing my job. My job, as a newspaper columnist and magazine contributing editor, included monitoring news from around the globe that affects Africa and America. My other job was taking care of my two month old daughter. I was reading an international newspaper on the web when I glanced at the television set and saw the breaking news banner on CNN. As usual that got my attention and I stopped reading.

I heard the CNN anchor say that the World Trade Center had been hit by what looked like a commercial jetliner. My heart pounding, I stayed glued to the television set. Shortly thereafter, a second plane hit the World Trade Center on live television. It was clear to me then that this could not have been two accidents in a row. This was, obviously, an act of war. I was angry and afraid. My anger was directed at the senseless acts of violence and destruction. It was apparent that many innocent lives would be lost. I was afraid for my daughter, whose young life had suddenly been endangered by whoever was attacking America.

I was about a year older than my daughter was on Sept. 11, when the violence which led to the Nigerian Civil War started in the 1960's. While I have no memories of the war, I know that my aunts, uncles and many extended family members were lost in that war. I know that my father lost his business to the Nigerian Civil War. I know that our lives were disrupted and never the same thereafter. Sadly, I know that Nigeria is yet to recover from that war which ended thirty-two years ago.

I looked into my daughter's eyes and cried. Silently, I whispered to her, "I am sorry, honey. You didn't have to experience this. You should have stayed back in heaven!" I went back to the computer and started working on a story. I made calls to everybody I knew. I tried to get a hold of my publisher (Chido Nwangwu) in Houston. Most people I called did not know more than I did about what was going on. I was very concerned about friends and family members. The question everybody asked was, "Why?"

As I wrote my story that day, the feeling of loss overwhelmed me. I knew life would never be the same again. I knew that the cowardly attack on America would lead to more violence. Later that day, or the next, a friend from England called me to find out if I was safe and sound. After that he asked me if I knew Barbara Olsen was one of those killed in the plane that hit the Pentagon? I was devastated. I felt my heart ripping out of my chest. I did not know Ms. Olsen, but I had done articles that were very critical of her, including the one that was published earlier that week.

When her picture was shown on CNN shortly after the call from my friend, I silently said, "Barbara, I am sorry. I regret I did not say kind things about you." My first articles on the attacks reflected my confusion, regrets and fears. The second article which followed a few days later revealed my anger; the words expressed were fighting words. I wanted everybody and every nation involved in the dastardly attacks to be taught an everlasting lesson. I called for their total annihilation from the face of the earth. After the bombing of Afghanistan had commenced, I wrote the third article on the attacks. Although I was still very angry, I reflected on a few things, including a conversation I had with one of the guys, with whom I played volleyball. This conversation took place on September 12th, the day following the attacks.

On that day I went to play volleyball at the park by People's Church, on Grand River, in East Lansing. While parking my car I observed that the guys I played with were huddled in small groups. No doubt, they were discussing the events of the previous day.

As I approached the group, one of the guys detached from them and walked towards me. He asked me if I was a Muslim. I was taken aback by that question and I asked him why my religion was of interest to him. He said, " I just want to know." I told him I was neither a Muslim, nor a Christian. He was visibly relieved. "Thank God you are not a Muslim!" he said. "Why is that?" I replied. "Now we are going to kill a lot of those bastard Muslims," he responded with a grin. I felt a chill run down my spine.

A few weeks later, while I was working on my third article on the events of Sept. 11, that conversation at the volleyball court flashed through my mind. I was horrified to realize that what my friend said mirrored my own mind on Sept. 12th. I did not want Muslims slaughtered, but I wanted all those involved, including other countries, destroyed. I realized at the time I was writing the third article, that I had, in my mind, started questioning a few things. While I demanded retribution, I felt there was something unsettling with a scenario where the world's richest and greatest military might was bombing the world's poorest and most backward nation. A lot has happened since Sept. 11, 2001, and many lives have changed.

At all nooks and crannies of America, it has not been business as usual. I have become more involved with people and organizations in the Greater Lansing area. There has been so much change, yet things seem to remain the same. It is a baffling paradox. Sept. 11th, was about power and injustice. Some cowards in the caves of Afghanistan thought they had power and decided to unleash their own brand of so-called justice. They killed and maimed innocent Americans and people from other countries. They destroyed families, livelihoods, and friendships.

In our own families and communities, we also see powerful people perpetrating injustice. Maybe we have simply learned to live with this phenomena in our homes, offices and communities. We have come to accept oppression and denial of justice as the way the world works. We oppress people and expect them to accept it with equanimity.

When injustice is meted out to us, we shrug our shoulders and move on. We are afraid to speak out, lest people think of us as not being teamplayers. We all want peace, therefore, we must not upset the cart.

What kind of peace do we really desire? The peace of the grave yard? September 11, 2001, should have been like any other summer day. Nothing can justify the cowardly attacks on America and her people by Bin Laden and his bunch of hooligans. I am not a violent man, but I am comfortable with the thought that the Taliban and Al Qaeda deserved what they got.

While we mourn the lives we lost and celebrate our freedom, let us dig deep into the quiet recesses of our hearts and ask: Are we killing, all over again, the over the three thousand lives that were lost to the events of September 11th? That is what we do when we perpetuate the kind of thinking that resulted in Sept. 11th. When we do to others what we would not want done to us, we are perpetuating injustice. September 11, 2001 was about injustice. Let us say: Never Again!
Elendu is a contributing editor of USAfricaonline.com and USAfrica The Newspaper.

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