Act 1. Scene 1.

Armed bandits made Kaduna/Abuja highway unsafe. Dealing in hundreds of high and low profile hostage takings  in exchange for handsome rewards.

Outcome: No arrest, no repercussions. Business as usual.

Act 1. Scene 2

Bandits carved out territories within the forests of NW and NC Nigeria, became a law unto themselves, taking turns to engage in mass hijacking of school children in exchange for huge payoff from government.

Outcome: a huge pat on the back. Negotiated release of hostages. Possible financial payoff. No arrest made

Act 1. Scene 3.

Political leaders issue public proclamations alleging that acts of banditry by people drawn from a section of the country were inevitable. They condemn others who seek to build ethnic firewalls to secure themselves against the invading bandits

Outcome: Huge psychological boost for bandits. The Hail Mary crowd turned a disturbing situation into inter-ethnic banters. No arrest made. Deafening official silence

Act. 1 Scene 4.

The rise and rise of non State actors. Rise of ethno-nationalism

Outcome: seeds of multiple insurgencies are being sown. Insensitive utterances by political leaders. No arrest. More silence!!

Coming Soon: Season 2

Let’s all enjoy the inaction

Let’s clap to the sound of distant gunfire

Let’s all chant Hail Mary because it’s the norm

Remember the gulf of Aden

It’s not very far from us

Perhaps it’s the next Scene

Remember Somalia

A few hundred Kilometers away

A distant land not so far

The outcome of inaction

Perhaps it’s our next Act

Let’s slumber like the dodo

Dead to the world around us

Hoping that heavens will never fall

Believing that hell is a tale

19^th February 2021