KEN UGBECHIE

Three episodes. Three different actors, varied circumstances. Two saved lives, human lives. One saved democracy and she happens to be a woman. My mind races to Imam Abdullahi, the octogenarian who saved the lives of 300 Christians when a goon of invading Muslim killers came baying for their blood in the Plateau orgy of bloodletting. Imam Abdullahi is a Muslim. He risked his own life; lied to the murderous mob just to save people of a different faith. Here, humanity, not religion or ethnicity, was at work. And he’s a Nigerian.

My mind switches to Joseph Blankson. Described by his wife, Mercy, thus: “He was a loving and caring man, a very good father to our kids. He put people first, before himself. He was selfless,” Joseph died just so others could live. A boat ferrying 24 people, not related to him, experienced the unexpected. The boat bumped and capsized.  A good swimmer, he could simply have looked away. But the humanity in him took over. He plunged into the deep, treacherous water and saved 13 strangers. Only him. Other boat users saved the rest except one. But this last drowning person must be saved. And Joseph, obviously tired and fatigued, thought it proper to finish the job. He died in the process. His target was eventually rescued but Joseph, our brave hero, got swallowed by the same water he showed so much mastery of. The man died leaving behind a wife and two lovely kids. Again, it was humanity that overawed selfish sentiments and primordial considerations.

And now this: Hon. Boma Goodhead, representing Asalga/Akulga Federal Constituency of Rivers State in Nigeria’s House of Representatives. A rare woman. Boma did not directly save human lives but she saved our democracy. She showed pluck and raw grit. She exuded unvarnished audacity in the face of danger. She was that tall, thick lady who stood in the line of fire to challenge heavily armed security goons from the Directorate of State Services (DSS). The masked and hooded goons had barricaded and desecrated the nation’s symbol of democracy, the National Assembly. Whatever may have provoked such primitive invasion and crass display of atavistic Hitlerism by the DSS simply beggars belief.  But a woman was unfazed.

Lady Boma dared the masked men. She rose very stoutly to defend the sanctity of the legislature and the sanity of democracy. A heroine is born in her; void of fear, weaned of the terrifying barbs of terror. For indeed, what happened at the National Assembly on Tuesday, August 7, was an act of terror, an affront on the Constitution. A crooked and crude attempt to upstage the popular will by the pops of the gun; a coup. Yes, it could have gone worse than the showy show of force. But for her adrenaline-pumping boldness, the goons could have been emboldened to take one fatal step further: teargas the crowd of lawmakers, journalists and National Assembly staff; or simply fire at them. So what?

The heroism of these three has underscored our individual and collective capacity to get better if we want to be. They showed that we are not really as divided as we magnify our aloofness and lack of commitment to nationhood. They showed that we can still build a Nigeria where every tribe and tongue would have a sense of being and belonging.

I salute the courage of Imam Abdullahi who as a Muslim equivalent of a priest or pastor counted it more honourable and noble to save the lives of 300 persons of another faith in a country balkanized along religious lines. What a nationalist and exemplar of human dignity.

Blankson, a man in the prime of his life was not bothered whether the drowning souls were Ijaw, Igbo, Yoruba, Kalabari or Kanuri. He saw only humans who needed help; who must not die and offered to give them hope. Nigeria’s political history has a rich history of security operatives harassing, beating and even shooting public actors or just about anybody within the political ecosystem but this did not dissuade Hon. Boma from standing right in front of heavy-bicep and masked hunks of human tanks bearing guns. She was angry at the imperious impudence of the goons. Her anger was infectious. Every right-thinking person who watched what happened was gutted at the beastly show of masked men whose duty it is to protect the public and by inference democracy but who acted otherwise.

These three actors represent the ideal we crave for; the totality of the nation we want to be. They cast aside their self-worth to give worth to others. They lived out the dictum: love thy neighbour as thyself, a self-redeeming template that cuts across all faiths and human communities. They showed the world that Nigeria is not all about politicians offering bribe for votes; about killings and needless fighting; about a few misguided youths scamming humanity; about failed projects and failed leadership. They showed the world that Nigerians are all too human. A people who can for the sake of humanity, give more and more of themselves. We are Nigerians. We love one another; we are capable of living and dying for one another. They are indeed true Nigerians; exemplars of a new national order. I am particularly touched by the copious show of love by Joseph and our elderly Imam.

These three persons, like Rosa Parks (the Black American civil rights activist), like CNN Hero Stan Hays who alongside some volunteers served meals to over 10,000 Americans affected by wildfire; like Richard Nares, CNN 2013 Hero, who ran to raise funds for children suffering from cancer just so they could get a little money to go for treatment. Need I mention Luke Michelson who quit his high-paying job to build beds for children who sleep on the floor because they had no bed?  That is the humanity we often talk about in abstract. Humanity is not far away. It is in us, all of us. We must learn to activate it for the sake of our neighbour irrespective of faith, tribe and ideal. Humanity has no colour, no political party, no race, no religion and no tribe. Strangely, it is in all of us but many people bottle it up. Other societies recognize the place of humanity in building strong systems hence they reward those who activate theirs. Nigeria must recognise the trio of Boma, Blankson and our elderly grandpa Imam Abdullahi. They are the real heroes of our time, archetypes of a model society we all crave for.

Governor Nyesom Wike has shown the path: offering automatic job to Mrs. Blankson and endowing an education fund for their children. The Nigerian government should find a befitting place for all three actors in the next national honours’ list. We must begin to celebrate ordinary people who do extra-ordinary things even at the risk of their own lives, especially those things that promote social justice, human dignity and democratic ethos.

Credit: Sunday Sun

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