IKORODU: A ONCE VIBRANT TOWN, SITTING ON A KEG OF GUN POWDER
Growing up in ikorodu was fun and schooling in that town couldn’t have been better in any other town in Nigeria. I grew up with people from all over the Country, Idoma and Tiv people from Benue, people from Kafanchan in Kaduna, from Okigwe in Imo, from Aghenebode in Edo state etc were neighbors and classmates.
All we had in common was love and we were co-habiting in peace and harmony.
Those days, all parents on the street and the community were your parents too.
I had many Aunties and Uncles that were not related to me in any form but they cared about me and ensured I remained on the right path of life. My generation had it so good in the community.
From the late 90’s – A lot has changed!
The community is now different, people are now more selfish, and people are now after individual interests over community interest. Everyone is busy chasing personal desires at the expense of the community. People are not bothered about community growth or development but selfish agendas.
After the recent killings, where the community lost 8 young men to a senseless and avoidable clash. I have been engaging with people at the grassroots to see how we can put an end to this menace to the society.
From my findings – We are a little bit late to the party, a lot is going on at the grassroots and we seem to be ignoring the effect this is having on the community. While we are focusing on the killers, we are neglecting the process that produced these cold heart killers.
We must admit that this is no longer about cultism but killers, killers produced by a system that didn’t care about them. A system that failed to prioritize education or provide standard and conducive environment to learn.
Majority of our Youths are idle, there are no jobs for young people.
The elites are abusing this and using the youths as a tool to settle political differences. Idle hands they say are the devil’s workshop.
Young people as young as 14 and 15 are being initiated into these cults, they are smoking weed and taking various other drugs like Codeine, Refnol amongst many others.
These kids are too free with no guidance, many can leave home for days without being cautioned. Going to school is no longer a priority to them, in touts and fraudsters they have role models.
We have killers in training in our community, young boys and girls are embracing drugs, prostitution, fraud and cultism at a very young age and the government is not doing anything about the situation. The future is so bleak and scary!
We are a community that do a lot of talking but do very less in action – I was involved in some Peace Committee to look into a concrete solution to this menace last November when some killings were recorded, it’s nearly May of the next year – We have done a lot of talk but done nothing! Now that new killings are being recorded, we have resumed the talk again! More talk and less action!
If we desire to end this menace, we should stop praying, stop talking and start nipping this menace in the bud!
The people are afraid, innocent people are being killed for walking in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We must introduce capital punishment against killings; use of ammunitions, abuse of drugs and young people must stay in school. Any community where the young people are uneducated is breeding criminals to steal the Joy of the community.
The Government, both local, state and the Federal must come up with policies to protect the people’s lives and properties, curb drug abuse and ensure there is a provision of standard education!
Provision of Jobs is equally important; we have the workforce whose energy needs to be redirected towards a productive purpose.
If it is established that if you are caught engaging in cultism you shall be imprisoned for x years, if you kill another person – you shall be executed publicly! I now wonder who want to be killed or jailed next! Until then, I am afraid to admit that it’s a one-corner dance.
It’s sad that those who are making the laws, those interpreting them and those executing them are a product of the same system and majority of them aiding these cold-hearted killers to protect their own interest.
The people that should be investigating, reporting or punishing these killers are also their leaders – we know them and they know us too. Posterity will judge you all!
Dear leaders – the community is crying for help but hearing so little response!
