Nigeria – A Country Where The Blood Of The Innocent Cries
Many years ago, while I was still a little boy, I was told a story by my mother; a story about a land that bled.
The story began with two brothers who were born of the same parents and lived in the same land but practiced different professions. One day, these brother’s decided out of their own volition to do something spectacular; something no one else had ever done. Something really outstanding and rewarding. They decided to honour someone that they both admired and revered. Someone they considered as a close family friend. Out of their substance, they decided to give him a part. An honour they hoped will make him remember and honour them as they had done him.
The day finally came when this someone came visiting and fortunately for them, the honour they bestowed on him was accepted; however, their joy was going to be short lived but none of them saw it coming. Days soon turned to weeks which eventually became months that ran into a year or even years. But, as the seasons followed their sequential nature of change, the heart of the older brother nursed a grudge that was born out of envy, hatred, anger and jealousy. A grudge that forced him to employ his brain to think of diverse means and methods to repay his younger brother for giving their family friend an offering that was better than his.
One day, as the river followed it’s sequential course, it’s bank housed something that resembled the colour red; something that the earth had never seen before. Something that flowed as a result of what can be termed as the first recorded murder on the planet earth. Something called blood: The blood of an only brother. The blood of a couple’s first son. The blood of a brother that was killed by a brother. The blood that was shed out of envy, jealousy, hatred and anger. The blood that was shed because the deceased presented a more honourable offering. The blood of an innocent man that will continually cry for vengeance. The blood that was shed because the killer permitted sin to master him.
The story above narrates an event that took place in the beginning of humanity. These two brothers were Cain and Abel. Abel was killed by his brother because he presented a more honourable offering to their family friend God.
Today, we live in a country where the blood of the innocent cries. A country where people who were created by the same person (God) have allowed hatred, envy, anger, bitterness, politics, money, religion, malice etc to master them. A country where the killing of one’s brother is considered as nothing; lives of many are being wasted as though they are animals and not human. The same blood that wept in the beginning of humanity still bleeds today.
The blood of the innocent that is shed on the platter of wickedness. my country’s independence day has come and gone but, I wonder if we are really independent. Our independence has turned us into selfish beings with no regard whatsoever for another. To country is bleeding. The blood of the innocent that have been shed all over the place is crying. I am crying, I can’t hide my shame no more. I am crying, the pain is too much for me to bare. Peace seems to have evaded my dearest country and have found a home is some distant land. Who will join me and pray for the peace of this great nation? God, help Nigeria I pray for the peace of Nigeria.
