USA Africa Dialogue Series - Nigeria: one week, one tragedy

It’s almost a week since the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) job recruitment tragedy that claimed the lives of many young Nigerians. At the last count, the number of deaths stood at 20 with scores injured. The death of any Nigerian under the tragic circumstances of March 15 ought to be of grave concern to the state.

But then, this is Nigeria. We are inured to tragic deaths. No week passes without bloodcurdling reports about one tragedy or another claiming the lives of Nigerians. Whether it is the mindless mayhem in the name of religion, road accidents, boat mishaps, kidnappers and armed robbers on the prowl or ethnic skirmishes over land, in this huge prison called Nigeria, the majority are “dead men walking”.

Of course, there is no other way to describe what took place last Saturday other than to say it is the product of a dysfunctional country. That incident did not happen by chance. It was carefully orchestrated. Perhaps, those who orchestrated it didn’t imagine that so many young people would die in the process.  

The latest tragedy is the product of an entrenched web of corruption which is rooted, evidently, in the warped socio-political structure of Nigeria. You can sense this much from the insensate remarks that came out of the House of Representatives and the reports of what went behind the scene at the NIS.

Read more… http://www.chidoonumah.com/2014/03/nigeria-one-week-one-tragedy.html#axzz2wXNOQbKF

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