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The Second Coming... by
Some people are born lucky while others are born a bit too unlucky. Some successful people are born controversial while some are born uncontroversial. Some people are born with silver spoons while some are born with golden spoons. History and reality has proved that most people are born without a spoon at all which at times enables us to question the equality of destiny when it becomes self-evident that some have so much while some have so little. The little become slaves to the mighty and in many cases perpetually even at the instance of our religious beliefs where love is suppose to be made manifest. Beyond this, one controversial figure in the African continent today whose political and religious temperament I flaw easily is Colonel Moammer Gaddafi. Ever since I was born, I have known no other President or Head of State in that rich Arab nation called Libya other than himself. He has been there since 1967 and up till date, remains unchallenged even though at least he makes his fellow Libyans a bit contented by providing them with the basic necessities of life. His uncompromising nature with the West has made him an "International Outcast" and his muscle flexing with these Western Kingdoms a replica of a fly fighting with a dog. Just few days or weeks ago, when judgment was passed on the Libyan suspect for the Lockerbie bombing, Gaddafi told the whole world how in few days time he would present an alibi to the entire universe that would exonerate the accused from the malevolent act. Everybody waited in dead anticipation that the Libyan leader could ridicule the Scottish Court with the impending revelation. Hearts ached, spines shivered and the media quaked while waiting for the expository press release of Gaddafi. Unfortunately, despite the hype and contrary to expectations, Moammer Gaddafi told the world nothing but arrant nonsense and silly propaganda. I stay put dumb founded with his excessive intelligent blunderings and religious fanaticism, and how he still commands respect and kudos from his over-ruled and repressive countrymen remains an enigma to me. I could have somehow ignored discussing about this lucky and controversial figure if only the bigot had not extended his unintelligent and repulsive snooping attitude to Nigeria, our own dear native land... This terrorist has intermittently wandered in to our political and religious waters for sometime now and what aroused my interest for this piece was when I learnt of his second visit to our fatherland that has been put off by the Nigerian and Libyan authorities because he was denied a visit to Zamfara state. That was excellent and smart of the Nigerian Government in forestalling the Arabian Tiger from resurrecting fresh religious tension. This became pertinent when one remembers his last visit during the Abacha regime how he was chanting for a Jihad somewhere up North. A cry that was absolutely unnecessary and totally irrelevant to a Presidential code of ethics only doomed fit for the Palestinians in Gaza. I vividly rekindle his last visit some years ago when Moammer Gaddafi came down with a questionable retinue of security aides whose over-zealousness almost physically intimidated the Late Sani Abacha to the bewilderment of many. He even came with his own food and water for that matter. I speculated for a while what caliber of friends or African companion goes to his brother’s place of abode and doesn't eat his food or drink his water. I inevitably concluded that anyone who comes to your house with his own food and water is your enemy and obviously not your friend. It is either he does not trust you or he does not love you. The adage that a bird that is dancing in the middle of the road has its origin hidden in the bush can attest simply attest to this fact. Now that we are trying to redeem our battered image in the International community, fraternizing with the likes of Moammer Gaddafi and Sadaam Hussein will empirically do us more harm than good. We need to look more inside than outside for the solutions to our collective, retributive and depressive tribulations over the past years. The continuous lack of basic necessities such as petrol, electricity and water are national embarrassments that need expedient attention and therefore should top our priority lists. The recent resource control and revenue allocation issue that is currently creating a lot of suspicion and dichotomy must be handled with a lot of objectivity, maturity and national interest bearing in mind that natural resources are a blessing and not a curse. The only indispensable second coming that we should be expecting should be that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anything else is nothing but a malady... Uwem Inyang London
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