Chimelum Anizoba
Is Nigeria a Zoo? One of the allegations against Nnamdi Kanu
which has led to his continued incarceration by Nigeria government is that he calls Nigeria a Zoo and those who live
in her animals. To address this issue, it is important to allow
Nigeria define itself in view of this assertion. But before
Nigeria helps us define itself, it is also important to note
that in the album "Gang Affiliated", by Gospel Gangstaz,
part of the lyrics of the song says: " I'm in a zoo called
America, Trapped in a cage called the hood". Those who
called America zoo were not arrested or jailed. Why? The
country practices freedom of speech and understands that
the use of zoo is denotative and allegorical. For Nigeria,
ignorance is a virtue! What is a Zoo? The Free Dictionary
defines zoo as: 1. A park or an institution in which living
animals are kept and usually exhibited to the public. 2. A
place or situation marked by confusion or disorder: The bus
station is a zoo on Fridays. 3. A place, activity, or group
marked by chaos or unrestrained behavior. Please consider
the definitions in number 2 and 3. In all truth and honesty,
can one say Nigeria is a zoo? Let Nigeria answer! Is Nigeria
not marked by disorder and confusion? Is the situation in
Nigeria not marked by lawlessness? Do we not see
unrestrained animalistic behaviours? Is there no impunity in
Nigeria that the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes
poorer? Can we pretend that there is no confusion in the
land from leaders to the led? Take for instance, Nigeria's
law stipulates that an arrested suspect is presumed innocent
and should be charged to court within 48 hours of arrest, but
as a country that is confused and lawless; whose leaders
have no respect for the law and are lawless, Nnamdi Kanu
had been arrested and kept in terrible conditions contrary to
the law of the land. Which country does a thing like this if not a
zoo? Nigeria's leaders behave unrestrained. It is among
animals that you see unrestrained behaviours and impunity in
high places. A court of competent jurisdiction had granted
him bail yet he has not been released. This is the sort of
thing you can see in a zoo and among animals, the use of
brute and illegal force against people not minding what the
law says. The strong can deal with the weak and get away
with it as it happens in animal Kingdom, zoo. Nigeria is
confirmng and proving Nnamdi Kanu true every other day in
his submissions. Which country on earth has been dubbed as
a place where nothing works? Nigeria and that makes her a
qualified zoo! No electricity. No pipe borne water. No good
road. No effective transport systems. No good hospitals. No
world class infrastructure. Yet billions of dollars are voted
for all these and siphoned! The situation in Nigeria is
Zoological. Which one country on earth is a major oil producer
but the majority of her citizens wallow in abject poverty?
Nigeria and that makes her a zoo! Which one country on
earth will a coupist who destroyed democracy come back 30
years later and win a democratic election, reaping from what
he destroyed? Nigeria and that makes her a zoo? Which one
country hates her youths and makes no provision for their
future? Nigeria and that makes her a zoo! Which one country
do youths flee to other countries that it suppose to be better
than in millions in search of greener pastures yet it makes no
effort to make life better for its people? Nigeria and that
makes her a zoo! Which country on earth will a sitting
president call his ministers noisemakers? Only Nigeria and
that makes her a zoo! Which country on earth will a president
refer to those who didn't vote him as 5% and threatened to
treat them unfairly and those who voted him as 97% and
promised to give them attention ? Only Nigeria and that
makes her a zoo. It takes intelligence to know that zoo is a
slang and representative of a place marked by
underdevelopment, unemployment, youths' restiveness,
confusion, disorder and lawlessness and to that extent,
Nnamdi Kanu is simply stating the truth. Nigeria had an
opportunity to proof him wrong by behaving like a civilized
country with human face and character but it disgraced
itself. The recent unlawful, illegal and wicked arrest and
detention of Nnamdi Kanu without following the due process
of the law further makes him a hero who properly situated
Nigeria and called her Zoological Republic, Zoogeria or simply
Zoo.
