Enveloped in sadness

I am in a place of disbelief as students are threatened everywhere we go. Our children are no longer at ease and as parents we are carrying our prayer beads, pleading for mercy from the almighty. At what point did it become alright for us to sit and watch our children in fear and we have our hearts in our mouth. Boko Haram chose that schools are not worthy and they are systematically trying to destroy the educational system in the North East. Kidnap is rampant and we basically now all live in fear.

Abducting children from their schools is the highest form of lawlessness and no government should sit and watch her children choose the option of not going to school because of fear. My heart sank to its depths when I saw the children from the School of forestry Kaduna displayed in the papers pleading for their lives. No nation must ever bring their children to this position. Unpardonable. Unprecedented. We have talked for the last couple of years about big things; debt burden, anti- corruption, inflation, restructuring but we fail to look at our values in the main. It’s our traditional values that we have jettisoned that has brought us to our knees. What is the business of the children with the grievances of the kidnappers? What are the kidnappers grievances? Is it poverty? I doubt it very much. Those living in the slums still try to eke out a living. Kidnapping, armed robbery, murder for hire, advance free fraud are all blood money activities. I have always asked myself. How do these people live with themselves? How do they sleep? But greed never has any shame.

It is not just those in the bushes that are the kidnappers. The big wigs live in the city among us

I pray for the kidnapped and their parents. I pray for the kidnappers to have a change of heart. Its hard and be assured that it is not just those in the bushes that are the kidnappers. The big wigs live in the city among us. They give pittance to the keepers of the kidnapped in the forest and keep the big ransoms. Then they buy cars and live large.

My week opened with another level of sadness. A young undergraduate took his life because he was caught cheating in his exams. First, there was already a mental health challenge. Second, he had expectations of his parents that could not be met. Pocket money issues. Our bright minds are going into dark waves. Please check your children. How do they cope when things are rough? How do they manage their finances? I feel sorry. We need more psychologists and Ombudsmen and women in our schools like they have abroad. Taking one’s life is not the best answer. Schools must invest in caregivers. I teach at a university and these young ones are struggling with all sort of things. Parents, tutors, Aunties, uncles and friends need to be close.

As a caregiver myself, I find that today’s youth are very vulnerable and they do not have much resilience. In the past, we got over a classmates abuse. Today they tell the Internet and mourn the loss of a dog, a girlfriend or a boyfriend in a different way. A boyfriend leaves and a young girl is sad but can become suicidal . Social media has not helped matters. Today, you can see a suicide live streamed. It is a tragedy. We need to stay awake and keep watch. Glamorising suicide is never a good option. Our psychiatrists and psychologists few as they are must collaborate with universities to talk to our youths. Times are hard and the kids are not coping. Peer pressure is on the rise. Drugs are everywhere. These are all predilections for depression and anxiety. The Lord will help us.

Parents need to be present. It will be sad if as parents we make a lot of money and we inherit destroyed children, what have we achieved? There is much to be done in re-orientation of the citizens. As lecturers and teachers we have unfortunately reached that place where we are now also teacher, confessor, parent and psychologist. These are difficult times and we all must be more alert lest we are all consumed by modern day monsters. Hopefully, the smile of a two year old with no cares in the world will lift my spirit. Sigh…