LESSONS FROM MLK

In April 1963, Martin Luther King Jnr went to Birmingham to campaign against segregation. Eight white religious leaders released a statement which in part accused King of being an Outsider and decried his methods of nonviolence. Provoked, MLK will write a long letter that will become popular as “The Letter From Birmingham Jail”. In it, MLK defends the non-violence struggle and why he was in Birmingham.

King made an important connection that Plateau People have consistently failed to make.

The killing of over 13 people in Bokkos was another tragic event that we are being forced to accept. These killings leave one helpless, lost for words and outraged. How do we console ourselves in the face of this? The questions that arise from these are soul searching, painful and almost without an answer.

May God grant the living the courage to move on!

Back to the Letter From Birmingham Jail.

Photo by Suzy Brooks on Unsplash

MLK wrote “Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”

Dear Plateau people, your struggle is not different from the struggle in Benue, Kaduna, the South East or the South West. By micromising the issue and branding it with a specific identity, you are limiting your struggle to only your territory and reducing the strength you can mobilize. The sting of injustice is all over Nigeria. Almost everyone is a victim of the sad circumstances we are forced to live. Our approach to these issues has made them tribal struggles rather than a fight against injustice. Just a few days ago, we insisted that the killing of Ropvil was a Mupun attack, a few days later we are insisting that the attack in Bokkos is a Bokkos attack. We do not even respond to these as a State, we are still cut across our tribal divides. It is not surprising that we do not see this as injustice in its fullest scale! The only way to make sure justice rolls down like a river across Nigeria is to build solidarity. Injustice anywhere within Nigeria is a threat to justice everywhere. What we are sadly doing by making these attacks tribal issues is that we are insistently telling others that they cannot join our struggle because they are “outsiders”. We have the common solidarity of mankind and of being Nigerians. Whether it attacks in Bokkos, or Miango or Langtang or Jos or Benue or anywhere, the attacks are fueled by an unjust system. Our goal is to fight the system of injustice that makes this possible.

MLK also posited that there are four steps in any nonviolent campaign and the first is “collection of facts to determine whether injustice exist”. The inconsistency in the number of people killed is a sign of how much we have no value for human lives. No life is more important than the other. How can the government respect and respond to our agitations if we ourselves do not value our lives? Some newspapers reported that it was 11 people killed, others claimed it was 12, some said it was 15 and others said “over 10 lives”. Like really? “OVER”. We are not careful enough to collect the fact which involves the lives of humans. How sad! We must get this right. The media houses must get this right. The foundations of justice must be built on truth.

Also, another important tool we must harness in the fight against injustice is the influential people in society. The universe has conspired that few people will have more influence than all the others. These few people must join the agitation against injustice. Remember when Senator Adeleke contested for the Governorship of Ekiti State? One of those who campaigned for him, and agitated after the election was said to be fouled, was Davido. Due to his popularity, more people who would normally not be interested in such an election became aware of the happenings. It’s a simple trick. In the battle against injustice, it will be to the advantage of our cause to have influential men and women join us! There are many of such men that we can bring into the fight.

Furthermore, it is imperative that the churches and men of God understand their role better in this struggle. Their role is not to call out against the killing of Christians alone, their role is to cry out against injustice in any form. The death of any human being brings sadness.

MLK

The Muslim Imam who protected some Christians is a powerful example of the role the church could play. We must never forget that our role in the affairs of the world is not to demand a “Christian Agenda”, is to seek to make the entire world a better place. We are failing to do this if we condemn only the killings of Christians. We must condemn all killings, and rise up in tough moments to provide insight, direction, hope and, leadership for the whole nation and not just “our people”.

So, what is the real struggle here? The struggle is to get the government to put in place systems of justice. A system where everyone can truly live in peace. A system where no one has to die because he or she lives in a certain geographic location. A system where Nigerians can live to achieve their full potentials.

P.S: My opinions are mostly considering specific side of issues. I am only contributing to a larger body of work that needs to be done, hence there is more to be said on how we should go about addressing insecurity in Nigeria. However, I believe if we don’t get this right, we will be shooting ourselves in the foot.