HUSH.

History is one subject that captivates me more than others. I have spent some time studying some of our West African neighbors and I am more than ever convinced that certain Nigerians need to talk less or not at all.

Some West African nations have fought civil wars in recent years just like Nigerians did for more than 24 months in the late 1960s. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Nigeria all have danced naked and bloody before the world and one thing that is common is the focus on divisions above real issues. All these countries like most African states have been bedeviled by corruption, greed and other vices which successive governments vowed to tackle but where conflicts arose; those who sponsored them appeared to always engineer the discussion to be about ethnicity, religion or social status.

Military coups occurred in many African countries mostly backed by either foreign and/or local sponsors. In many of these cases, these activities were carried out to correct some real or imagined ethnic imbalances. Ghana had more than her fair share of coups but she somehow was spared the waste of a civil war. I don't know why this is so but where wars happened, it appeared fracture lines were made more apparent.

Liberia is a story of settlers (slaves who returned from America) dominating indigenes until Samuel Doe struck in 1980 killing the president before him and executing majority of his cabinet (Johnson Sirleaf and a few others managed to escape). A young non-commissioned officer soon promoted himself to general alongside other opportunists. They practically turned against one another till all things fell apart. Thomas Quiwonkpa, Charles Taylor and Prince Johnson were prominent players from 1980 in Liberia. Quiwonkpa before turning 30 fled the nation and returned in 1985 to overthrow Doe. He succeeded for about 6 hours without realising the Americans had given Doe a hint of the planned move against him. Quiwonkpa was killed, decapitated and all sorts of unimaginable deeds were done with his body. All these happened barely a month after Doe had organized elections and won. He is reported to have gotten over $500million dollars from the USA and met with Reagan. It seemed all a nation needed to do was to tell the U.S. that money was needed to fend off the Soviets. Doe turned on his former colleague's people and killed many of them. It became a 'we versus them' and the aggrieved only required a commander.

Taylor was acknowledged by U.S. intelligence to be one of their assessts while undergoing a trial in a U.S. court in the mid 1980s on account of money allegedly stolen from his role in Doe's government. He broke out of an American prison aided by American intelligence and somehow ended up in Libya with Gadaffi. He returned to Liberia a war Lord in 1989 and it became a 'free for all.'

With ECOMOG presence, Doe who had expected American intervention berated them for not doing so because they didn't want development in Liberia which he as president wanted. The U.S. under Bush snr were only interested in evacuating US CITIZENS which they did. So Nigerians, when next anyone incites other Nigerians or preys on our differences, please find out if they have dual or multiple nationalities. Don't be deceived, those big countries will only save those who have their travel documents which your pastors, imam or social media god may already have or be in the process of procuring.

Prince Johnson was with Charles Taylor as they approached Monrovia but soon broke away. He had been with the commander who had tried to overthrow Doe and seemed to have a personal score to settle. They soon captured Doe and the man who the US had planned an evacuation for was begging for mercy. The once boastful man was castrated and murdered gruesomely. Johnson kept repeating to him all his atrocities and how he didn't show mercy to his opponents.

The Americans were undecided on Taylor and let things play out. It's easy to call on America and other world powers for intervention when fecal matter hits the propeller, it's another thing entirely for them to budge. Ask Syrians. Taylor soon became president and a disruptor in the West African subregion. What he did cost Nigeria cash and blood; Obasanjo hoodwinked him and he got 50years for all his troubles. Prince Johnson is a senator.

I didn't realise how much Sierraleoneans sounded like Nigerians until I watched a YouTube video about their own version of civil war. Some of their names even look Nigerian like Joseph Momoh, Yahya Kanu, Solomon Musa etc. Settlers from slave pasts also stayed in Sierra Leone like they did in Nigeria. They are called Saros in some settings and were found across southern and central Nigeria. They were disputes back in the day with disrespect, land grab and it is on record that they were on different occasions pursued from Lagos and Abeokuta but they returned later.

Ethnic issues also played a role in their war but external influences weighed in considerably. A Nigerian businessman who lost both hands to machetes in Freetown [January 1999] recounted to Channels television in a 2012 interview how his limbs were chopped off by a Liberian rebel and how other Nigerians suffered similar or worse fates in only a matter of days. He said those rebels had francophone accomplices, soldiers of fortune more like. The subregion is that fluid and mercenaries for hire are available. I think we need to be addressing the real issues of poverty and underdevelopment in the region before we forget ourselves in disputes about who is a settler or indigene, black or mixed race and jew or hindu. They deliberately sought for Nigerians in Freetown because of ECOMOG. We have hemorrhaged enough as a nation on account of others. Let's not even for a second wish to bleed again from our own cuts, who will form the ECOMOG that will patrol our mangroves up to our Savannahs? Benin Republic?

We like to throw big words around as Nigerians but we should weigh them before writing or speaking such. Some people through their craftiness have succeeded in manipulating entire groups of people against other tribes and faiths. Educated folks who should examine and correct many of these inaccurate descriptions and stereotypes unfortunately do nothing. The more seeds of discord are sown the more trees of deception grow and block the sighting of truth and restraint.

People don't wait to verify news, they rush to broadcast and spread distrust, hate and rebellion. Some opinions are toxic enough to equate arson and these really don't have to be uttered. Don't even suggest any scale of violence because nothing can be guaranteed; the progression or the end. What some people think is freedom of speech seems to me like licences to kill; such should not be celebrated in any way. Don't play politics with everything, just hush from time to time.

JOA8072018