JUNGLE JUSTICE IN NIGERIA

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What has happened to my nation?


I remember that day so vividly, my principal had sighted a young boy trying to steal something from the car of one of the female teachers in my secondary school (aka high school). As soon as my principal saw him he raised an alarm which made all the students including myself ran out of our classrooms to the corridor to see what was going on. The young boy was caught and was brought into the school environment. And I remember very well the way we all screamed for him to be beaten, after all he deserved to punished, and of course that happened. He was slapped on the face, I remember my principal beating him with a wooden cane (a typical way a student is disciplined in Nigeria) but in his case not in a good way, he was treated like less of a human and the reason was simply because he attempted to steal. I am not trying to justify his act but should he have been treated like that? Now, I don’t think so but then my answer was a big YES!

I remember joining every other student in shouting that he should be beaten, slapped on the face and all other sorts of things until I saw the disgust on the face of one of my classmate, she was so disgusted she left the corridor and went back to the classroom and so out of my own curiosity I followed her and asked hey girl what’s wrong? She looked me in the eye and said “even if he is guilty of what he is being accused of, principal shouldn’t treat him like that, they are other ways to discipline a child and this is just abuse not discipline” and no I didn’t agree with her because as far as I was concerned we were doing the right thing and she was just acting like Mrs. perfect and I know it all and so i left her in the classroom and went back outside thinking to myself whatever.

 You see the society I grew up in had taught me to see jungle justice as a norm, in fact it taught me that jungle justice was the right answer to crimes like that and I didn’t know otherwise. Am I trying to blame the society for turning me into a monster? Yes and No because after all I am human and what happened to me loving my neighbor and having compassion on them regardless right? But when all I saw growing up was beating a person blue and black and if the person is not lucky he or she ends up being burnt to death because all he or she stole was garri (a staple food in Nigeria), I was bound to thinking that, that was the only solution to that problem so YES I blame the society for desensitizing my love for humanity. I, for the longest time thought jungle justice was very much okay and the worst part I claimed to be a Christian, funny right? A child who claimed she loves Jesus is okay with at any given moment agreeing with a crowd and watching them dehumanize a being that its creator calls very good. The very same creator that I claimed to serve.

And to think that, jungle justice can even happen in a school environment? Isn't it supposed to be a safe place for people to learn from their mistakes? That boy was later rescued by his mum who came running and begging with every breath in her after she heard her son had been caught for trying to steal.

What has happened to us Nigerians? What have we turned to? Why have we raised up ourselves to be monsters? Why are our hearts so evil? I don’t even think you have to be a Christian to have compassion for other human beings so don’t say I am saying all these because I am a Christian. Do Christ influence the way I think? Absolutely, but do I as a human have the ability to love other humans? YES! When did it become okay to dehumanize another human just like us simply because he or she stole something? When did it become okay to kill ourselves and see no value in the life of another? What on earth has happened to us Nigeria?

I really wish I could end this post with sharing some solutions to end Jungle Justice but I have none. The only thing I can end with is I HOPE WE ENDEAVOR TO LOVE EACH OTHER AGAIN, every part of me is hoping that you will read this and see my heart on this issue, A PERSON’S LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN THE MISTAKE HE OR SHE MADE. Let’s choose to love and let peace reign in our hearts.

Until next time. Peace.

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