Terrorists took turns raping a 52-year-old mother in front of her two children. They recorded it and posted the video online.
We aren’t resilient people, we’re just cowards.
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Back in the day, I had a friend from Liberia.
Her parents were upper-middle-class and lived in Monrovia.
She said they woke one day to find rebels at the doorstep of Monrovia, and there was a mad dash to the airport. She said a country had sent planes to evacuate its citizens from Liberia, but the Liberians were buying the seats on those planes to escape.
Her parents could only afford to send her; she never saw them again.
I asked, “This war didn't start in one day; why didn't you leave earlier?”
She said, “We simply heard about an attack here and there and never assumed it would come to Monrovia.”
We do not often talk enough about the psychological trauma carried by victims of kidnapping.
Some months ago, I met a Catholic priest who had just been released after spending more than a month in captivity. Physically, he was free. But emotionally and psychologically, the experience was still haunting him.
You could not make sudden loud noises around him. Every sharp sound startled him because, to his mind, it felt like gunfire all over again. Fear had settled deeply into his nervous system. At the time, he was already undergoing therapy to help him recover from the trauma.
Sometimes, when we discuss kidnapping, we focus only on the period of captivity and ransom. But many victims continue suffering long after they regain their freedom. Some return home alive, yet deeply wounded within.
This is why insecurity is not just a political issue. It is also a human and psychological crisis.
The abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014 triggered a global movement. One school abduction was enough to unite Nigerians, attract international attention, and place enormous pressure on the government through the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Yet, what has happened since then should trouble every Nigerian.
Under President Buhari's eight years in office, Nigeria witnessed about ten school abductions. Under President Tinubu's administration, in just three years, we have already recorded over ten school abductions.
Despite these repeated tragedies, there has been neither sustained national outrage nor significant international attention comparable to what followed Chibok.
This raises an important question: have we become so accustomed to insecurity that what once shocked our national conscience is now treated as normal?
At a time when millions of Nigerians are grappling with insecurity, poverty, and hardship, it is deeply troubling that those in power appear more focused on political calculations and preparations for the next election than on addressing the urgent challenges confronting our people.
It is, therefore, no surprise that some observers have labelled us a "Now Disgraced Nation". While we do not agree with any attempt to define our great country by its present difficulties, we must acknowledge that persistent insecurity, economic hardship, and leadership failure have damaged our reputation and standing among nations.
The answer is not denial, propaganda, or political distraction. The answer is leadership that is competent, compassionate, accountable, and genuinely committed to the welfare and security of the Nigerian people.
The Nigerian youth must not become indifferent. We must all refuse to normalise failure.
Young Nigerians - Take back your country!
A New Nigeria is Possible. -PO