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Christine Okemkpa is a first generation Nigerian American of Igbo descent. She is a Morgan State University Alumna and currently a Master's student at the University of South Florida.
Nigeria has changed little in the 30 years since my parents emigrated to the United States in search of a better life. Today in Nigeria there is government corruption, police brutality, overpopulation, poverty, educational decline, and crime is rampant In 1967, the Biafran War erupted. It was an ethnic religious conflict and civil war between the Hausa-Fulani who dominated the government and the Igbo who wanted to peacefully coexist. The conflict led to social, political, and economic suffering for the Igbos. My mother was born in 1967. She along with her family migrated to Kaduna, a city in the northern Nigeria. They moved because of the atrocities being committed against Christian Igbos in the Southeast region. Because they feared for their lives, my mother’s family learned Hausa and pretended to convert to Islam. They had to find some semblance of solace and peace in a new home where they were normally rejected and could be killed for simply being. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Being rejected and killed for simply being?
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a branch of the Nigerian Police Force, has recently come under scrutiny for profiling, extorting, abusing, torturing, raping, and killing young people in Nigeria. Young people are profiled for having iPhones, locs, colorful hair, “flashy” clothes and cars, and laptops. SARS officers have almost unlimited and unchecked power. Crimes are committed against citizens they are sworn to protect. In a social media age, we can see firsthand the intense brutality against Nigeria’s citizens. Dozens of videos showcase dead bodies in the streets, sexual assaults and rape of women, officers torturing civilians, and more. The worst part about this situation is the government has chosen to ignore its people. Instead, authorities focus on maintaining a sanitized image of Nigeria. The current historical landscape mirrors the situation at the end of the Biafran war. The carnage in Biafra ended only because of international pressure brought to bear on the Nigerian government. Its mistreatment of the Igbo people , including the denial of food, medical supplies and access to weapons morphed into a human rights crisis The ultimate resolution of the conflict occurred not to address the plight of the Igbo but to assuage world opinion and place Nigeria in the best possible light. The pain and indescribable horror of those years continues to sit in the hearts of many Nigerians. It is not surprising the same country that sat idly by as it its people died in a civil conflict, today allows the police force to brutalize its citizens.
SARS is only a minor cog in the corruption machine. The greed that fuels Nigeria’s leaders is the real issue. Greed has caused Nigerians to starve during the Coronavirus pandemic Children have been unable to attend school. Poverty has increased for the less fortunate while those in power prosper. Healthcare is lacking. Crime has increased, which the police have proven incapable of addressing due to their own corruption This situation must change. Nigerians love boasting about our country, but how can we be proud of a country that has not from its inception addressed the needs of its citizens. To achieve a truly prosperous Nigeria, we must start from the top. We must dismantle and restructure our country. Our goal is to achieve a truly fair society where all citizens regardless of their ethnic or religious background can be full participants. Where citizens are not harassed by authorities or brutalized by the police. If we can do this, then, we will be a model for democracy and Nigeria will rightly earn her place as the “Giant of Africa”