In my last post, i opened with what Parents will do to make their children survive and touched on the migrant crisis in Europe. Little did i know that, a far greater evil will take place that will galvanize the world into action.

Aylan was a cute boy full of life and bright mischievous eyes that light up when he smiles. He was a three-year old boy born in the midst of the Syrian civil war. And as it got increasingly unsafe and dangerous, his father decided to move him, along with his brother and wife to Europe in search of greener pastures and safety. Am sure you all read the stories and how it all came to an end. He was among the casualty in the flotsam of migrant seeking protection and safety in Europe. And the picture of his lifeless body on a Turkish beach finally woke the world up from her slumber.

What is most distraught about it and among several other things is the fact the family, had legally applied to emigrate to Canada, and they had been denied on the rounds that the paper work was not complete. How glib? In a country torn apart by war, ravished by extremists, what sort of documentation do you still require from people who are under a refugee status as it where? Its called playing the ostrich.

The war is not at your doorstep, it’s not your head that is on the line, you care less about what they go through, you can’t afford to allow them to mess up your front porch, quite hospitable  is it not Canadians?

And to the rest of the world that decided to sit by and watch, the Prime Minister of Britain that reportedly said he won’t back down on denying migrants entrance into UK, am sure he is having a rethink and same goes to the other European countries.

Hungary provided buses to transport migrants across the border into Austria when he migrants decided to walk all the way into Austria. Am sure, the death of Aylan and his lifeless body on the beach gave them a rethink. But how many more will die before the situation is salvaged drastically? Mind you, several thousands have perished at sea already before Aylan, babies, toddlers, teenagers, men, women, fathers, mothers, grandparents, all perished in the flotsam of humanity trying to cross into Europe for safety, from the devastating effects of the Syrian War and the unimaginable atrocities been perpetuated by Isis.

Do we have to support evil to bring out a point? Must we urge destruction of lives and property just to achieve an objective of more defense spending, more open market to sell arms and ammunition, to feel like the topmost super power, the big brother in the house? i think this is a shame on the world for permitting this to go on unchecked. I wonder how on earth, we sit down and think, “it’s there problem over there, will just sit down and watch it all on TV”.

People are paying thousands of euros just to cross the ocean into Europe in dinghies fit for streams and we sit down when we have all it takes to solve it and end the nightmare. Most European countries are galvanizing efforts towards this crisis but the question remains, how soon is it or better put, how sustainable will that effort be before we have another Aylan lying dead on the beach? Is this all a mirage? Another gimmick for one cunning politician to use to campaign and then forget it all in a jiffy. The world moves on, Aylan lies in the grave, like so many others with his brother and mother and his father sits, waiting for death to reconcile him with them. It’s all playing  the ostrich.

Coming to our country Nigeria, if we had played ostrich in the last election, only God knows where the country will be headed to now. And with the revelations coming out on the sleaze of corruption that occurred in the last administration, one would wonder, “Which way Nigeria?” But there is hope for us as a nation if we do not stand by the side lines and watch as spectators. I had a conversation with a staff of NSITF during the week and will share that in the coming days. And basically, the conversation centered on the government demanding equity from her citizenry while at the same time setting them up for bankruptcy.

If we decide to play ostrich in the scheme of things going on in our nation, then we are setting ourselves up for wanton destruction. We do not need to wait till another election year before we decide to act and do the right thing. We are the government, and we can decide the direction we want to head to as a nation collectively and not by the decision of a few. The random, unwarranted acts of governance should be called to question and not condoned. Elected representatives that fail to deliver but loaf about should be recalled and the mandate given to another more worthy.

Acts questionable to our collective good be question and sanction demanded on the culprits. We cannot afford to play Ostrich with our collective good as a nation. We do not have to be like Syria before we know that we cannot afford a refugee crisis. And we cannot also afford to have our people dying like fleas on a quest of no return, on a foolhardy adventure just to make lie worth living for our children.

If we truly want to make life worth living for our children,we need to start now, by taking responsibility to call to question our sitting ducks” and “playing the Ostrich” attitude that will end up sinking our nation. We have a collective responsibility, we do not need any world attention grabbing headlines before we know what is right to do.  Let’s quit playing political antics with our future by leaving it in the hands of people who are not worth it. Another Aylan, lying dead on the beach must not occur, before we know we must speak up for that which is right and take the necessary steps as well.

Quite playing the Ostrich!

SamAbiAde.