By Oluwole Leigh
‘Give Sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break‘ – Williams Shakespeare.
‘A Voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more’ – Jeremiah 31:15 (NKJV).
We live in a land filled with violence. Life around here has become ‘poor, nasty, brutish and short’ as described by Thomas Hobbes. Our ears are constantly assaulted by news reports of different forms of Violence. Daily exposure to news of violence has pushed us to develop all sorts of coping mechanisms. While some recoil at the slightest sign of violence, others have become immune to it .The most popular reaction to violence in the Nigerian context is the psychological segmentation of violence. Violence has been categorized into good violence and bad violence. Good violence can be described as an acceptable form of violence or as ‘not too bad’ violence while bad violence is said to be violence which has gone beyond the normal. As a result of the categorization, some manifestations of violence have been deemed acceptable. We seem to have set up a benchmark or a threshold above which violence can be deemed as unhealthy. Unfortunately, this psychological threshold confers legitimacy on what we consider the good forms of Violence. For the sake of this discourse, I will attempt to compare examples of good violence to those of bad violence. The examples are supposed to show that there is no morality involved in these and other forms of violence.
If a bishop slaps a poor girl, it is regarded as good violence but if the poor girl slaps the bishop it is regarded as bad violence
If a ‘Northerner’ is deported from Lagos, it is regarded as good violence but if a ‘South Easterner’ is deported from Lagos, it is regarded as bad violence
If a man beats his wife, it is regarded as good violence but if a man beats his girlfriend, it is regarded as bad violence
If a ‘Christian’ Bank C.E.O steals money and destroys a bank, it is regarded as Good violence but if a ‘Muslim’ Central Bank Governor says the C.E.O should be tied to a stake and shot, it is regarded as bad violence
If you beat your housemaid, it is regarded as good violence but if your housemaid beats your child, it is regarded as bad violence
If an Ife indigene attacks a Modakeke indigene, it is regarded as good violence but if an Enugu Indigene attacks an Ibadan Indigene, it is regarded as bad violence
If local Government elections in Edo State are rigged, it is regarded as good violence but if local Govt elections in Akwa- Ibom State are rigged, it is regarded as bad violence
If Lagos state disregards a request based on the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, it is regarded as good violence but if the federal Govt. disregards a FOI request, it is regarded as bad violence
If you chase poor people off their ancestral land, it is regarded as good violence but if the poor people come back to you as armed robbers it is regarded as bad violence
If Niger-Delta Militants destroy life and Property, it is regarded as good violence but if Northern Militants destroy Life and Property, it is regarded as bad violence
If a Bishop uses Church offering to buy a Private jet, it is regarded as good violence but if an Usher is caught stealing Church offering it is regarded as bad violence
If a Presidential Aide forges a document, it is regarded as good violence but if a ‘Yahoo – Yahoo’ Boy forges an email, it is regarded as bad violence
If your driver steals from you and you lock him up in a Guardroom it is regarded as good violence but if a Soldier slaps you because you hit his car, it is regarded as bad violence
A Principled stand against all forms of violence has to be taken by all members of our society. We must not allow a rationalization of violent acts. Ethnicity, Social Class or Status should not be used as a reason to deprive others of their humanity. Even though the journey to equality is a long one, we must never get tired of trying.
