THE LAST SMILE OF THE CROCODILE.
The smile of the crocodile is as good as its tears.When a crocodile or croc descends on a prey with its massive jaws and teeth,it sheds tears rather than display mirth.The tears of the crocodile are tears of hypocrisy,a tear shed on the altar and celebration of a great and sumptuous feast.So why does it cry instead of laugh?Those are tears of joy,not of sadness.So what about it’s smile?Ask the Nigerian Military High Command or the government of the day.Operation Crocodile Smile conducted in the past in the South East and elsewhere had been carried out with red eyes and with full complements of military hardware.What a croc!what a smile.
Barring any unforeseen events,come tomorrow,the 20th of October,2020 the
military would once again commence Operation Crocodile Smile amidst the ongoing nation wide protests by Nigerian youths.
Sometimes one wonders the calibre of persons who advise this government and its other various arms.Anyway this smile of the crocodile might likely be the last as things stand.
How do you carry out such an operation when there is so much anger on the streets with kegs of gun powder littering everywhere waiting to be set off.There have been antecedents in history to give us a roadmap on the likely out come of the current protests massively been carried out in Nigeria especially in the South and Middle Belt Areas.
Arrogance and insensitivity towards the people by its rulers invariably creates an atmosphere of resistance and public disobedience..
The French Revolution that began in May 1789 started like joke like joke as we say in Nigeria.When King Louis XVI was told that the masses were angry and protesting because of pervasive hunger in the land,and that meat was scarce,he arrogantly asked the people to go eat bread.When told that bread was equally scarce,he said they should go eat sand.It was as bad as that.
Look also at the collapse of the defunct Soviet Union.Sheer brute force and unnecessary intimidation could not stop millions of people of various ethnic nationalities from holding mass protests that eventually brought the Soviet regime to its Knees.
Consider the case of Tunisia in the Arab Spring of December 17,2010.The death of one young man ,Sidi Bouazizi,a street vendor, who set himself on fire in protest against repeated police harassment,demanding bribes.His death led to protests all over the country,and spread to other Middle East Arab countries with the people calling for jobs,better living conditions and greater freedoms.There are many more examples too numerous to mention.
The import of all these is that we must learn from history rather than suffer the consequences of ignoring the lessons thrown up by it.
In Nigeria ,large crowds of protesting youths keep gathering over SARS brutality and the rampant maltreatment of mostly law abiding citizens, by elements in the police and the military.Other paramilitary agencies are not left out.
A spark from a plug kick-starts a car engine,so also would an ill advertent killer shot by a rascally member of the Operation Crocodile Smile Contingent.The conflagration this could result into is better imagined than experienced.
The question keeps ringing in my ears, who are the advisers to this government?The answer is blowing in the wind.
Restructure Nigeria,and every other thing would fall into place including SARS and a military that cannot crush a rebellion in the NorthEast but wants to flex muscles in the South East that is generally peaceful.What nonsense.
Donald Onyi Iroham,NPM,mni