By Sunny Ikhioya

SUNNY, what is happening to the world? That was the question my big brother Barrister Ballantyrne Ugege, of Faith chambers, Warri, threw at me as we sat reflecting on global issues generally. Thomas Hobbes’ life in the state of nature is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” but with the advancement of the human mind capabilities and interaction of people from diverse cultures, coupled with the influence of positive religion, the brutishness of man has been tampered. The whole world has become a global village and the concern of one has become the concern for all. The establishment of the United Nations organization immediately after the bitterly fought Second World War ensured that the arrangement was formalized and documented. No individual or nation can, on its own flout UN rules and regulations at will; at least that is the assumption. The world was happy and full of expectations but barely a century after, it is as if things have gone hay wire. Human lives have become worthless; killings and destructions everywhere. Nothing, no matter the value is too precious to be destroyed; man, material, edifices, all.

Suicide bombings we viewed from far flung places like Sri Lankan – the Tamil tigers invented the suicide vest- have been taken over by the Arabs  who have transported it into other parts of the world; Palestine, Afghanistan, Somalia, Kenya, Pakistan and the Nigerian Boko Haram. It is a challenge the whole world is battling to contain, as it is now, no nation is safe; whether on air, land and sea.

How did things come to this soory pass? Every nation in the world now live in fear, where the freedom of exploration and tourism have been curtailed and where the world is going into very sharp divisions along religion, ethnic, racial and cultural lines. Has freedom become a problem, where people are freely allowed to express their preferences; sex, religion, ideology, etc? What role did the internet play in all of these? Is total freedom the solution to the world’s problems or has it become its albatross? Was the world happier in the middle of the 20th century than it is today? Even with technology, the world has not been able to find solution to the problem of corruption; these are mind boggling issues.

Individuals are not content with what they have, nations are not satisfied with what is theirs. This is why we have cyber internet wars and espionage all round. Since nations and people are not satisfied with present positions and acquisitions, the world will continue to remain under tension. It is not a matter of emotions or morals; it is a matter of interest. That is the situation of the world today. If America can give both physical and material backing to the insurgents in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Ukraine, why didnt they give support the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria? It is all about interest.

The UN laws are very clear; every sovereign state has complete control over its domain and no foreign power can come in without been given clearance by the incumbent government, that is to say; every country is independent. And, before any intervention can be made, it must have the backing of the Security Council with the backing of the General assembly. If this is so, why did America invade Iraq? What are they doing in Libya, Syria and other places boiling over now because of their meddlesomeness? If this is so, what is Russia doing in Crimea Ukraine? Because the big powers are increasingly suppressing the small and weak nations, the people are therefore, finding solutions for themselves through unconventional methods of fighting war. There is no doubt  that the UN goals and objectives are good intentions to bring peace to the whole world but, unfortunately, they lack the capacity for enforcement. The Security Council is the body empowered with this responsibility but I cannot remember a time that they voted unanimously on an issue, even on issues as little as declaring Boko Haram a terrorist organization.

That is the problem of the world. The problem of the world is basically premised on injustice- of man to man and nation to nation. It has been there from time; the brutalization and subjugation of the black race through slavery, the pogrom against the Jews during the Second World War, the massive exploitation of colonialism, they have all been there, only now they are taking different forms and shapes. Small states like Myanmar are still under the over bearing threat of China, so, how can the world make progress, if the strong intent is to exploit the weak.

That is the challenge of the world today; justice and equity, until this is determined appropriately, it will continue to boil until Armageddon comes to consume all of us.

In Nigeria, it is not different; every arrangement at leadership, right from the time of our independence has been a battle of ethnic interests. Every single change of government, whether civilian or military has confirmed this. If the north is in power, you find the predominant ministries under the control of northerners and when the south is in power, the same thing happens. Unfortunately, this kind of arrangement does not encourage good performance, as the best is subsumed under ethnic and other interests and that is why Nigeria has not been able to realize its potentials and take its proper place in the comity of nations.

We have just finished a very bruising election. Is the incoming government going to shun ethnic, religious, regional and other sentiments in favour of meritocracy? Is the president going to embrace equity and fairness as the cardinal point of his regime? Is he going to highlight the very secular nature  of Nigeria? All the hidden talents, in all fields of human endeavour that the nation possess, are they going to be identified, encouraged and put to use? Will the president eradicate religion from state affairs and allow every individual to fund his or her own pilgrimage to whatever holy land without government input ? If the people see transparency in the leadership they have, they will follow suit. The problem of the world is lack of sincerity of leadership in nations.
That is the only guarantee to peace in Nigeria and the world.

*Mr. Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.