Last Monday’s terrorists’ attack on a Kaduna-bound train was, to put it mildly, a very unfortunate incident which has thrown the country into mourning and has created great doubts in the minds of citizens about the capacity of the government to protect the people. The terrorists, to achieve their despicable objective, had planted bombs on the tracks, which forced the train to a stop and enabled them to surround the coaches and opened fire on the train. They then forcefully gained access into the train. In the ensuing mayhem, no fewer than eight of the passengers were killed, many were also injured while dozens were forced out of the train into nearby bushes and abducted.
The injured are already being given medical attention while efforts are on to secure the release of the abducted. But for the dead, it was the end, it was final, no opportunity for any remedy. When the people headed to the Abuja train station to embark on the ride to Kaduna, they were vivant, bubbling with life, replete with hope and probably making plans and looking forward to a better future, only for all of that to be blown into smithereens by some drug-propelled assailants’ bombs and guns. They were full of life one minute, dead to the world the next. They were full of hope one moment, and utterly hopeless the next. News about them elicited joy one second and sparked sorrow and anguish the next. How sad! How tragic! How heartrending!
Besides the bodies of the casualties of the terrorists’ wickedness being mutilated, their dreams were also shattered. Some of those victims had great dreams for themselves, their parents, siblings, spouses, children, organisation and even Nigeria. Some of them had dreams of advancing their education, dreams of buying new cars, building new houses, being promoted on their jobs, starting their own businesses, giving out their children in marriage or living to a good old age with their spouses. But what has become of those dreams? They are lost forever, lost beyond recovery, lost beyond redemption. The dreams are lost to the madness of those who derive joy in inflicting pains on others. The dreams are lost to the bombs and guns of perverted minds whose values are at variance with the society’s. Those dreams, no matter their beauty or loftiness, have become, like their owners, history.
However, in spite of the gloom that has enveloped us, the reality of our helplessness and the excruciating pain we feel due to our loss, there is a takeaway for all of us from the Abuja-Kaduna train tragedy, which is the temporariness of life. We are birds of passage, we cannot abide here forever. At a point, we have to bow out. We are like a mist, vivacious and vibrant in a moment, lifeless and inert the next.
After death what is left is memory. The relations, friends and associates of the victims of the unfortunate incident have only the memory of the dead to hold on to. But the kind of memory that would be is a function of the kind of relationship they had.
While many of us have come to terms with the fact that our stay on earth is fleeting, we still struggle with the reality that end can come at any point. If we had the consciousness that the end might come unannounced, we would pay attention to the most important thing in life.
The most important thing in life is not wealth, power or position; it is to positively affect the other person. Man is a social animal. The Divine made him so to make it possible for him to impact positively on other members of the society, not to extort or exact upon them. The one who impacts on the people positively is the one who is able to achieve significance, which is superior to success. Success is cheap, anybody can accomplish it. All it requires is for one to hit a set target. Significance is more difficult because it is helping others to accomplish their target probably when you are still struggling with yours. But that really is what endears one genuinely to the people. Success or failure in helping people to accomplish their goals is what determines the kind of memory they will have of you.
This is not about going to heaven or hell; it is about being alive in people’s minds after you are gone. The tragedy of life is to live without making any positive impact; it is to be forgotten the moment one is dead or to be remembered with anguish or regret. The remedy is to deliberately live to positively impact other people’s lives; it is to live such that others can trace their success to your contribution.
We are here today and will be gone tomorrow. So, we must of necessity do the most good that we can do today so that our memory would spark love and admiration, not hatred and disgust when we expire. It is said that to live in the hearts of those we love is not to die. The only thing that makes that possible is the impact we make while we live. Those who live a life of impact never die; they only continue their existence in another realm.
May God grant eternal rest to the victims of the tragedy. May He help their families come to terms with the unfortunate reality and grant them the fortitude to bear their loss. May He heal the injured and hasten the release of the abducted. May God help Nigerian leaders to live up to their responsibility so that the country would not be turned into a killing field.
and then