Where are our elders?

THERE appear to be many quixotic ideas being dished around by elders. Just take a close look and you will see elders warring everywhere in Nigeria.

Whilst some are calling for restructuring and some harp on the fact that Nigeria’s unity is negotiable, others are suggesting new ways to select presidential candidates.

Again, some want a regional breakaway. What is sad is that the elders in Nigeria are not coordinating efforts to fight militancy, kidnapping, cannibalism, ritual killings and the looting of the treasury being reported everyday.

A country needs very strong laws and a body of strong elders for the stability of the state and to protect it from men of straw keen on the destruction of the state.

I can’t reconcile the statements of some elders giving authority to agitation even where some of those agitating have differing ideologies that are not easily discernible by the man in the street.

Hardly do they campaign for respecting the laws of the country. They are united in confusion. The seeming rift between northern and southern elders is tearing the country apart. Both go off at a tangent, tearing each region apart, ensconced in their regions and seeking regional relevance.

This country needs men of will in government to shape it. Ideas do not change a country, but the will of leaders and those of the people. We have seen too many idealists without a will for anything and those classes of people are to be feared because they distract government from following a just course with their hidden agenda.

Nigeria cannot be great only by the rankling of ideas but by strong laws and authority supervised by tough men. Elders must be clear and didactic, campaigning against criminality in Nigeria.

And because they shape the social process, they need to be careful about what they say in tempestuous times. They may be misread by people who love conflict and division.

A country cannot grow without political stability. The bid for peace must not be misconstrued as an armistice and detente by bad people.

Elders must be strong-willed, just and avuncularly kind. Elders would be respected if they supported tranquility and not chaotic disorder.

A tiny segment of the population enjoys this country. The elders in Nigeria need to challenge that tiny segment to provide the environment to make life bearable for all. I hardly see them doing this.

• Simon Abah.

Port Harcourt,

Rivers State.