Lord, What Do We Really Want?

Dear Father,

You know for the past few weeks there, our village has been greeted with a news that has got everybody talking. It has almost become like one of Shakespeare’s quotes in the play Julius Caesar, with particular reference to the Soothsayer’s famous warning to Caesar: “Beware, the ides of March.”

Yes Father, it has become very common if not unavoidable in today’s conversation. In fact, it has become our village “ides of April.” A season and period in our village history that spells out doom that every villager should harbor some fear for. And the village people have every reason to think so too.

But what is of interest here is the motive Father. Yes, the motive for which people are pushing a particular agenda. Are you saying the people who are behind your village “ides of April” have not spelled out their motives?

Father, I doubt whether those who will be unleashed on our village’s feeder roads all understand the issues at bay here. This is not to say that those who are the masterminds behind this do not know what they are up to. The point is whether those who have been hypnotized to follow do understand the issues.

Father, I know there are individuals who are of the opinion that those who speak against the “ides of April ” are sycophants of the village elites. Unfortunately Father, most of those calling the shots are not resident in our village and therefore do not have much to lose in the  event that the much trumpeted constitutional right is upheld. In fact, to have a reverse of the past unfolding here justifies their questionable statuses elsewhere.

Yes, so they don’t care, they like others in the past would encourage anything that sees their most hated enemies off the scene. But little do they know that it is not only their hated enemies that exit the scene.

Father there are people who make references to situations unfolding in other villagers around us and believe that similar actions can be taken in our situation to find the same remedy.

Unfortunately, the situations maybe the same but the environment and the ability to carry out such actions in similar vein is a big challenge. A big challenge because of the difference in levels of education and understanding of issues. When you have a gullible society with high level of illiteracy in a rumor prone environment, anybody can grab onto anything as the gospel.

A clear example is our immediate past experience as compare to the same in one of our next door’s neighbor’s village speaks volume. People take certain actions because they are personally convince of the action, not because somebody has a hidden agenda and want to exploit a particular segment of the village to achieve such goal-that is not being patriotic that is being selfish-a selfish ambition.

“The ides of April” as it has come to be known, will remain with us as long as people would want to settle personal scores in the name of public interest. Their success as we know is high, due to the troops of reserved armies who ready and willing to revert to the status scope.