The haunting cadence of W.B. Yeats’ The Second Coming, quoted so often by the late Chinua Achebe, has ceased to be mere poetry. It has become a grim, real-time mirror reflecting our national existence: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
In a nation that boasts some of the brightest minds globally, a land steeped in the communal sanctity of “it takes a village to raise a child,” we have descended into an unthinkable abyss. Daredevil criminals have reached into the heart of Oyo State, snatched our children—the very architects of our future—and vanished. Yet, as the sun rises and sets, from the gilded halls of the Presidency to the dusty corners of the local street, we remain paralyzed, tethered to a collective ignorance that is as chilling as it is shameful.
The Theatre of Performative Outrage
We have become a nation of “noises.” We trade blame with surgical precision—the Presidency points to the state, the state points to the security architecture, and the populace directs its vitriol toward the political elite. We have seen the press releases, the hashtags, the fleeting television appearances, and the hollow promises of “concerted efforts.”
But let us be painfully honest: these are not efforts; they are performances. There is not even a whisper of a “near-success syndrome.” While we debate and defend our preferred political affiliations, our children are sleeping under the cold, unforgiving stars of a forest floor. They are subjected to the kind of trauma that shatters souls long before it breaks bodies. They are waiting for a rescue that we are too divided to coordinate.
The Mirror of Empathy
Let us strip away the facade of civic detachment. I challenge every father in this country: if that abducted child were your only son, would you be content with a tweet? To every mother: if that child were the fruit of your old age, would you accept a press statement as enough?
To our governors, our senators, and our political titans: if these children were the heirs to your empires, would the current pace of “investigation” satisfy you? To our billionaires, our security chiefs, and our local traditional warriors, those who claim the mantle of protectors, what if these children were born of your own loins?
The silence that would follow that personal connection is the same silence currently haunting the homes of these victims. We have allowed the abstraction of “national crisis” to desensitize us to the visceral reality of a child’s terror.
Beyond the “One-Man” Savior Complex
We have developed a dangerous habit of outsourcing our conscience. We wait for the radical activist, the viral influencer, or the singular loud voice to carry the burden of the nation. We expect a solitary figure like VDM or a lone firebrand like Sowore to move mountains that require the combined weight of a movement.
But no singular individual can replace the collective pulse of a people. Their rescue is not a one-man job; it is a fundamental test of our humanity.
The Path to Reclamation
We are currently a house divided by party lines, religious silos, and ethnic prejudices. Yet, we have seen that we possess a dormant capacity for unity. When the Super Eagles take to the pitch, our differences vanish. We become one heartbeat, one voice, one nation. Why is it that a game can unify us, but the abduction of our children leaves us fractured?
We do not need more talk. We do not need more inquiries that lead to no arrests. We need to acknowledge a hard truth: we have failed. We have failed the children, we have failed their teachers, and we have failed ourselves.
No stranger knows our terrain better than we do. No satellite imagery can replace the intelligence of a community that refuses to be silent. It is our land. These are our children.
The systemic rot has metastasized to the point where “efforts” no longer count. Only results matter. The time for performative sorrow is over; the time for a unified, uncompromising demand for their return is now. If we do not rise, if we do not act with the singular intensity of a people reclaiming their future, then let the history books record that when our children were taken, Nigeria chose its politics over its people.
We must rescue them. Not tomorrow. Not after the next meeting. Now.
Femi Oyewale is the publisher of Sahara Online and President of NASRE who
writes on national affairs, security, and social development.
