January 12, 2015, Prescott- I have not been to Africa.  Many who have, are more interested in wildlife than in the teeming multitudes.  I do find myself thinking a great deal about those suffering millions, of late, especially in the continuing mystery of over 300 young women, just taken from their families- and supposedly having been “assigned” new ones.

As much of the world is focused on the victims of last week’s massacre in Paris, and rightly so, a brief notice appeared in our newspaper, with somewhat more commentary on BBC, regarding the small city of Baga, in northeast Nigeria.  There, 2,000 Muslims-men, women and children, were mowed down by operatives of Boko Haram.

Nigeria is starting to look like Cambodia, Rwanda and Syria.  It’s a big country, which prides itself on advancement.  So, maybe this is why the government has not raised a cry for help.  The people, though, sorely need the world to care.  Nigeria, as an entity, has needed for people to care, for a long time.  The oil-soaked Niger Delta makes the northwestern Gulf of Mexico look like the sweetest of paradises.

Baga is just the latest in a series of massacres, with the crazed head of Boko Haram making it clear he has no intention of treating anyone but the most loyal of his sycophants with even a smidgen of decency and respect.  Complicating matters is the collective behaviour of the Nigerian Army.  It is very hard for the average villager, or resident of a small city, especially in the north, to discern who, in a position of strength, can be trusted.  in the tradition of the worst elements of the British Colonials, This is the classic notion of “only by beating down everyone in sight, can we defend the realm.”

We are moving beyond that, as a species, and Nigerians deserve a place at the table of solace.  The narrow confines of tribalism, nationalism and the misinterpretation of Scripture to suit the fancies of unbalanced individuals are each going to fall away- either by those involved coming to their senses, or by forces which we can only vaguely imagine right now.  There can, in essence, no longer be a hierarchy of Those Who Matter, and Those Who Don’t.  I see a better day coming, and soon.