Heroism is not the exclusive preserve of the aged and famous. Gallantry is not the monopoly of the military or the belligerent, as has severally been confirmed by the deeds of unassuming but passionate souls who despise and challenge a manipulative status quo.
Our world is home to classified injustice, and Nigeria, I must say, is the worst culprit. There is such line in the new-old anthem, “The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.” The indices for measuring heroism, if they remain in the hands of purblind politicians with a very lean sense of judgement, will be rigged and outrageously misapplied.
October 25, 1993, after the annulment of the June 12 elections by the military government under the leadership of Maradona, dubbed “the evil genius,” Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, four young undergraduates of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), rose to the occasion and registered their displeasure in the most heroic manner. Richard Ogunderu (19), Kabir Adenuga (18), Benneth Oluwadaisi (20) and Kenny Rasaq Lawal (19) would divert a Nigerian Airways airbus bound for Abuja from Lagos to Niamey, Niger Republic. A hundred and ninety-three passengers on board and with sixteen minutes to touchdown, the pilot readied everyone with the fasten-your-seat-belt ritual. It was then a strange voice tore through the silence: “Ladies and gentlemen, this plane has been taken over by the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy. Remain calm; we will not harm you. You will be told where the plane will land you. You do not move or you die.”
As would be later discovered, they had no arms but their spirits, no grenade but their guts. Their passion to see the yet unborn Nigeria, though independent but shackled, outstripped the fear that gripped the present-day Nigerian youth who has been served the sedative unending expectation.
The youth I knew, epitomized by these four gentlemen with a bright future as would-be engineers but who will otherwise sacrifice that for the good of an ailing fatherland, exudes intelligence, audacity, patriotism and a never-to-be-intimidated fighting spirit. Today’s Nierian youth is heavily distracted and disillusioned. He is Yahoo-born, leaving the parody of heroes to have a field day.
Even though these four youthful sensations would be later arrested and remanded in a Niamey prison, they are a testament eligible for inclusion in JFK’s Profiles in Courage.
Dr. Martin Luther King, a youth himself, noted justifiably: “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you except your back is bent.” The youth of today’s Nigeria seems bent and ridden. He must arise and march right on to the promised land, letting the old guard know that the spirits of the four still work effectually in today’s youth.
