#Ilorinloot: In Defence of our Sacrosant Heritage -By Nurudeen Akewushola

For time immemorial, Ilorin has been known for its exceptional peacefulness, calmness, and harmony. The city which is regarded as a place very far from hell and close to paradise is famed for its indefatigable peaceful status quo amidst its peers in other parts of the country.

However, the attack on the government’s warehouse where palliatives were stored and innocent people’s properties by miscreants on Friday/Saturday speaks-ill of this sanctified city which primes itself as the centre of Islamic cultural heritage and moral values.

This is a red pointer that our long-cherished and time-tested virtues of honesty, integrity, hard work, good neighbourliness, abhorrence of corruption, patriotism have been badly clouded by greed and lack of contentment.

On Friday afternoon before the incident, I was having a conversation with my brother about how  people broke into the warehouse  in Osun and Lagos and he said: “The government was being overprotective, we don’t have that kind of violent youths in Ilorin who could try such.” He said and  I concurred with him relying on the fact that Ilorin is a peaceful city.

It was hours after the conversation that we came to realize that residents led by hoodlums have burgled the warehouse where palliatives were stored and later in the night they took it further and began to be burgling shops and malls, causing loss to their fellow innocent citizens.

Unapologetically speaking, it’s essential to clarify that, the attack on both government’s warehouse and private enterprises on Friday/Saturday is an act of criminality, hunger is not an excuse to justify stealing in government’s stores and people’s shops; it signifies the greed, lack of contentment, honesty, and the love of self-aggrandizement dwelling in the hearts of most of us as Nigerians.

The government said CACOVID palliatives was just received in September and the government has flagged off the distribution, it has its purpose, and even if we sniffed that the government had the propensity to loot it, stealing it is also not an option, we can’t ‘right wrong with wrong’.

It makes no sense to say lack of trust in government and hunger bedevilling the citizens across the country are the reasons for the invasion of citizens into the warehouse to cart away the foodstuffs meant for the entire populace.

The truth we may want to deny is that the scenario happened on the soil of Ilorin and it succeeded through the support of the residents in the state.

In order words, it was mastermind by Ilorin Youths and it was the loot that happened in the warehouse which was supported by the residents that led to the burgling of malls and shops.

The attack, I mean robbery that took place at Ilorin Shoprite, FEMTECH phones and gadgets company, and other innocent people’s properties is the worst part of the scenario. If that of the Government’s warehouse is for the people and looted by the people, what about the malls which were built by people from the money earned from their sweats?

The fact that the operation succeeded even though the government had seen it coming before it happened is also a slap and it shows the level of looseness of the state’s security. Having foreseen it from the onset, the misery could have been repelled had it been the government has bombarded the place with security agents.

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, Quran 8 verse 65  “And fear temptation to evil which may not smite those of you in particular who are unjust, and know that Allah is severe in requiting (evil).” Allah warned us in this verse to desist from riots due to its consequences which do not usually affect the perpetrators only but even the innocents in the society.

As reported by Daily Trust, about 6 people lost their lives to this misery and the curfew was imposed which denied the movement and other daily routines of innocent citizens,  are we going to blame the government for the calamities that we brought upon ourselves?

For the past two weeks, there has been clamouring for a better Nigeria by the Youths of this country, the protest which started peacefully has been transmogrified to violence and stealing by miscreants under the guise of protest. This recent incident shows that Nigerians at grassroots are even worse than those at the top echelon, it’s this our rot societies that produce those bad leaders who keep tormenting us and subjecting our lives to danger and hunger.

Two negatives can never make a right, looting under any guise is not justifiable, we should all change for good and be the agents of change in our immediate communities before thinking of how we can change the whole nation we should all imbibe the spirit of “Change Begins With Me” to make positive impacts and bring about the much needed positive changes in the country despite the rot that has ravaged this country.