Weekly Blog: In search of the real bad guys
By Omordia Efe – It is heartbreaking to discover unsavory facts about an individual that is highly respected in the society. It is extremely disturbing if it is revealed that the individual in question intentionally and painstakingly gained people’s trust to perpetuate disdainful acts. A few years ago, a popular West African Magazine narrated the story of how a boy was repeatedly sexually abused by the Parish Priest in his community. At the moments he tried to resist the unhealthy relationship, his parents unwittingly resisted and forced him to continue visiting the priest. Today he is a full-fledged Homosexual. Making the rounds is another story about a Charismatic Nigerian Pastor who has been arrested on charges of sexual abusing under-age males and females. The parents of these victims most likely did not envisage such alleged occurrences between a man of the cloth and their offspring.
Sometimes, it’s easy to point out the bad guys at other times it is not. A few months ago when bombings began in Nigeria, the Boko Harem Sect, a group of religious extremists were labeled by the majority as the culprits but a minority doubted because they figured out that the uncoordinated and unsophisticated methods of the group could not measure up to the coordinated bomb attacks. In recent times, quite a number of people are changing their minds about who the perpetrators may be. Hands are pointing to disgruntled politicians who may want to score a political point with their ill-conceived actions and it’s a pity that the structures are really not in place to discourage such groups of people who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
