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Racial Justice and Equality - Part 5 - The View From Nigeria

Edited BY

G P Kennedy

Peace - Lagos, Nigeria


 HUMANITY NEEDS A LARGE DOSE OF LOVE

 As numbers reached 20,000 and Lagos state having more than 9,000 of the COVID-19 patients the Government this week started enforcing the use of Masks in public spaces and face shields to try to flatten the Curve many people don’t understand that COVID-19 is increasing in our communities as local transmission rates are at 50%.

 

 The Black lives matter BLM around the world continued to make a point of asking Governments to realize that all humans are equal. The world over color, religion and tribe are issues.

Tribalism is a big issue in my country Nigeria as well, Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa being the predominant tribes have deep issues amongst themselves.

 

 The world needs a load of love, the whole world is at war with itself, the lockdown brought out a lot of pent up anger triggered by the killing of George Floyd and that seemed to spark the anger that many people had decided it was time to deal with the issues that had been on going for many years.

 

Outrage at the killing of George Floyd is global

 Racism has been integral part of humanity.

 

 Humanity needs to heal. Love is the only things that can heal the world, when we learn to love each other care about our people not based on color, religion or tribe; the world will be an amazing place.

 

 As long we continue to define people based the color of their skin or religion the world will never have peace, the superiority complex is very difficult to understand. Don’t forget the issue of the male and female wars that also occupies our earth space

 

 I have always attended mixed schools from kindergarten to university, but my first real issue with racism was in Oxford Brookes in the cafeteria where the black students sat during lunch was fondly referred to as the ‘Ghetto’.

 

 Back home in Nigeria my tribe the Igbo’s fought the Biafra war, the many issues why the war was fought prevail till today, the Igbo’s continue to feel marginalized. People continue to discriminate against the Igbo people, they say we love money and can do anything for money, we are not united, that we are not able to rule Nigeria. 


An Igbo family portrait

 The Igbo’s are entrepreneurs tend to be traders and highly intellectual but tribalism is a major issue in Nigeria, we still have major issues of getting parents to approve inter Tribe marriages

 

I wish COVID19 will realign humanity that all that matters is the character of the person nothing else, color, tribe or religion is totally irrelevant

 

Humanity = compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition: the quality or state of being humane; the quality or state of being human.  

 

“I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one ‘race’ – the human race – and that we are all members of it.” – Margaret Atwood

 

 “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama

 

 My mother, Dorothy, says she lives love. My Mum finds it impossible to hate or not live in harmony with people she refuses to see people based on color or their nature, this habit of hers I wish I could adopt.

 

 

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