#Moroccans. Thirty-nine million, just a little more than the population of Lagos and one or two suburbs. Yes, ruled by a King that is Sai Baba’s close friend. Yes, Morocco has been gripped in an attention-seeking quest for five days. A five year old boy, Rayan had fallen into a narrow well, and instead of hiring well diggers to go in and fetch him, they moved escavators, earth movers and the entire security paraphernalia to save him.
Attention seeking Moroccans created a hashtag #saverayan that garnered millions of supporters.
One, two, three days, they mounted an incredible rescue operation – oxygen to the depth of the well, food to feed the child and a drone to monitor his vitals…all beamed of course to the world. The caravan of international news moved in, away from the other ‘worthy’ news items of the world, including a storm barring down on Madagascar.
A wandering 5-year old’s ordeal made the world stand still and notice what is happening to him. Then, suddenly last night, they managed to pull up the boy. Nobody blamed his parents for negligence. Nobody blamed the witches and wizards.
They focused on rescue and believe me, from the video clips I’ve seen, they have the equipment, the manpower and the determination to pull this off. They were not in it to reign-in investors, no, its for national pride.
But this morning, after Rayan was pulled and carried off by ambulance, it was announced that the ordeal of five days was too much on the human resilience of this boy…he did not make it.
Silly Morocco. They wasted all those resources for a 5 year old who, obviously is not a prince, the son of King Mohamed IV or any of the nobles.
The King, a modern monarch was interested in the ordeal of one tiny subject. This King has learnt nothing from his friend, Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. Buhari has developed thick skin against small stuff, our revered leader does not fret the small stuff. The last time he was charged to show empathy, he gave the excuse that the weather was too bad to fly to Sokoto. Alhamdulillah it wasn’t bad for the return flight to Abuja. Some stupid wailers suggested he should have driven there. Wicked citizens, asking an Octogenarian to travel by road knowing that the potholes could do incalculable damage to the man’s fragile health. Thank God supporters quickly retorted explaining the sheer trouble it takes to move a presidential convoy. Thanks to them, the rest of humanity who are daily wasted in robbery and kidnap operations don’t know about the laws of animal farm – all animals are equal…
King Mohamed IV demeaned his throne by showing plebeian empathy for a commoner by the name of Ryan. He did by encouraging rescuers and mourning Rayan’s sad denouement. Kings are not supposed to show empathy this way, they delegate such to lesser beings or simply feign ignorance. Did Sai Baba comment on Hanifa Abubakar? She is just a dot on the population of 300 million! No need to fret a little death.
This ‘show-off’ by the Moroccan King would be remembered by the poor parents of Rayan for issuing a royal statement announcing the demise of a 5 year old. That is honour sadly bestowed because it is well-earned. Ismael Benaccar, a prominent AC Milan midfielder tweets that the boy’s memories would continue to inspire his compatriots. Macron shared the pain of the family and the Moroccan people. The King called Rayan’s parents to commiserate with them. Now I am very angry at all these outpouring of emotions. These silly Moroccans want to make my hero Muhammadu Buhari look like an ogre! He is not.
It is not his fault that he could not visit Kaduna until Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai had culverts and roundabouts to commission…how many have died and are still dying in Kaduna? He has not once visited Zamfara or Sokoto or Katsina for the scores that died there. In 2004 or thereabouts, he went to Oyo State to negotiate peaceful co-existence between Miyetti Allah members and their Yoruba hosts, but he is too busy to go back since herdsmen have been terrorizing the state and other parts of the country. Instead of visiting Igbo land to speak to and temper the crisis there, he was angry at IPOB and described the entire Alaigbo as a dot on the map, one that could be deleted without affecting the meaning of a geographical sentence, perhaps. Scores have died in Benue without a word of commiseration from our revered president.
Just this weekend, an estimated 44 people have been massacred in the north for failing to pay kidnappers the levy they (kidnappers) imposed on them for their lives. Our president is too busy in Aso Rock to care or issue a statement. In fairness to him, too many statements without action becomes meaningless, don’t they? Silent mourning works better.
Now, I believe that as a good friend, President Buhari would call the Moroccan monarch and join other ‘world leaders’ in commiserating with him over this irreplaceable loss. It is what is required of a good friend and the leader of Africa’s most peaceful nation. Indeed, he could go a step further, donate a few Nigerian fire trucks to the Moroccan people in case (Allah forbids) any such affliction should strike again. He should despatch a bunch of our efficient fire fighters and rescuers to go to Morocco and train their first responders on how to make a success of a verse from the Qur’an that is very familiar here every time the nation fails its citizens…from Allah we come and to Him we return.
If the Moroccan monarch and his citizens had read their religious texts properly, they would have evaded this unnecessary attention-seeking over the tragedy of a five-year old boy. And if King Mohamed IV needs a lesson in how not to seek undue attention over wandering kids, we would send him videos of how we let our almajirai roam the streets with their pans asking for stale food. We would show him why the foolish people in Washington thinks that Nigeria has the highest number of abandoned kids. Yes, thousands of those kids are left to sleep rough on the streets.
Dear King Mohamed of Morocco, don’t just be a friend of our president, learn a few lessons about developing thick skin to small issues by not reacting. It would make your people respect you more….after all, all authorities are from Allah.
Just not to be left out of mention, dear King Mohamed IV, please take heart your Majesty, may Rayan’s soul rest in jannat and may his parents, family and all Moroccans find consolation. In Nigeria, we have a Hausa saying – muna nan anan – we are here in spite of it all, praying to find find leaders who can be touched by the tears of our infirmities.
Amin.
Pics:courtesy Google search.
