A must read: ORAN LO, ORAN DE! (Trouble leaves, Trouble comes) By Joshua Oreoluwa.

When I was a boy, my grandfather used to tell me different kinds of stories in fables such as the story of the tortoise, Ananse, Ali and the Angel, he read D.O. Fagunwa’s books to me and of course stories from the Bible. I would like to share one of these stories with you and relate it to the happenings in Nigeria presently.

There was a king or a Chief in a particular village that was usually nonchalant about report of tragedies happening to his subjects. It started as a minor case of a wolf coming into the village at night to eat their goats. And whoever was affected would run to the king to report, but the king would only say ‘Oran lo…’ (Trouble leaves).


After a while, the wolf shifted from eating their goats to eating their children. The villagers cried to the king, but the king would only say “ha! Oron lo…” (Trouble leaves). After some months, on a fateful day, the servants of the king came running, panting and weeping. The king being curious asked earnestly what the matter was, and they told him his only heir has been attacked and eaten by the wolf. The king shouted “Ha! Oron de… (Trouble has come). With deep regret, he ordered immediately that all hunters should go into the forest and hunt down this beast. And they did hunt the beast down. Cool story right?

Now let’s carefully analyze the crisis situation in the Northern part of our dear country Nigeria. I’m talking about the Boko Haram bombings. If we have been following this news carefully, we’ll discover that the victims are the poor common masses and the peasants living a lowly life. I doubt if any members of the government or any members of their dear families have been involved or affected. I do not wish them bad things neither am I insinuating anything here rather, it is a call to the rescue of the suffering masses dying and being kidnapped every day. They should not show concern today and tomorrow seen at a party laughing and dancing and attending political rallies. If Boko Haram Kills everyone, who will vote for them? The Nyanya bombing last week at the outskirt of the Seat of Power is a sign that these nefarious people are planning something bigger.

My humble plea is that our leaders should take this serious situation in the country more seriously lest the situation becomes like my story above.