My paternal grandmother, Mama Comfort Aina Akinlami, taught me the power of logical thinking, the kind that Yoruba proverbs carry like seeds of ancestral wisdom. In those proverbs lies a depth of thought that sustained our communal life for generations.

One of her sayings has followed me all my life:

“Eni tó sô ló pè èsísí” It is the one who farted that invited the flies.

The meaning is simple. You cannot complain about the flies if you created the stench. Wisdom, after all, often wears the robe of simplicity. Complications are sometimes a disguise for foolishness.

The Noise and the Truth

Today, Nigeria is engulfed in endless noise, political analysis, international theories, and social media conspiracies. Some say America plans to invade Nigeria because of China’s growing influence. Others dismiss reports of genocide as propaganda. We argue endlessly, shifting blame and chasing shadows, while corpses pile up from Plateau to Benue, from Taraba to Kaduna.

Let us simplify this.

Are people being killed? Yes.

Are they Nigerians, human beings with names, dreams, and families? Yes.
Is that not enough for a national emergency? It should be.

When George Floyd was killed, one man’s death triggered a global movement, Black Lives Matterdespite the COVID-19 lockdown. In Nigeria, thousands have been killed over the years, and yet we debate labels instead of demanding accountability.

Beyond the Theories

I am not an economist. I am not a political scientist. I am a man guided by law, social conscience, and common sense. As the Yoruba songwriter once said:

“Mo kà ògbón orí mi, bí mi ò ti e kà iwe.”

“Even if I have not read many books, I still use my common sense.”

Common sense tells me this: if there is blood on our soil, it is our responsibility to clean it, not America’s, not China’s. If we have failed to secure our people since 2009 under successive governments, then the flies are not America’s; they are ours.

The Nigerian Constitution declares that “the welfare and security of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” Yet, no one is being prosecuted. Those arrested for killings allegedly escape or are absorbed into the same system they once terrorized.

The Futility of Selective Outrage

Some argue that Christians are killing Christians in the Southeast, and ask why America is silent about that while speaking only about Muslims killing Christians in the North. But that argument is not only weak; it is insensitive and morally fraudulent.

Even if we assume, without conceding, that such claims are true, does that in any way change the fact that Christians are being killed in the North? Does America’s silence about one region justify the bloodshed in another?

The logical thing to do is not to weaponize one tragedy against another but to condemn all killings wherever they occur. If indeed there are killings in the Southeast, they should be added to the list of injustices we all must denounce, not used to excuse or silence the cry of victims elsewhere.

Whether in the North or South, East or West, every unjust death, Muslim or Christian, farmer or herder desecrates human life. And when we begin to defend murder because the victims belong to a group we do not favor, we lose the moral right to call ourselves civilized.

America, China, and the Real Question

Let the analysts argue about geopolitics and eschatology. Whether America acts from moral conviction or strategic self-interest is secondary. The real question is this: Would there be talk of invasion if our nation were truly safe and our government truly accountable?

It is the person who farted that invited the flies. Until we clean our own house, foreign interest whether political, economic, or military will always find an excuse to intrude.

Simplicity as National Wisdom

My grandmother believed that wisdom is not in complexity but in clarity. The truth before us is simple:

• Nigerians are being killed.
• Their killers walk free.
• The government has failed in its constitutional duty.

Until these three truths are addressed, no foreign explanation or divine prophecy can absolve us.

Final Word

We do not need new conspiracies. We need courage. We do not need to decode America’s motives. We need to defend Nigerian lives. Because when a nation farts, when corruption, negligence, and hypocrisy fill the air the flies do not need an invitation. They will come on their own.