Since the inception of
recorded history of mankind, it has been inundated with tales of conquests and
heroic actions of individuals who rose to fame through leading their peoples
through warfare. Even in religious parlance, figures like the biblical Joshua
and King David are popular conquest heroes whilst contemporary history boasts of
empire builders in Nebuchadnezzar 1, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Shaka Zulu,
Alexander the Great, Emperor Justinan 1, Genghis Khan amongst several others.
However, there are several other Empire builders who ended up on the losing
side of history in Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Attila the Hun, Hannibal,
amongst several others.
Whether conquerors, heroes,
victors, plunderers, terrorists or villains; one thing is common to these
historical figures and their empires—they were founded by shedding of millions
of human blood.
until the lions have their own
historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."…………Chinua
Achebe
"History is written by the victors"……Winston
Churchill
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| Human Skulls-- Relics of mass murders of humanuty around the world Image: LKEM / Flickr) |
Whilst the murderous antecedents
of human history over the past centuries has been long forgotten or
forgiven/relegated to the shredders of human memories; there is a sharp
awakening to humans murderous tendencies especially from the 20th century
to the present 21st century, as rough estimates has it that the
number of murderous annihilations of specific tribes, race and religions over
the last 200 hundred years (this includes the first and second world wars)
almost equals the number of humans who have died (through natural or human
causes) over the other centuries.
To buttress this, reckoning
from the obnoxious slave trade (trans Atlantic and colonial expenditures of the
16th,17th, 18th and 19th centuries);
humanity experienced murders on the industrial scale during the first and
second world wars where war causalities were reckoned in millions as hundreds
of thousands were felled in minutes -no thanks to the technology of machine
guns, ‘conventional’ bombs and nuclear bombs.
From the 1915 Armenian
genocide, the Jewish Holocaust, to targeted deportations and killings of
several ethnic nationalities under varied guise during first and second world
wars, leaders of the world powers said never again in 1945 through formation of
the United Nations and allied charters.
Nevertheless, since 1945,
the sanity of humanity has again been called to question as a resultant of
awakened genocidal tendencies in massacres and ethno-religious cleansing in
recent conflicts around the world. Sadly, this murderous tendencies has had a
contagious effect in 3 of the World’s continents.
Europe has it in
balkanization of Yugoslavia which had its high point in the Srebrenica
massacre of 1992. Currently, there are heightened tensions in Eastern Europe especially
amongst former Soviet bloc nations over the ethnic consciousness of Russian
speaking peoples in these nations which has caused the Russian-Georgian
conflict of 2008 and is currently heightening tensions in Ukraine.
Africa
has it Sudan where prolonged conflicts (sometimes dubbed Africa’s longest civil
conflict) lead to the splitting of Africa’s largest nation and the emergence of
a new nation in South Sudan in 2011. This never ended the conflict in that
region as battles still rage in South Sudan and mother Sudan itself (both targeting
ethnic nationalities).
Across
the Sahara to South, brutal civil conflicts in Liberia, Cote d’ivore and Sierra
leone during the 1990’s and 2000’s claimed thousands of lives with associated brutality
of limb amputations of survivors. To the east, Africa’s most populous country Nigeria,
has had a civil conflict in the 1960’s which had ethnic undertones and yet
scores from that war are yet to be settled as it a common trend for riots and
recently ‘scotch the earth’ annihilation by Boko Haram insurgents to
sporadically claim the lives of hundreds of Nigerians daily -all of which has
ethno-religious undertones.
Away
from the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which already had a precedence in targeted killing
of Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s; the drooling
effect of these menace has eternally plundered peace in the Democratic Republic
of Congo where the Banyamulenges are almost extinct. Somalia reels from an
eternal conflict now engulfing its larger economic neighbour Kenya and also
causing a serious concern for the wider East Africa sub region. The Central
Africa Republic is also witnessing an annihilation of it Muslim population. No
thanks to years of civil wars and religious revenge attacks.
In
Asia, targeted marginalization of the Rohingya Muslims amongst other tribal wars
is an issue in Burma (Myanmar) and is a reminisence of the brutal Khmer Rouge
in Cambodia.
Kurdish
repressions as experienced in Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran as well as the unresolved
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, calls to question the sanity of humanity. The
Arab spring has provided another butcher field in Syria and questionable
anti-terrorism interventions by the United States and her allies has forever
destroyed the bliss once known in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of
all the continents, only South America has tended to move on from its murderous
pasts but pockets of conflicts still remains in the drug fuelled clashes/wars
of Columbia and Mexico.
After
reeling the murderous tendencies and man’s inhumanity to mankind over the 20th
and 21st centuries, one must note that these murderous tendencies if
not nipped can spell doom to humanity (especially as seen in the origin of the
first World War).
Amidst
the conflicts, terror attacks and civil unrests that grips our world today, it
is not enough for words of condemnation to be said no matter the veracity.
Considering the burden of refugee welfare which usually lies of on non-conflict
countries, there is a call for every nation to ensure world peace and reassert
our common humanity.
Articles 43
through 48 of the U.N. Charter already provide for a permanent command
structure for a standing volunteer rapid response force, which has never been
created- a liberal interpretation of those articles would permit creation of a standing world army.
On a year when the world the
centenary of the outbreak of the first World War, there is no better time to
set aside selfish international interests amongst world powers and other
Nations who inadvertently by their actions fuel conflicts around the world and
see to a stop of mass murders. We are all humans with one Heart, Spirit and
Soul. We should be sane and protect the sanctity of human life to save humanity
from outright annihilation by our own actions.
