The People is Dying

Kofi Asante Opinion Apr - 04 - 2014 , 09:51

Yes, The People is dying. The situation took time to get this critical; it was neither sudden nor overnight. This is the consequence of an insidious state of affairs that has now gotten The People tottering on the brink. Some have been heard blaming the sad condition of The People on the actions of The Leader. Others have, however, said that The People is only dying because of his own stupidity. Maybe I should tell you how it happened. Then you can decide whether this was the fault of The People or The Leader.

It had started years ago. Leader had visited People at his home one night. After exchanging pleasantries and giving a winding speech during which Leader had assured People of his solicitude, and his commitment to improving the building in which People lived, to give him electricity on a constant basis and make sure that it is water and not air that flows in his water-pipes; after such vehement professions of goodwill and integrity and vision, Leader had looked People in the eye and had asked, with a straight face:

‘Cut a chunk of your flesh and cook, so that I can eat it’.

People was too nonplussed to reply. Leader took this silence for reluctance, and proceeded to deliver a long harangue which was reported in the newspapers as a rousing oration. Leader spoke sternly about the necessity of sacrifice: ‘We all agree on the need for good houses, and constant electricity, and good clean water’. He spoke of the need for People to give of his own sweat and blood to build the things that he so much desired. And he concluded with a statement of his supreme selflessness: ‘I have dedicated myself to the attainment of this goal. But I, your Leader, need your support and your sacrifice. Therefore, I say, cut your flesh for me, and let me eat it! The enormity of the task ahead demands it!’

So People cut his flesh and cooked it. And Leader sat at the table, and unbuckled his belt, and ate with great relish, smacking his lips in the process and belching loudly in between large mouthfuls.

The situation continued for decades. The appetite of Leader was voracious, and it was implacable. He kept going to the house of People for a piece of People’s flesh. As you can imagine, this state of affairs was a brutal physical and mental assault on the poor People. But he couldn’t resist the oratory of Leader that promised him a glorious future of shining new buildings, constant electricity and incessant water supply. So although he grumbled every now and then, he always ended up giving in to the seductions of Leader’s oratory.

Over time, this abominable circumstance started telling on People. That evil appetite of Leader’s! People was soon missing limbs. First, Leader ate the flesh on his right upper-arm, and slowly moved right down to the fingers. Then he cracked the bones and sucked the marrows out. Then he ate the flesh off People’s left thighs, and calf, and he did not even spare the thin film of skin covering the sheen; after which, again, he broke the bones and sucked out the marrows. If People takes off his shirt, you’ll see that he’s missing one breast. You’d also notice a large cavity in his stomach where he’d scooped out flesh to satisfy the abhorrent hankerings of Leader.

But these days, the sheer outlandishness of the whole situation has made People to start having misgivings. Having sacrificed his own flesh to satisfy the fell desire of Leader for many years, the promised improvement of his house, water and electricity still remained at the stage of Promise. And although People was an Optimist, and had Faith large enough to move mountains, and even though he Believed in God for a miracle, these Belief and Faith and Optimism were sorely tested repeatedly. And being a mere man and not some dwarf or angel or any other kind of ethereal being, these tripartite virtues aforementioned started wearing thin.

And so when Leader visited him that fateful night, he was loath to welcome him to his house. But welcome Leader he finally did. And after the oration which has now become customary, Leader again demanded that People cut out some flesh and grill it. This time, People did more than grumble. He pointedly asked Leader:
‘Why should I cut my flesh for you to eat? I have been sacrificing ever since you became my master. You’ve yielded nothing this entire period! Even when I beg you to buckle your belt just one hole tighter to limit the amount of your consumption, you refuse. The most annoying part is that after eating my flesh, you still do no work. I’m not a fool; I won’t give you my flesh to eat again’.

A heavy cloud instantaneously gathered over Leader’s head. He was incensed. And he showed it by booming out: ‘Ungrateful being! How can you accuse me of not doing any work? Do you know how much hard work it requires to destroy a country? Think about it: the destruction of an entire people. And haven’t I accomplished that feat to the envy even of Idi Amin? How can you say I’ve not been working?’

Unable to stand up against such dazzling brilliance and impeccable logic, People glumly proceeded to cut him flesh and make a meal of it for Leader. After Leader has greedily eaten this, he made an outrageous demand of People. Leader has recently joined a cult where he had been introduced to drinking of blood. So he asked People:
‘Let me suck your blood’.

People did not protest. Leader’s earlier oratory had unarmed him. So he cocked his head to one side. The veins on his neck stood out. Leader brought his face down to the exposed neck and sank his teeth in. He hardly paused to catch his breath between gulps. And during this despicable feast, the tragedy that was waiting to happen finally did happen. Leader’s teeth were in the flesh of People’s neck, and he was sucking the thick, warm blood. The smell of flesh in his nostrils, the fresh taste of warm blood in his mouth, these carried him away. He couldn’t stop sucking until People’s eyes rolled in their socket and turned all white, and he grew limp in Leader’s arms…

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So People is currently teetering on the border of Life and Death. This is why The People is dying. Some say he is dying because of the execrable appetite of The Leader but others aver that The People is dying because of his own stupidity. The latter group coined a maxim: ‘The only man more stupid than The Leader is The People who actually sacrificed his own flesh and blood for the fattening of This Leader’.