Skunk And Nigeria, Whose Stench Is Beneficial?

By Jarlath Uche Opara

So terribly a smell, harsh and unbearable. Such is a mild description of how this beautiful creature smells. Not its fault anyway, like the blind man in the scripture, whose deformity was neither caused by him nor his parents, but for the name of God to be glorified.

Could it be for God’s name to be glorified? Of course! He made all things good, so, the awful stench of the Skunk may not be inherently bad and evil, for nothing evil comes from God.

Its stench may be bad, but beyond its odour, could be something beneficial for its continue existence; for nothing created by God is inherently bad, evil and useless.

The smell of a Skunk might not be pleasant to us, but it actually serves a purpose in the wild. It uses its strong-smelling spray as a defense mechanism against predators.

When it feels threatened, Skunk can release a spray from its scent glands that contains a strong odor. This smell is so potent that it can deter predators and keep them away.

So, by nature, the smell of a skunk is beneficial as a way to protect itself from danger.

It can spray its scent up to a distance of about 10 feet (3 meters) when it feels threatened. The spray is quite potent and can travel a significant distance to deter predators or perceived threats.

It has precise control over the direction of its spray, allowing them to aim accurately at its target when needed.

The truth is, nothing diminishes its smell. It is inborn, but many could describe it as bone entrenched, like the spot of a leopard,nothing washes it off.

That is the Skunk and its smell. Afterall it is not useless! Can such be said of Nigeria and the stench she oozes daily ? Is hers inborn like Skunk’ ? More awful than SKunk’? Any benefit like Skunk’ ? Can it be deodorised ? And made to smell nice again unlike the Skunk own?

I have sat down, pensively looked and x-rayed the many dealings of Nigeria, my worry isn’t that she smells, every nation and her citizens smell. Rather I was worried that the strength of her stench makes the stench of a Skunk very elementary. In comparison, the smell of a Skunk could be seen as pleasant .

That is how bad Nigeria oozes, locally and globally. Our passport oozes in the midst of others. She sprays her horrible scent, 20 feet off the migration point, where her citizens are spotted, frisked, harrased and demeaned for the stench is unbearable to the nostrils of foreign immigration.

In churches, in politics, in market places, offices, even towns and villages, their stench makes the Skunk to bask in jubilation for being better in comparison.

In corruption, in looting of public funds, in mismanagement and over padding of contracts, in using the name of God to scam and obtain by deceit, in prostitution, in pornography, in rituals etc the stench from these areas, very disgusting.

The stench of a Skunk is inborn, it had no hand in it. But Nigeria’ was self made. Inflicted and orchestrated my the evil minds of beings. The Skunk stench is beneficial, scaring away enemies and making it very unedible by predators.

But Nigeria’ holds no benefits. Rather it stifles the breath out of anybody with that name Nigeria,turning all into horrible stinking Skunk, for lack of better word.

Skunk smell is irredeemable ,but Nigeria’ stench can, if only we the citizens can think the right thing, do the right thing, say the right thing and collectively say no to the wrong things. Ours isn’t bone entrenched, it is neither like the spots of a leopard.

Ours is skin deep, it can be washed away, but then, we must have the resolve to be good ourselves. If Nigeria must be rid off this horrible smell, none should be seen as an escape goat, none should be looked at as the Cardinal carrier of the stench.

We all stench! However small. Raise your moral armpit, the armpit of your values, contentment, humility, selflessness etc do they smell? Of course they do. Resolve today to be scrubbing them not only with water and sponge but soap of diligence, sincerity, values, morals with the dettol of see no evil,hear no evil and talk no evil. Of course oil them with the oil of Godliness.

Let us do these, If Nigeria isn’t saved from this horrible stench causing us embrassment up and down, call me “bu laba,bala blue”

When everyone sweeps their door spots, the entire neighbourhood would be spick and span. Though the political class has their horrible stench, the electorates equally have theirs, though in inverse proportion.

To the small pebbles in our eyes, let us remove to see clearly the bigger ones in others. We are like lizard, all laying prostrate, with one form of ache or the other. Though, some with bigger and horrible aches.

Jarlath Uche Opara Jarlathuche@gmail.com