The Monsters Living Among Us

Ask several people to describe a monster and you will get the same answer from all of them. To all these people – young, old, male, female, rich, or poor – monsters are ugly, malformed, heinous, and, above all, wicked. You might meet people that believe some monsters are friendly, but they will also be quick to tell you how ruthless they are to their ‘enemies’. In other words, monsters are always out to harm those different from them.

The last sentence of the paragraph above tells you that monsters are not just aliens with green eyes and spear-like teeth but also humans, like you and I, who have no qualms hurting their fellow human beings. Monsters are people whose presence causes stress and anxiety to others because of what they are capable of doing. They are demons in human forms. Put simply, any person that inflicts pains of any kind or harms others is a monster.

Recently, a pensioner’s life savings was wiped off by fraudsters. The old man was crying in the bank when a younger man saw him and decided to help out as much he could. This young man solicited help from internet users for the poor man and people responded to the call. But what if this old man doesn’t recover from this shock? How come these fraudsters did not pity this old man when they took away his money, his only means of livelihood? This act of wickedness can only be done by someone that lacks the heart of a human being. Those fraudsters, and other criminals, are examples of monsters.

What about those spouses that subject their partners to pains, humiliations, and fear? Stories of men that beat their wives even to death reach us every now and then. I watched a video, where a man that was beating his wife picked up the electric iron in the room and hit her with it. All this while, the children were screaming in the background and the woman was begging for her life, but this continued with his monstrous act. Could that man be referred to as a human being or a monster? What is it about him that is human?

Let’s talk about the oppressors of the weak and the defenceless; those that oppress orphans, widows, the poor, and the disadvantaged. There is a current Nigerian politician that specialises in land grabbing. Once he sees a piece of land that catches his fancy, he grabs it and builds an estate there without batting an eyelid or compensating the owner. No one could question or stop him. Who would even dare do that when he has thugs working for him? I heard he has a lot of cases concerning this land grabbing of a thing in the court but the only people that could dare sue him are those that have the means. But let’s leave this politician’s case and focus on those that grab lands from their brother’s widows because he had no son or his son is still too young to challenge to fight for his right? What about the people that turned their domestic staff into something lower than their dogs? Should we talk about those that rub people’s disadvantaged position on their faces? Well, if you happen to cause pain, stress, and anxiety to someone else, know it now that you have been defined as a monster.

Homewreckers still belong to a special category of monsters. A group of young Nigerians recently recounted their experiences in the hands of religious leaders, who told their families they were witches, wizards, marine spirits, and the rest of them. One of them said his brother is currently wasting away as a drug addict because a ‘man of god’ told his mother that he, the storyteller, and his younger brother were the reason her marriage didn’t work out. The woman turned her frustration and anger on these young boys and ended up wrecking the life of one. What should we say of this so-called man of god (sorry, he is NOT of God)? Is he not a monster?

Of course, I can never leave here without calling on bad bosses. Some time ago, a young lady recounted how her boss slapped and beat her in the office because she failed to buy food for him with her money. This might sound outrageous but many workers pass through a lot in their places of work. But that aside, there are employers, who do not want their workers to progress. I worked in a place where you are not allowed to go for further studies even if it is an evening or weekend programme. The school’s policy was that you should resign if you want to go back to school. Some colleagues that ignored that rule and enrolled in weekend programmes, which did not disturb their jobs, were later found out and sacked. I don’t know what to say about these types of bosses but their acts are monstrous. Many of us fell under this category and should, therefore, endeavour to amend our ways.