DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. FATHERS OF NATIONS

Using Fathers of Nations, write an essay to prove the notion that the decisions made by people sometimes have unpleasant results.

Much of human suffering is a consequence of what they do. If such choices are harmful, so will the consequences be, especially when they are not weighed in advanced.

 

Comrade Melusi and his group leader had fought Smith together and helped their country to achieve independence, but the new leader fails to appoint him minister and this brings chaos. He further fires Melusi and throws his leader out on tribal grounds on the pretext of attempted coup. The two were Ndebele while the leader was Shona – the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe then. When this news hit Ndebele land anti-government protests erupted and they attacked government supporters. The government responded by sending the ‘gukurahundi’ which washed the Ndebele like chaff. They strangles Melusi’s wife Ziliza and he finds her splayed on the kitchen floor to taunt him. The new leader changed and wanted to become president for life. He was also bombing the economy back to stone-age. This motivated Melusi and the other leaders to form the opposition in a bid to try and defeat him in vain. He relocates to the slums of Harare after failing in business, a brutal consequence of the bomber’s decisions. After the Ndebele insurgency, the new ruler changed. To him, even well-meaning Ndebele turned into enemies who were to be eliminated. Only his fellow Shona tribesmen could be trusted. By his orders, Bulldozers evicted residents from slums with neither advance warning nor alternative accommodation. No one cared weather they lived or died. The new leader pretended that the intention of Murambatsvina was to prevent disease and curb crime, while in real sense, it was punishing the urban poor for supporting the opposition parties. Even though Comrade Melusi was a patriot, his suffering in the hands of his government had hardened him and pushed him to desire Path Alpha in the pursuit of change. All these were the ripple effect of the new leader’s unwise decisions.

 

Chineke Chiamaka’s decision to drive recklessly affects him dearly when he collides with a fire engine. He Had a habit of driving with an elbow sticking out and a radio blaring out the latest hit songs. He hardly pitied other road users. Any time he changed his mind mid-traffic, to drive to an alternative destination; Chineke would swerve out of his initial lane and cut into other lanes until his destination. He never cared how other drivers would wriggle themselves out of the chaos he had caused. If his route was a blocked accident scene, he would just cross over lanes for vehicles travelling in the opposite direction. Despite being a pastor, who should be a role model, Chineke never cared about other motorists of the danger he paused. Ironically, he liked the detonations of temper and traffic jams in Nigeria. He would laugh as terrified pedestrians fled out of his path and drive speedily down crowded streets. Just like his brother Obina, he seemed to like the thrill of danger, and often wondered what the word ‘late’ meant as he shot off. After dropping his brother at the university, he bumps into lots of traffic on ‘God’s Highway’. He quickly crossed over to the other less crowded lanes despite the on-coming traffic. He had done this often and other road users would either swerve of break. When the fire engine hit his Mercedes, it flew off the road and spun into the air several times before landing on the road again. It was mangled out of shape. To make matters worse, not a single mortorist stopped to check on him. Had anything serious happened, he could have been on his own and in danger. All these were brought about by his carelessness.

 

When Dr. Afolabi decides to retain his cousin Femi and Nimbo in his house, he ends up losing his wife. This happens when he arrives with her from America, only to find the two in his house. Issa fruitlessly tries to restrain Pamela from accessing the bedroom because of an unwanted guest lodged therein. She is upset with the boy and later inquires who let the stranger into her room. Femi rudely replies that it was he. A verbal altercation ensues between Femi, Afolabi and Pamela, where details of the couples lack of children becomes center stage. Pamela storms away, only to re-appear with a broomstick in her hands, chasing a young girl she found in her bedroom. She only retreated when Femi glowered at her. Pamela then told her husband to ask them to leave the house. In so doing, Afolabi makes a mistake that suddenly turns Pamela against him. He mentions that Femi should have not brought Nimbo to his house without first clearing with him. He further heightens the situation by excusing the two as messenger and message form his village. The now clearly infuriated Pamela commands the two to leave immediately. She accuses Afolabi of knowing about the mission of the girl to bear him children. Afolabi does not want to chase the two out of the house at midnight, so suggests that they leave the next day. In response, Pamela leaves the house and disappears into the darkness. Consequently, their seemingly happy marriage drastically ends when she calls him a week later to inform him that she had filed for divorce.

 

The leader of Libya dismantles his only insurance against America and ends up losing approval rates amongst his strongest supporters. All these happen after Al-Qaeda struck on American soil. He knew that she would retaliate and therefore scrambled to his bases to shield Libya from her revenge. In addition, he dismantles the ‘Fist of Allah’. To Libyans like Tahir, this was like a sacrilege – an offence so dreadful that it was eternally unforgivable. This made Tahir angry beyond words. He had studied weapons development at the university of Paris in anticipation to help his country build new real weapons. He had earlier on been so strong a supporter that he dismissed his opponents as ‘crack-pots’. He had believed that the new leader had the right vision for Libya and was the right person to rule it. He further mentioned the achievements of the leader as evidence. Tahir believed that nuclear weapons were the ultimate tools to deter defeat and Libya was becoming great again under the wise leadership of their president. This was until the leader dismantled the great weapon. He now hated the leader he had once liked. Because of his cowardly actions the leader had ceased being a hero and become a villain.

 

In summary, all choices have consequences which, unchecked, can be devastating.