Zaria Massacre: The Mentally Ill Governor
Madness is a layman’s term for what psychiatrists and medical professionals call mental illness or psychiatric disorder. A mad person is characterized by psychopathology of one kind or another: a disordered mind, irrational or unintelligible behaviour, extreme mood swings, disturbed emotions, bouts of anxiety, or a dysfunctional personality.
Psychologically wise, a madman is not that filthy person perambulating on the streets, or those with shattered cloths eating garbage and swimming in the nearby gutters. He may look smart, dress in very expensive attire, but yet mentally ill.
Madness and mental illness are terms that are both distinct from ‘‘insanity,’’ which is a legal concept. If a mentally disturbed individual comes before a court of law, the concern is whether he or she is insane (i.e., knew right from wrong, poses a danger to self or others, and/or is responsible for his or her actions). Madness has been recognized throughout history in every known society.
Primitive cultures turn to witch doctors to apply magic, herbal mixtures, or religion to rid deranged persons of evil spirits or bizarre behaviour. When a madman speaks, he always utter dirty words, unpleasant and vague statements, hatred and subjective in judgement.
Such as the banning and the modification of banning stuff, inclusion and exclusion of the banning processes. Social psychologists tend to view mental illness as a label attached to persons who engage in certain types of deviant activities.
The symptoms and disturbed behaviour typical of the mentally ill are more the conformity to a set of role expectations, products of situations, than the result of some personal predisposition or specific psychopathology. It is high time for the relatives of Governor Kirikou (Lombroso type) to seek for the help of a technically competent Clinical Psychologist, though the charges are expensive, but the job will surely be appreciated. Before then, the Governor is also in need of the service of a qualified Counselling Psychologist, who will try as much as possible to keep him informed with the reality of the effects of the blood of over 1,000 people massacred in Zaria.
A clinical psychologist will try to analyse issues for the Governor, including the committed mass grave crime, the Tuesday massacre of IMN members by Police in Kaduna, the demolition of Hussaniyyah centre, and IMN cemetery by KASUPDA. Because the Governor’s present actions and behaviours are similitude to that of a victim of ‘Multiple Personality Disorder’, who does not know what exactly he is going to do next.
It is hard to cope with such a mental disorder, because victims never know who they are (just a four years Governor) or how much they hurt people around them (excessive hatred against IMN). A counselling psychologist will give the governor some sophisticated clues on what to do with Ibrahim Musa (the wanted) and how to do it, and possibly convince him to withdraw the prior reward of shameable price of 50,000 Naira.
I may argue that, the expert would rather put Kirikou on ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’ treatment, because the Governor is horrified at himself for the way he acts toward himself and his treatment of IMN. Finally, a social psychologist that is more acquainted in addressing madness than all the above specialists would definitely help to remind the governor that all actions are subject to public assessments, and history is undeniable.
In this case of the Governor’s mental problem, I am not playing the role of handmaiden rather an ‘Observer Status’ with psychological insight, at the same time a member of IMN and staunch follower of El-Zakzaky…
Comrade Sameer El-hajj Writes from Zaria Kaduna State
He can be reached on [email protected]