"WE MOVE" - by Endless Dream

FROM SHOCK TO ROUTINE: THE DESENSITIZATION OF NIGERIANS TO VIOLENCE DESENSITIZED: having been made less likely to feel shocked or distressed at scenes of cruelty or suffering by overexposure to such images DESENSITISATION: noun form of desensitized On the fourth of June 2026, a shocking tragedy occurred at my university: a student attempted suicide in one of the most gruesome and painful ways imaginable— self-immolation. He had doused himself in petrol and set himself ablaze in the school's student market, commonly known as Adelabu Market. I received the news of this horrific event from a friend over the phone. Even without knowing this student, I was genuinely saddened by the event. The only thought running through my mind at that time was, "somebody's baby?" One would expect similar reactions of shock and grief from others concerning the severe harm inflicted on a fellow human being. But the vast majority of the people around me showed little to no concern about his attempt and even said he was stupid and jokingly remarked that he could have jumped off a building or drunk insecticide. A roommate of mine even remarked that his suicide attempt was merely attention-seeking behavior. Another said that if the individual had been a female, she would have believed it was attention-seeking as well. While I was still reeling from the insensitive comments of these girls, I encountered another shock. As I scrolled through the status updates of a few contacts, I came across a snide comment calling this student a "fire bender." Another referred to him as a "human torch," and one person even went as far as to generate an AI image of him in flames, turning his tragedy into a joke. This incident finally made me stop and question what had been in plain sight all along. I began to notice patterns in the behaviors of those around me, as well as in my own behavior. I was actually no different from the others. I realized that I had a similar reaction: after a night or two, I had forgotten every feeling of pity I had felt for this student. Thus, it turns out that my sympathy was only temporary. I had adopted the life moves on mentality of Nigerians because, to me, there were “bigger fish to fry”. this empathy gap is unfortunately a common place in most Nigerians it can be seen in our social media activities where violent, graphic media are shared on the internet without causing as much as a ripple, the normalization of jungle justice the occurrence of kidnappings and killings that are typically enough to shut down a normal country only trend for probably a week or so then a bigger even more heart wrenching situation takes place completely overriding the relevance of the previous happening which is then buried under the dust of petty online banter. The empathy gap in a country like Nigeria can be attributed to a variety of factors. Below, I have outlined the key reasons contributing to this issue. <ul><li>Overexposure: According to the WHO, Nigeria has the highest rate of violent deaths in Africa. This violence manifests in various forms, including ongoing attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram, the burning, looting, and indiscriminate killing of villagers by bandits, road accidents, ritual killings, and jungle justice. As a result, the average Nigerian citizen is frequently exposed to violence, making it all too commonplace. I remember walking past the charred body of a thief on my way to school when I was in junior secondary. The corpse was left there for days before the local police finally removed it. After the second day, I didn’t approach it with fear; instead, I had a casual attitude, as if the lifeless body of a fellow human was just a lamppost. I had, in that moment, lost my appreciation for the sacred nature of life and death, and my classmates at that time lost the same awe as we were taught that the death of a thief mattered less than the death of a civilian.</li><li>Economic precarity significantly impacts lower-class individuals. When survival is a daily struggle, the ability to empathize with a stranger's suffering diminishes. Instead, there is often a sense of schadenfreude—pleasure derived from seeing someone in a worse position than oneself.</li><li>There is also a startling yet reasonable distrust in the legal and security systems of Nigeria. Thus, we adopt the mentality that if there won't be actual change, why bother feeling or empathizing?</li><li>In some cases, active empathy can be dangerous. For example, helping at an accident scene can lead to accusations or arrest.</li></ul>Finally, as a form of psychological defense, we numb ourselves to these incidentsThis numbness, though reasonable, comes at a high cost. As we become desensitized, we also develop what is called the bystander effect, a social psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help a person in distress when others are present. The likelihood of intervention decreases as the number of witnesses increases, largely due to the diffusion of responsibility and social conformity. When this occurs, public outrage is temporary; thus, our government feels no pressure to fix insecurity or offer real solutions to the numerous issues that plague our country.Another unfortunate reality is that this numbness does not signify healing. This is evident in areas like Jos State, which has suffered significant damage. Psychological trauma and its symptoms have been on the rise, particularly due to the increasing ethnic and religious tensions, insurgency, kidnappings, and conflicts between farmers and herders experienced in the Jos Plateau region. According to an article written on Aphria pub on this issue by Dashit Samson Ishaya, Dauda Akwai Saleh, and Azi Peace Satzen :<blockquote> Trauma Symptoms Checklist-40 (TSCL-40) was the instrument used, with 297 participants (184 males and 113 females) purposefully selected among populists with a mean age of 25.7, while six hypotheses were tested using Chi-square. Findings of the study showed that male participants did not significantly score higher on dissociation compared with females. While male participants significantly scored higher on anxiety compared with females. Furthermore, male participants significantly scored higher on depression compared with females. Also, female participants did not significantly score higher on the sexual abuse trauma index compared with males, and males significantly scored higher on sleep disturbance compared with females. Finally, females did not significantly score high on sexual problems compared with males</blockquote>This shows a high trend of psychological trauma experienced by the inhabitants of this state due to consistent exposure to violenceAt this point, it is important to highlight the presence of empathy within Nigeria. Our medical professionals courageously risk their lives due to consistent exposure to violence. lives to assist those in need, regardless of their relationship to them. Additionally, journalists tirelessly endeavor to shed light on the struggles faced by Nigerians, often at great personal risk. Furthermore, many volunteers generously dedicate their time and energy to support those who require assistance. These examples reflect the deep commitment to compassion and community well-being that exists throughout the nation.Nigerians do move on quickly, but we do so because it hurts to stop. Sadly, a nation that cannot feel is dead and cannot begin to heal. As Chinua Achebe said, "A man who can't tell where the rain began to beat him cannot know where he dried his body." Therefore, we must recognize this issue and actively work to fix it.

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