TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

I want to begin with history.
Most people have heard the phrase “Too little, too late,” but very few know the origin of that phrase and what it was actually created to describe.

In the 1930s–40s, the world moved on precariously and dangerously, teetering and staggering on the path of self-destruction. The wicked were on the march, full of courage and conviction, while the righteous majority were racked with indecision, fear, selfishness, and utter indifference. The forces of tyranny were on the rise, making dramatic gains, while there was no courage or political will on the other side to challenge them.

Just as it is now in our nation.

Nazism was already establishing its tentacles in Germany with Hitler, surrounded by the adoration of a nation of culture that had lost its way. Fascism was taking hold and consolidating itself in Italy with Mussolini daring anyone to cross his path. In Asia, the Japanese, the Red Dragon, were building a formidable arsenal and stronghold, a military-industrial complex to form the tripod of evil.

Against all these formidable forces, the Free World had nothing except appeasement from Britain, indecision from America, and a Soviet Union shackled by an ideology that looked good on paper but never worked in practice, struggling with a large, restless population it could not feed.

Thus, against Germany’s Nazism, Italian Fascism, and Japanese Militarism, which constituted the Axis Powers, the Free World had no answer.

There was little courage and even less leadership in the Free World to confront the rampaging hordes of wickedness threatening to enslave humanity.

It was in this very season that the phrase “Too little, too late” was coined, to capture the poverty of courage and creative leadership, the lack of combat readiness, men and materials to face the rampaging hordes of outright fascistic terrorism. Just as it is now in our dear nation.

No leadership. No courage. No conviction. Except among the fascists.

In 1938, it was Czechoslovakia and Austria that Hitler marched into and swallowed, unchallenged, in the face of British appeasement.
In 1939, it was Poland. Hitler took over Poland with mere words, without firing a shot. He was an orator.
In 1940, it was the turn of France, Belgium, and Holland.
Then, on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, America finally got the message. The following spring of 1942, in the Philippines, Japanese militarism came with full force, wiping out an entire torpedo fleet, causing the fall of Bataan and Corregidor and forcing General MacArthur to retreat to Australia. All the men of the tiny fleet were wiped out.

America got the message: Indecision is a decision. Refusing to fight and confront the enemy is, in itself, a decision to submit to his tyranny.
Britain got the message too, you don’t appease the devil or a monster; you confront him.

From 1938 to 1941, there was too little courage and leadership to face the threat. By the time the Free World united to confront the enemy, it was too late. Sixty million souls had to perish to stop the tripod of evil led by Adolf Hitler. Military experts later estimated that had the threat been confronted in 1938, no more than 30,000 lives might have been lost. But it was not done. The war that Chamberlain feared still came, and cost 60 million lives.

Too little, too late.

These were the lessons of the World War, but do we really learn? History is not just a faithful record of the past, it is also a prophecy of what is coming.

Today, I see the same thing, the same processes at work in our nation. The same forces. The same strategies. The same shenanigans. And just like the Free World of the 1930s, there is no leadership, courage, or conviction. While the forces of tyranny grow in action and audacity, the forces of freedom are disorganized, hesitant, and confused.

Last year, the NBS told us that banditry and kidnapping were the most lucrative trades in Nigeria, before the report was pulled down by “hackers.” The wise will understand.

We can all now see that insecurity has worsened. Farmers are in danger. Their farms are in even greater danger.

A few weeks ago, the Afenifere Youth leader was kidnapped en route to Abuja around Akoko, one of the most dangerous bandit hotspots. He was only released after his wife paid N17 million.

A few days ago, bandits or herdsmen attacked a community farm in Ondo State, killing 20 people. The video was widely shared.

One of the most disturbing videos I’ve seen showed herdsmen harvesting cassava in the Southeast, to feed their cows.

That is where we are now.
Soon, they’ll come to the cities, your homes, and feed your food to their cattle, and do what they want with your children and wives.

A monster is not stopped by persuasion, pleading, or reason, or even by the law. He is only stopped by what he understands: force.

When Hitler marched into Czechoslovakia and Austria, no one stopped him. The result? He marched into Poland, France, Belgium…

Before, the bandits were in the forests. Now, they are on the highways. Then the farms. Now the villages. Soon, your houses.

In 2018, I warned the Yorubas.

In 2020, I warned the Southerners.

(See Something Has Happened to the Yoruba: 7 Dangerous Delusions Among Southerners)

Had the warnings been heeded, this escalation could’ve been avoided.

But back then, there was no courage. No leadership.
Tinubu said nothing, his eyes were on 2023. He still says nothing now, focused on 2027.

In 1941, MacArthur retreated and allowed his fleet to be wiped out. Human lives were expendable then, they are again now.

I saw the Afenifere Youth leader’s recent SOS. He said “the land has been encircled.” And I asked myself, just now?
Where were you in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021?

They must first impoverish you, through kidnapping, to fund their jihadist army.
They must destroy your harvests to create famine, so you cannot resist on D-Day.
They must instill fear, so that even stepping outside becomes a risk.
Before they move to the final phase: Attack. Genocide.

It happened to the Armenians in Turkey during World War I.
It can happen again.

These were clear to me in 2018. I knew it wouldn’t go away. I knew it would escalate.

Now the time is lost. Unity is lacking.

Where is leadership in Yorubaland today?
Where is courage in Nigeria?
What we see instead: indecision, self-seeking, obsession with pleasure.

Rep. Mrs. Sadipe recently declared that farmers in her constituency no longer go to farms due to herdsmen’s destruction.
Did Yorubas hear her?
Has there been any response?

That is the modern Yoruba: no courage, no action, just noise.

Everyone is waiting: The people wait for traditional rulers.
The rulers wait for governors.
The governors wait for Tinubu.
Tinubu waits for 2027…

Few days ago, the forces of tyranny scored another dramatic win. The Supreme Court of Judicial Bandits ruled that Sunday Jackson, who killed a Fulani assailant in self-defense, must die, for murder.
They said he should have fled, even though he had a stab wound on his leg.
That ruling would be comical, if it weren’t so pathetic.

In Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan wrote of “Lord Hate-Good”, the corrupt judge of Vanity Fair.
Today, Nigeria’s judiciary resembles that.

Lord Hate-Good now wears a wig and robe.

The courts now legislate, not interpret.
They reward candidates who never contested.
They punish self-defense.
They serve fascists, not justice.

Democracy is now Vanity Fair. Nigeria is the City of Vanity.
Our judiciary is the Supreme Cult.

Fascism is on the march, Islamofascism.
It controls the judiciary.
It controls the legislature.
It controls the executive.
It controls the press, civil society, and religious institutions.

This is the climate for a fascist takeover.

Democracy is dead.
First Lagos. Now Rivers. Osun may be next.
And nothing will happen.

In the 1930s, tyranny was a tripod: Nazism, Fascism, Militarism.
In Nigeria today, it’s a tripod too:

1. APC’s Fascistic Authoritarianism

2. Fulani Sharia Ideology

3. Rogue Terrorist Elements—bandits, herdsmen, thugs, etc.

They are united. They are organized. And they are on the move.

They started by breaking beer bottles.
Then they shut down hotels.
Now, they shut schools.
Soon, they will shut churches, and may arrest you if your beard is too short.

In 2018, I said all these.
Now they have happened.

Back then, the Free World had Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin.
Today, we have none. No Patton. No MacArthur.

NANS is captured.
NBA is toothless.
NUJ is comatose.
NLC is confused.
ASUU is wounded.
NMA and NSE are indifferent.

The opposition? Fragmented, if it exists at all.
PDP is APC. LP is still in gestation.

CAN is morally weak. PFN lacks ideological fire.
There is no Luther. No Wilberforce. No Braide.

The only remaining platform: social media.
And even that is under siege.

This is how civilizations die.
This is how nations fall.
Not just by evil actions, but by righteous inaction.

Freedom is easy to lose.

Now, fascism bares its fangs.
The question is, who will stop it?
What do we have to stop it?

Where is courage?
Where is leadership?
Has the Governors’ Forum said anything?

In 1938, courage was too little.
By 1945, it was too late.

In 2015, 2023, Nigeria’s courage was too little.
Will it be too late, too?

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.

Have a wonderful week.

Olulere Adewale (Germany)

COPIED

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