The hostage crisis in Algeria, like others before it, is a truly sad occurrence. People have died needlessly. I commiserate with the families and friends of every person who has died. I would however, like to repeat recent comments of the British Prime Minister on the issue.
‘’…Two Britons died on Monday. Another Briton died … A sad day for Britain.’’
What troubles me about this statement is that Lord Cameron seems to be concerned only about the hostages that are Britons. I would like to point out to him or more appropriately, remind him that everyone, regardless of their nationality, is important. Though his primary duty is to safeguard and ensure the wellbeing of Great Britain and her subjects, he should also be mindful of the fact that others nationals have also died and in that regard, it is a sad day for the whole world and not just Great Britain.
What troubles me even more is that this type of restrictive outlook is quite common around the world. On this crisis, US officials have also concerned themselves with the number of dead Americans. Mainstream media houses are just as guilty. One of ABC’s headlines reads “Algerian Hostage Crisis: Three Americans Killed”. Even here at home in Nigeria, whenever there is any unfortunate incident, accident or disaster, ethnic empathy and sympathies are very common.
While the undertones of the Prime Minister’s comments were probably unintentional, I would like to plead with him, with other leaders and everyone else that these kinds of sectionalised sentiments run the risk of endangering true unity and by implication, peace. We should all endeavour to embrace a much broader outlook in issues like this. After all, the world is a global village and we are all citizens of humanity.
Respectfully,
Olawale SANNI
Lagos, Nigeria
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