“Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress truth.” — Wole Soyinka.
A senior citizen, a pastor, sent me this reflection: “Is sleepwalking gradually becoming the new normal in Nigeria? Because the death of the 37 Minna youths is simply a practical and graphic picture of the situation of our nation. These things happen and we talk for some time and just move on. And this is because CONSCIENCE is dead.”
He is right.
On September 17, 2026, 37 Nigerian youths died in the custody of the NSCDC in Minna, Niger State. 67 artisanal miners had been crammed into one detention cell after arrests on September 15-16 along the M.I. Wushishi axis. 37 never came out alive. The NSCDC said disease. Survivors told AP they suffocated from overcrowding and poor ventilation. The Federal Government has now suspended the Niger State Commandant and declared three days of mourning. Amnesty International says many were minors.
By September 20, we are already scrolling past it. That is the proof that sleepwalking has become normal.
This week alone, petrol sells for N1,450 per litre in Abuja and N1,500 in the North, 100% up from N750 in December 2025. Farmers cannot go to farms for fear of kidnapping. N10,000 that bought 40kg of cooking gas in 2011 now buys 6.9kg in 2026.
But the 37 Minna deaths are different. Fuel price wounds the pocket. This wounds the soul.
As the pastor said: “Some things should be too traumatic to just glide over. A conscience-less mind is a narrow one that is crowded with only self. That is the unfortunate condition of the ruling government. The only thing that matters to them now is Second Term.”_
How does a nation sleepwalk into its funeral? Soyinka gives us the lens. The 3Cs gives us the cure.
First, Conscience dies when we glide over tragedy. 37 youths die in custody and the first statement is suspected disease, not remorse, not immediate release of the facts. Conscience is dead when 37 deaths become two-day news. A government that does not welcome truth-telling and documentation is afraid of its own record.
Second, Competence dies when detention becomes death trap. Why were 67 persons in one cell? Why no ventilation? Why no medical screening? Competence is not about convoys and gantry price increases from N1,265 to N1,350 overnight. Competence is about systems that preserve life.
Third, Character dies when Second Term matters more than 37 graves. As another citizen told us: “Everyone has turned to TIFU, but we refuse to arrest him.” We know the thief, we dine with him, we collect from him. Character has collapsed.
The pastor concluded: “Citizens will need to develop a scheme to wake them up from their slumber before we may sleepwalk into irreversible devastation. May the Lord have mercy on our nation.”
Mercy, yes. But mercy without waking up is prayer without work.
The scheme to wake them up is the 3Cs doctrine: Conscience the courage to refuse to move on from the 37, to demand a prompt, thorough, independent investigation as Amnesty demanded. Competence to reform all detention facilities and end overcrowding. Character to put Nigerian lives before political ambition.
A criminal allegation must never become a death sentence. A custody must never become a cemetery.
Nigeria must wake up in law and in culture before sleepwalking becomes the new normal.
Citizen Richard Odusanya is Apostle of Conscience and Convener, WITNESS 2026 Conscience, Competence, Character. He writes Nation Before Politics.
