By Citizen Aluu Vincent
Before I pen down this article, let me serve us the confession of a Seminarian of the Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna who escaped from Boko Haram onslaught.
“Hours rolled into days; Days into weeks, we were fed once in 2 days. We kept on praying together with the pastor, who unwaveringly encouraged us not to lose hope in God. Then they forcefully dragged Lawan, the CAN chairman out of the line. They accused his people of not paying up to the amount requested and with that they felt much slighted. And so he was going to die. He begged for his life, but they refused. They dragged him out, forced his neck on a stake they have prepared. Then the Dagger-like cutlass was revealed. and so it was, with two strikes, his head rolled off, blood gushed out profusely, the sight was horrible. When we tried to look away, they slapped us to look at the horrific sight. According to one of them, we were to witness it so as to serve as a motivation for us to ask our people to pay the ransom”
“Then I heard one last single shot; The very one that hit Mike, I turned back to look, Mike was already on the floor. I rushed back to help him, but he was already gasping. I looked back to see where the shot had come from. Then I saw him, few meter away, smiling… Then he said “kai wannan gida … wannan shine sakon” Take that home… that is the message” The Confessions of a Seminarian.
Every day in Nigeria we are inundated with scenarios as the above. If a petrol tanker did not explode, pipeline will be vandalized leading to fire outbreak. If road crash did not occur, buildings will collapse. If killer herdsmen did not kill and destroy farms in Benue State, they will kill in Plateau state. If Boko Haram did not kidnap in Bornu State, they will bomb a church, spray bullets in the market place, kill our soldiers and cart away a whole armory. That has been the norm since the coming to be of the APC government led by PMB. There seem to be no end in sight. The recent kidnap and gruesome murder of citizens Micheal Nnadi, Lawan Andami and Philip Ataga, are senseless killings too many.
As if that is not enough, on Sunday February 9, 2020, Boko Haram unleashed another terror in a town near Maiduguri destroying more than 20 cars and killing more than 30 persons. The government of the day seems confused as to how to tackle the malaise and things are gradually degenerating from bad to worse.
Statistics obtained from Wikipedia online states that insecurity between 2009 to date has claimed tens of thousands of lives, and displaced more than 3 million Nigerians from their homes. Also, there seem to be a geometric increase in the spate of unhindered attacks and killings. These constitute serious threat to lives and property and hinders business activities, discourage local and foreign investors thus retarding socio-economic development. The extent and dimension of insecurity threatens the corporate existence of Nigeria if nothing is done urgently to stem the rising tide.
The basic and constitutional function of any government is to provide security, maintain law and order. The present government rode on the mantra of change to guarantee security for Nigerians to come to power. It is 5 years gone; the situation has degenerated from bad to worse with no single day passing without news of killings, kidnapping and wanton destruction’s.
One would ordinarily have thought that the present government would deal squarely with the insecurity immediately they come on board. It was the same cheap blackmail they used to campaign against former President Goodluck Jonathan whom they believed poorly handled the Chibok girls’ saga and other security issues. The APC blackmailed themselves into Aso Rock. Now they in power; the cat seems to be let out of the bag and the hen has come home to roost. The security situation they promised to handle within 6 months in office has deified all known solutions. There is practically no part of Nigeria that is not in one turmoil or the other be it banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, senseless killings and bombings, etc.
The government of the day seems helpless and confused on what to do to contain the escalating insecurity. Those who reminds the present government of the state of insecurity are quickly dismissed as noise makers and labelled terrorists. Senate Minority Leader few weeks back asked the President to resign based on his inability to curtail the alarming security challenges in the country. The reply Abaribe got was that he should be in jail for standing surety for Nnamdi Kanu who jumped bail. Prof. Ango Abdulahi, Leader of Northern Elders Forum quipped, “It is shocking that in spite of unprecedented consensus among Nigerians that the administration requires new resolve, approach and leadership in the fight against the nation’s multiple security challenges, President Buhari appears either totally isolated or in deep denial over the result of his failure to secure Nigerians. With this type of mindset, it is difficult to see how PMB can accept the challenge to radically improve his handling of our security situation” Instead of seeing merit in what he said, the Buhari Presidency described Ango as a General without troops and that NEF was a quasi-organization that boasts of no credible membership.
Instead of sitting down to strategize on how to tame the monstrous beast of insecurity ravaging the landscape of Nigeria, all the government does is to praise itself as having defeated Boko Haram. In faraway Ethiopia, PMB was heard boasting to the world that his government has defeated Boko Haram and that Nigeria deserves award for it. I am wondering if there is another Nigeria PMB was referring to or it is the same Nigeria amalgamated by Lord Lugard in 1914 and named by his mistress Flora Shaw?
Resorting to self-praise and taking credit for a war far from being over is most unfortunate and akin to the lizard who fell off an iroko tree and praised himself. Seeking self-glorification in the face of stack failure and unhindered killing is propaganda of the highest order and an exhibition of crude betrayal of fundamental responsibility. It is also a fact that the President has lost touch with realistic reality. It is height of irresponsibility for Mr. President to say that given the successes recorded in the fight against insecurity, the pride of Nigerians has been restored. Does the gruesome beheading of Rev. Lawan Andami, CAN chairman of Michika LGA and killing Seminarian Mike amounts to pride and honour? Does the recent destruction of cars, houses and lives by Boko Haram insurgents on Sunday 9 February 2020, amounts to pride and honour? Does the daily kidnapping and killing of Nigerians, soldiers and destruction of farmlands translate to honour and glory?
The main opposition party, the PDP was apt in condemning the gaffe of the President for awarding himself an unearned pass in the area of providing security and feigning surprised over escalating attacks in parts of the country. The PDP through its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan said,
“It is indeed inexcusable that instead of accepting failure, Mr. President, who recently confessed his surprise over the level of insecurity in our nation under his watch, is now resorting to self-praise spurred by his handlers to divert attention from the consensus by Nigerians and members of the international community that he had failed as Commander-in-Chief. The fact is that by resorting to self-praise in the face of failure, the Buhari Presidency has laid down its armour. No one is now left in doubt that the Buhari administration has reached the end of its capacity and should heed the call by Nigerians to take the exit door and allow more competent, patriotic and proactive hands to effectively tackle the situation at hand”
Truth is the President has run out of ideas on how best to tackle insecurity. His reactive and not proactive has contributed to the worsening situation. Is he really aware of the spate of insecurity in Nigeria and that Boko Haram, killer herdsmen and bandits have taken over his government? For a President to express shock that his territory is being attacked and praising himself in the midst of failure shows that he is not in charge. Will the president express surprise over the carnage in Plateau, Benue, Yobe, Adamawa, Katsina, Kaduna and Bornu? Well, anything is possible with the APC led government. How can a country grappling with such security challenge open its doors to Fulani herders from neighbouring countries? How can a government be so blind to the activities of killer herdsmen, Boko Haram already blacklisted as one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, but instead decides to be bandying words with unarmed IPOB members to the point of proscribing it? Can we point to a statement credited to the President scolding his Fulani kits and kin or calling them to order? Is there a time, Mr. President has reprimanded leaders of Miyetti Allah for uttering unguarded comments?
Truth is Mr. President’s body language has emboldened criminal elements hiding under the guise of Islam to perpetrate grave injustice and gross genocide against Nigerians, operate fearlessly knowing they have a Grand Patron who would not scold them. The reckless abandon with which these criminal elements operate unabated, leaves one to conclude they have sponsors within government circles. This has made me to want to align my thoughts with Senator Shehu Sani that Mr. President fights insecurity with deodorant as it concerns Boko Haram, killer herdsmen and bandits in the North but uses poisonous insecticide when it concerns IPOB and others.
More worrisome is the fact that the security apparatus of this nation is in the hands of 90% Northerners save for Chief of Defense Staff and Chief of Naval Staff. The excuse is that Mr. President has chosen those he knows he will be able to work with. Were we not told that familiarity breeds contempt? What positive result has these men brought to the fight against insecurity except the usual story that there is improvement? You cannot do the same thing over and over and expect different result. Methinks it is time for Mr. President to think out of the box, be proactive and not reactive, fire the service chiefs if need be, bring in fresh hands to inject fresh ideas and seek help elsewhere if need be. No man swallows poison for the sake of shame. Mr. President should not play politics with the security and wellbeing of Nigerians.
We are a federation and reasonable so. The President must listen to the voice of reason and allow states defend themselves through the setting up of regional security outfits. The Amotekun of the South West, Ogbunigwe of the South East, that of the North and other areas must be encouraged to complement the efforts of our security agencies. If need be, the constitution has to be speedily amended to allow for decentralization of the Police force. These are desperate times and it calls for desperate measures.
Mr. President must set machineries in place to unite the already polarized nation along ethnic lines. It amounts to insecurity if one ethnic group feels aggrieved due to distribution of common wealth of the nation and appointments. It is grave injustice for one ethnic group to cart away resources and appointments meant for 300 other ethnic group. You cannot flog a child and expect the child not to cry. It amounts to insecurity for a government to disobey court orders, abuse rule of law and have disregard for separation of powers. This is invitation to anarchy. It is insecurity for a government to make unguarded utterances; see critics of government as enemies of progress, look the other way while Nigeria burns. Mr. President must forthwith stop playing to the gallery and be assertive with his job as Commander in Chief.
Mr. President must as a matter of urgency look for the 2016 UNDP report on Nigeria submitted by Fatma Samoura. Its recommendations will help out detonate this time bomb waiting to explode. The report recommends among other things.
“Government should move away from conventional security to human-centered security. Reconceptualizing security means going beyond traditional notion of over concentrating on physical security through heavy investment in military software and hardware. It means focusing on broader and holistic dimensions of development and wellbeing that sustains the security of individuals and communities. Government must ensure it tackles poverty, hunger, unemployment and diseases ravaging Nigeria”.
I cannot agree less with the submissions of UNDP. This means that unchecked poverty, persistent hunger, uncontrolled disaster, lack of access to basic services, disregard for human right, sub-optional response to natural and man-made disasters, unfettered natural resource exploitation without recourse to the owners, pose serious security threat to the nation.
Mr. President must wake up from his slumber; take his job seriously, mend broken walls, reconcile warring factions, be a father to all, stop passing the buck and stop the blame game. This government must take responsibility of all its actions; it must be seen to be fair to all. It must call a spade a spade. The measure with which it disbanded IPOB should be used in tackling killer herdsmen and Boko Haram. This is not time to cling glasses when Nigerians being killed daily. It is time to think out of the box, take desperate measures, rejig the military apparatus, inject fresh hands and ideas in the fight against insecurity. It is time for the President to walk the talk by ensuring Nigerians are taken out of poverty, unemployment and diseases. May the soul of Micheal Nnadi, Lawan Andami, Philip Ataga, the 30 passengers that lost their lives in Bornu Sunday’s attack and indeed the souls of all those who have died as a result of insecurity rest in peace.
Amen
God bless Nigeria
