By Onyinyechi Ugwoke
The popular song, “one people, one nation, Nigeria. We are brothers and sisters; we unite” being aired on NTA is off base to the present national realities. The TV network seems to be willfully oblivious to insecurities perpetrated by so-called brothers and sisters against each other – Nigeria is experiencing critical times.
One of the fundamental human rights in any given state is the right to security and it is always provided for in the constitution of most sovereign states. Nigeria is not an exception, thus Section 14 (2) (b) of the Nigerian 1999 constitution states clearly that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of the government.” The Nigerian government is failing in this duty – incessant killings and destruction of farmlands by Fulani herdsmen; kidnapping of students and travelers by bandits; Boko Haram terrorism; One chance robberies. Hardly a day goes by without one security crisis or another.
Security agents in Nigeria appear incapable of handling this challenge. Insecurity paranoia is haunting the people as it is fast dawning on them that government cannot effectively guarantee the security of lives and properties.
The upsurge in crime has been linked to the ambitions of politicians to acquire more wealth for 2023 political season through kidnapping and ransom; others attribute it to poverty and unemployment in the country. The government has been heavily criticized for negotiating with bandits and settling them with national funds. Critics believe negotiating with the criminals is ill-advised; they should be arrested and dealt with the full force of the law.
Dayo Oloyede, a systems engineer believes that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, “the youths are not busy, and that is why they indulge in terrorism.”
Former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, said that the challenges of banditry in the North West of Nigeria may not be a local problem, probably migration from somewhere. “You may not know where the bandits are coming from.”
But Stephen Osagie disagrees and contends that we have security agents who man the borders. “Or are they not doing their job?” he asked. “Since the government and security officers cannot protect us, let everybody have licensed guns, ” Osagie concludes.
Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has reiterated that Fulani herdsmen involved in banditry are victims of circumstance. The cleric has controversially called for bandits to be granted amnesty. “We have lived thousands of years without any problems with the herdsmen. They are peaceful people. The solution is dialogue,” he advised.
However, critics again disapprove of the word bandit. According to them bandit is to light a name. They want them blacklisted as terrorists and their sponsors arrested and prosecuted.
Consequently, President Muhammadu Buhari has to take drastic measures to abate insecurity challenges in the country. Paying ransom or giving amnesty to bandits (terrorists) will only give room for more terrorism. In the meantime while the country grapples with its insecurity problems, Nigerians will do well to be more responsible for their own security – be cautious and report suspicious behavior. We need to help security forces to help ourselves.
Beautiful piece. The government has to look into this.
Government has to look into the issue of insecurity in the country. It is becoming scary.