highly respected in the world, principally because of her advancement
in human and natural resources. At that time, the nation's currency
was stronger than the American dollar and on a par with the British
pound. Nigerians in Europe and America were running back home to pick
jobs after their education. Nigeria was great. No wonder, Africans and
the International community labelled her 'The Giant of Africa'. She
championed the liberation of some African countries from colonialism,
restored peace in war-torn countries and made progress in all areas of
human endeavours including sports and culture. Nigeria was in the eyes
of the world in a positive dimension. Although there were pockets of
crises in the political and religious realms, including a civil war,
normalcy was restored. The aftermath of those crises was that
Nigerians started to live as Nigerians in spite of differences in
political and religious views. That was then.
Today, Nigerian urban centres are no longer safe and this may remain
so far a long time to come because of the insensitivity of the
leadership to insecurity situation in the country. It is worrying that
worshippers in churches and mosques had to be searched and screened
before they could perform the worship services. Since the nefarious
activity of the dread Boko Haran started, panic had taken over the
environment. At a time, President Goodluck Jonathan could not
celebrate the Independence anniversary of the nation at the Eagles
Square, Abuja just because of the persistent insecurity. In fact, the
President had earlier alerted the nation that members of the Boko
Haram group existed in the Presidency, Police, Military and some other
establishments. Ever since, what has been the approach of the
government in tackling the issue of insecurity?
Perhaps, a major action of government was the replacement of the
former National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi with retired
Colonel Sanbo Dasuki. But has anything actually changed? Today, lives
and properties are being destroyed in police formations, religious
worship centres and media houses, among others. Suicide bombings have
taken a central stage. Nigerians now live in fear. Investment profile
of the country has been affected. It is hardly impossible for the
government to implement the budget to the letter in the face of
insecurity.
The threat of impeachment of the President is however diversionary
when in actual fact the House of Representatives is carrying a moral
burden in resolving the on-going scandal between Farouk Lawan and Femi
Otedola. The National Assembly should join hands with President
Jonathan to resolve the insecurity situation because it is more
political even though with a religious undertone. It is undeniable
that the government keeps on spending on 'insecurity' than security,
or put it this way, 'the more the government spends on security, the
more insecurity persists in the nation'. There are certain things that
are fundamentally wrong with our security management. Those in charge
of security network often leak their strategies before implementation.
For instance, the moment worship centres were bombed, the Police Chief
announced a 24-hour protection of churches and mosques.
The opponents having heard or read that in the media would devise
other methods of attack. There are various inscriptions 'Operation
Flush' 'Operation Kill and Go' operation this or that on Police
vehicles which attackers would easily avoid or dodge. Have you ever
seen any vehicle of Boko Haran on the road with such inscription? Have
you ever seen the inscriptions of suicide bombers the way you see the
MOPOL inscription? It is however saying the obvious that some people
are feeding fat on the spate of insecurity in the country. One can
easily admit that our population was not as high in the seventies and
eighties as it is now. One can admit that the complexity of the
society was not as high as it is today. One can also admit that the
technological sophistication was not as high in those days as it is
now. Whichever way one looks at it, it is incontrovertible that the
major factors leading to crises or conflicts are the struggle for
scarce resources, both human and materials, and the attempt to impose
one faith over the other. That is why some Nigerians still believe in
'do or die' or 'the end justifies the means' syndrome. Where are we
going? In the religious realm, the fight for supremacy, particularly
between Christians and Muslims has been the bane of this country and
gradually, Nigeria is being turned to another 'Middle East'.
We should go back to the drawing board and find solution to the issue
of perennial crises in the country. How did the Americans predict in
2000 that Nigeria might disintegrate by 2015? What efforts are we
making to ensure that we research on areas where conflicts or crises
whether political or religious can likely occur the next six months,
one year or even five years in this country. Our response has always
been on the pulse of the moment. We often chase the shadows and leave
the substance. We believe that security matters should be exposed
through the media instead of allowing the media to discover our
combativeness through action. It is time for us to be on the guard if
we don't want the army of the unemployment, the street urchins and
poverty-ridden Nigerians to constitute another threat to the
government. The Boko Haram sect members we see today, we shall see
them no more, but let us do the right thing at the right time if
indeed Nigerian qualifies to be one of the 20 strongest economies by
the year 20:20:20.
Written by Adeyeye Oyedokun Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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