For some months now, the story of Nigeria has been that of a state that is fast descending into anarchy. Hardly any day passes without reports of horrendous monstrosities claiming tens, and sometimes, hundreds of lives in the country.
Even though some parts of the country continue to maintain a façade of normalcy, other areas, especially in northern Nigeria, appear to have since become bound to violence, as rampaging terrorists rile against the government and security agencies, maiming and killing innocent people at will. Overall, the picture of Nigeria that is fast emerging is that of a country that is dangerously and irretrievably adrift, with its ship of state rapidly approaching a precipice.
If there had been any doubt at all that the nation’s authorities had lost grip of their most critical responsibility, which is the security and welfare of the people, the recent brazen bombing at the Nyanya Bus Terminal close to the seat of power in the country, and the abduction of over 100 girls from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State, should clear it.
The dastardly bombing incident elicited the characteristic pathetic whimper that has followed all other such incidents in the past, and which Nigerians have become all too familiar with. President Goodluck Jonathan told a mourning nation that the Boko Haram issue was a temporary problem that we will soon overcome. But how? What is on ground to make Nigerians believe this? It is this questionable optimism that appears not to be backed by reality that has been brought to bear on all the nation’s problems, including the Boko Haram imbroglio, in the past few years.
Our dire circumstances are worsened by the apparent inability of our leaders to appreciate the seriousness of the nation’s problems and the proper attitude that is required of them at this time.
While the nation was still mourning and trying to determine the number of the dead in Nyanya, the president went to a rally of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kano, smiling, dancing and accusing the state governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, of squandering campaign and local government funds. He was politicking while others, including foreign diplomats, were busy donating blood for the treatment of the wounded.
Apart from the insecurity in the North and other parts of the country, the all-important power supply is at its lowest ebb, despite privatisation and the billions of naira sunk into the sector over the last 10 years. The unemployment situation is scary. Road and basic infrastructure are collapsing, in spite of the determined efforts of many state governors. Public education and healthcare are on life support. The economy, which we are told is on a growth trajectory, is not reflecting on the populace. The growth and benefits therefrom have continued to circulate within the small group of the rich and those who have access to government. Petroleum products have remained forever scarce in a country touted as the sixth largest exporter of crude oil. Much of the revenue that accrues from its sale has vanished into private pockets. Otherwise subsidized kerosene, used by most poor homes, remains scarce and even more expensive than petrol. Even at that, the voodoo accounting system in our oil industry insists that no money is missing. Corruption and graft are walking on all fours. Poverty and hunger are ravaging the land, with over 70% of us living below poverty line. Our rich country has some of the poorest people on earth. While we were rebasing our economy and declaring ourselves the strongest economy in Africa (which, by the way, is not untrue), the World Bank President, Jim Kim, was declaring that Nigeria is one of the five countries in the world with the worst form of poverty. Rich country, poor people!
It is, however, on account of insecurity that dark clouds are now gathering in the country. The very raison d’être of government, which is to ensure the security of lives and property of the citizens, no longer holds. If it is not daredevil kidnappers today, then it’s daylight armed robbery and barefaced gunrunning in the south of the country. In the north, when insurgents get tired of bombing mosques, churches, police stations, army barracks, markets, schools and motor parks, they resort to outright sacking and annihilation of entire communities, and abduction of girls.
Of course, it will be unfair to suggest that all these started with the present administration, but our current leaders appear particularly clueless when it matters most. Like Emperor Nero, our leaders, most often, fiddle while Rome burns. That bombings are taking place in any part of the country at all is bad enough, but that this is happening so close to the seat of Nigeria’s federal power is unacceptable and gives cause for serious concern. If this massive attack could take place in Abuja, where our security should be on the highest alert, we are then not surprised that Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, and other states of the North West and North Central have been hit on a daily basis with relative ease.
Much as we appreciate the fact that the current Boko Haram insurgency is akin to a guerrilla war and, therefore, attacks can spring from anywhere; much as we are aware that several other planned attacks have been aborted by security intelligence, we find this latest bombing close to the seat of power, uncomfortable.
But, it would appear that our leaders are not on the same page with other Nigerians on this reality. For instance, we find the attribution of the bombing to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) by Barrister Olisa Metuh, National Publicity Secretary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), out of place. That the PDP could make this public statement, even before the security operatives commenced serious investigations, is unreasonable. It underscores the political mindset that has, so far, made it impossible for us to think outside the box and properly address the Boko Haram insurgency. The result is that Boko Haram has continued to hold our country at the jugular while we are busy playing politics.
We, however, feel that the time has come for us to change the narrative and take the battle against Boko Haram more seriously. The time has come to put whatever we want to do in 2015 on the back burner and focus every effort at rescuing our country, feeding our people, restoring sanity in the land and giving our people a fresh sense of belief in the oneness and continued survival of our country.
If the approach we have used up to this time on the Boko Haram problem is not working, can we not try something different? Can we dry up the pool of illiterate, hungry and angry Nigerians from which Boko Haram get its footsoldiers? If the carrot-and-stick approach has not worked, can we now try more of stick than carrot, or vice versa? If we say many of the insurgents, and their supply of arms and ammunition, come from neighbouring countries, how much co-operation have we extracted from such countries in this fight? And if they are not forthcoming, have we considered severing relations with them? Have we considered shutting our borders with them? Have we considered better policing the porous borders? Or, getting foreign assistance? Is it not time we reviewed the unbridled influx of undocumented foreigners?
But, most of all, isn’t it also time we buried our selfish political, religious and regional differences and resolve to tackle this insurgency as a matter of urgent national importance? Isn’t it about time President Jonathan, governors and political leaders in the affected areas summoned the political will to confront this Boko Haram menace frontally?
Now is the time for a change in approach. This might be our last chance to fix this problem and this nation for good. Nobody should think that Somalia cannot happen here. It can. The poverty, hunger, anger, impunity, greed and corruption in the land today provide all the ingredients of a state about to fail. We charge the authorities not to allow this to happen.
