By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir
Often times I have had to prevaricate between loving politics and politicians, and loathing them. And ever since I actively joined politics, against the wishes of my well wishers, I have had no choice but to defend my ‘citizenry constituency’ of politics! However, my rather patriotic bent has never failed to make me see that my constituents (politicians), constitute a huge setback, to the progress, development and sustainability of my country Nigeria. It of course does not mean that bankers and civil servants and etc do not share in the blame of a corruption-bewitched country, as signaled by the turn of the forensic lens of the new EFCC super cadet boss, Bawa; by which bankers have now been asked to comply with the code of conduct bureau’s assets declaration practice, which they had largely abandoned before now. And that is to say that soon, and very very soon, the likelihood is that his searchlight will zoom on public servants: especially civil servants who do the micro-management of the bureaucracy involved in ministries and other government agencies, headed by politicians.
There is a virus, more lethal than corruption and corona put together, ravaging us from all angles. It is at the fore-front of all national discourse: which is the insecurity bedeviling our nation– be it in the form of terrorism, banditry, etho-religious crimes, psuedo-insurrection– which is threatening to bring our growth and development to a standstill; afterall life and livelihood are above all endeavor, seeking to improve life and sustenance. This indigenous virus of ours does not seem to be responsive to any kind of medication or vaccine. Our doctors and other experts seem lost as to what to do as the virus keeps spreading and multiplying, growing more lethal by the day; mutating and killing more and more Nigerians by the hour.
It is now clear for all discerning minds to see that miseducation, uneducation and mis-application of education, is not restricted to any region or part of the country. It is obvious, now more than ever; that violence and terrorism are not the sole preserve of any tribe or culture. No religion preaches violence afterall, no matter how you coin or cook it; so our problems are largely cultural, which do manifest in our unhygienic and inharmonious nature. That has cooked up this insecurity virus, and it is now way more cumbersome than any laboratories can handle. Infact, it seems that the closest solutions are probably either through a herbal approach, or better still, some form of divine intervention.
I put it to my constituents– Nigerian politicians, as also corroborated by a lawmaker in Zamfara state on live TV and as reported by PremiumTimes– that the heightened spread, prevalence and scourge of insecurity in the country is fanned by politicians– greedy ones in the north making cool money from exploiting it, and power hungry ones from the south, who are playing dirty politics while jostling for power. Neither of the actors from the two main political parties can be absolved of this blame and sheer unpatriotic disposition. Gimbiyar Talban Bauchi, Safiya Stephanie Musa wrote: “Whenever Presidential election draws near, we start hearing about different Republics….Biafra, Oduduwa, Arewa, Middle-Belt, Niger-Delta. Once election ends, agitations slow down until the next election cycle! True or False??” So politicians are to blame squarely for the killings and other criminal activities that has engulfed our dear motherland.
The armed forces are being stretched, just as they are rebuilding and re-equipping for 21st century warfare. The police especially is not only underfunded, but ill-equipped and under staffed, without the requisite number of force men per 1000 or per million of our huge 200 million large population; coupled with vast land areas, where just a state in Nigeria is as huge as Holland! Besides, the state police agitation will further weaken the strength and efficiency of the police eventually. They will become state civil servants and we know what doom that spells but time shall tell. The civil defence may not be constitutionally tailored to fight insurgency, insurrection and both international and domestic terrorism.
Perhaps as mooted by the Babangida military administration, Nigeria is in dire need of a specialised and sophisticated security outfit that can tackle this new wave of violence that is threatening governance, business, education and of course the Almighty practice of religion. Special forces, in the mould of the FBI, KGB, MI7 and so on must be introduced for efficacy and specialisation, in handling the new age turn of violence. The military handles its duty as the war machinery of the country, the police to handle the enforcement of law and order (along with DSS as a special arm), and the civil defence corps to manage a wide range of responsibilities like elections, support for health programmes, safe schools initiatives, security for religious activities, federal construction sites and others. A new national guards should be specially trained to curb and fight terrorism, ‘sophisticated banditry’, ethno-religious crises and so on. IT driven surveillance systems, along with newer technologies powered by AI (artificial Intelligence) should be deployed by these national guards, so that we all can continue struggling to survive, or to make it, or to hammer, as the case maybe, in peace; and not in fear, violence and bloodshed.
Tahir is Talban Bauchi
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sky Daily
