Nigeria never ceases to amaze and there are plenty of surprises around the corner no matter where you are, but when you begin to hear people taking to streets to protest for their security and wellbeing, or the President of a particular country is judging the performance of his security chiefs by their weights, definitely something is wrong.
The questions came thick and fast. How could this be? How did we get here? What did we do to deserve this? Does the government care at all about the welfare and advancement of the citizenry?
This is 21st century, and it is unacceptable for government to fail to curb the menace of insecurity and corruption. And when that particular government has endlessly paraded itself as heavyweight champion in fight against corruption, people begin to wonder whether this country will ever get it right.
The fight against insecurity and corruption within government institutions and enhancing good governance should not just be a mere campaign. We understand every Nigerian knows that Nigeria as a sovereign country have organized forces that are supposed to protect it, protect the people with their properties, and if such responsibilities have not been handled well, then they may be the cause of insecurity themselves.
Insecurity has been a problem in Nigeria for almost two decades now. This has presented itself in the form of insurgency such as Boko Haram, Banditry and now kidnapping which has caused a lot of challenges for the economic development and prosperity of Nigeria.
Insecurity has led to reduction in food production thus contributing to inflation and poverty levels in the country. It has also led to poor industrial development among other problems which have retarded its economic growth.
Most of the people involved in threatening the security of Nigeria are young ignorant people who are being brain washed by politicians and other people who have influence on them. They just do as they are told without asking any questions because they don’t know any better. This is why the cabals in the country are against their enlightenment because they will stop doing their bidding once they get to understand the true implication of what they do. The same youths are used as thugs during elections to disrupt peace. Illiteracy therefore is a major issue that has led to the prolonged insecurity situation in the country.
Young people involved in acts that threaten the peace are unemployed youths who would do anything to eat. Some of these unemployed youths are actually graduates with the potential to do well on jobs but have not been employed for several reasons. If the government will engage them in productive ventures then insecurity issues will be drastically reduced.
There have been several incidences of people involved in criminal activities being set free after their arrest without any prosecution or penalty. In the case of Zainab Aliyu who was allegedly arrested in Saudi Arabia for drug related issue. The NDLEA conducted an investigation, arrested the real culprits only to be released on bail by High court in Kano state. This encourages such activities as there is no penalty for engaging in activities that disrupt the peace and wellbeing of the nation. This is likely due to corruption in the government in which government officials use the criminals for their own gain and so will bribe their way to see that such criminals are set free.
Politicians also use thugs during election and Nigerians are yet to see a single case in which a political thug was prosecuted and penalized for engaging in violent activities. This certainly encourages crime and unlawful activities in the society.
Barely three weeks to the end of the 8th Senate, Senator Chukwuka Utazi representing Enugu North Senatorial district, on Tuesday, sponsored a motion for a bridge in the gap between rich and poor Nigerians.
In the motion, the Enugu lawmaker expressed fears that Nigeria’s poor masses may ignite a revolution against the rich if recent happenings in the country are anything to go by.
He stressed that the audacious kidnappings and upsurge in banditry by criminal elements against well-meaning Nigerians which have defied all known security measures bears testament to his fears.
His motion “Observes with alarm the rapacious daredevilry among the young people in Nigeria and the sharp upsurge in violent crimes especially kidnapping, arm robbery and unprovoked attacks on innocent persons across the whole landscape of Nigeria.”
On July 1, 2018, The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has called for the sack of security chiefs to give way for others who can perform better. He said “This is not something to be politicised,” he said. “If somebody is not capable and cannot do what he has to do, let others have the opportunity to do it.”
The Nigerian people they are working for are calling for their head, but still President Buhari retains their service against Nigeria’s wishes.
While most insecurity challenges are caused by the above mentioned reasons, bad leadership also causes rebellion among followers and so result in social insecurity. Many cases of public servants’ convoys being attacked and sometimes people get badly wounded and in extreme cases killed.
Many Nigerians lose hope in the Buhari led administration. The security chiefs are not performing the way they are meant to be. However, Buhari reluctant to sack them raised suspicion on the mind of everyone whether indeed Buhari is ready to fight inscurity and corruption to the full extent of law.
Before the end of President Buhari’s first tenure, it is expected that he would have carried out an x-ray of his ministers’ performances in the past three and half years to determine if they have really keyed into his next level agenda. For quite some time, President Buhari had been inundated with calls to change his cabinet as some of his ministers were said to have performed below average, but in his characteristic manner, the President kept to his cool, perhaps to avoid creating bad blood as elections were around the corner. Even though President Buhari is known not to discard his followers, friends and associates very easily and some of the ministers who have followed him for many years may continue in the next administration.
The recent trip President Buhari made to London raises a red flag to many within his cabinet on whether they are going make it to the next level administration. The President has opted to go solo in choosing the new set of ministers. Some members of his inner power circle, popularly called “The Cabal”, who went to London during the week to see him, were denied access on the basis of Buhari’s strict instructions. The President had not demanded any ministerial nomination list from either the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the governors elected on the platform of the party. Many of the outgoing ministers have been running to the governors of their states, asking that some words be put in for their return to the cabinet. Despite the alleged abysmal performance of some ministers in carrying out their responsibilities, the President may likely retained them and could join the Next Level train.
If next level is going to be fruitful for the masses, President Buhari should not only reshuffle his ministerial cabinet with competent people but he should also change his security chiefs for failing to curb the menace of insecurity that is costing Nigerians their lives on daily basis.
Moreover, Insecurity is a major threat to our nation and it is our responsibility as citizens to help the government to ensure every security challenge is eradicated. When this is achieved, we would experience enormous growth and peace on every side, and our country can be great again.
