SIR: Insecurity remains one of Nigeria’s greatest challenges. Within the last 10 years, it has morphed into different forms: from Boko Haram, clashes between farmers and herders to banditry and communal clashes etc.
The situation has refused to abate. Many families have lost their loved ones; their means of livelihood; millions have been displaced and a majority have lost faith in the ability of the government to protect them.
Insecurity impacts the country negatively. No serious investor would invest in a country that is insecure. The country has lost billions to this menace as it is no longer a choice destination for foreign investment. There is food crisis as farmers cannot access their farms. Developmental projects in different parts of the country have been abandoned while millions of dollars are being lost to oil theft.
For several years, successive governments have not been able to tackle them either because they underestimated the crises or hardly look into their root causes. There is a recurring perception by people in government that the insecurity is fuelled by the opposition in order to paint it in a bad light. These unfounded theories and blame games account for why insecurity is growing from bad to worse.
During the campaign for the 2015 elections, the incumbent government promised to end the insecurity. However, it has grown to new levels under its watch. People are kidnapped in broad daylight from their homes, roads are blocked and travellers kidnapped; even train passengers were once kidnapped, while thousands have been killed in avoidable circumstances. In a nutshell, the Buhari government has scored low points in terms of security.
For 2023 elections, all presidential aspirants must develop a practical and implementable strategy on how to curb and tackle the growing insecurity in the country. Any strategy that does not take the root cause of insecurity into consideration is mere rhetoric. Insecurity cannot be solved without addressing the issue of unemployment, unstable power supply and injustices. The next president must ensure that round pegs are in round holes; and see to it that only people whose love for country is greater than any parochial and pecuniary interest surround him.
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We must reduce the number of youths who are jobless. Currently, Nigeria has a high rate of unemployed youths. These youths serve as willing recruits by criminals who usually brainwash them and cause them to unleash mayhem on the country. Steps must also be taken to ensure that people who are victims of these crises and the families who have lost loved ones get justice. Sending out only condolences messages and doing nothing to assuage their pains, survival and subsistence is not enough; especially when they hear the amount that is expended on the rehabilitation and reintegration of repentant criminals.
We must tighten the noose on oil theft and ensure that criminals are prosecuted in order to boost revenue of the country.
We need to reform the justice system to ensure speedy dispensation of justice. Although it is said that the mills of justice grinds slowly but surely, sometimes delayed justice is no justice.
Presidential aspirants must note that if they do not tackle insecurity, they cannot implement any developmental projects or ideas. It is only a stable country that attracts investments which translates into a stable economy.
Nigerians must visit campaign venues with questions on what these presidential aspirants plan to do differently from the previous and the incumbent government to end the insecurity that is making people sleep with one eye closed. They must not be fixated on frivolities and allow their support for particular candidates to distract them. Love for a candidate should not overshadow the love for the country. Any candidate who does not have a strategic plan to tackle insecurity is not ready to lead and should not be voted for. If we do not do these things, it means we have not learned any lessons from our predicaments.
Ability to proffer a solution to the insecurity challenges in the country should be a deciding factor on whom to support at the 2023 presidential elections.
- Frank Ijege,
frankijege@yahoo.com