By Oluwole Ogundele
Security is one basic need of humans at every point in time and space. A gross lack of it jeopardises human survival and/or progress in a wide range of senses. This is the reason the issue of security occupies a central position in the Nigerian Constitution.
Only the living can contribute to the growth and development of the national economy with several sub-sectors. Therefore, a failure in this regard rubbishes the legitimacy of the central political authority. No excuses! Governance is a serious business beyond the shaking of hands of dignitaries at international meetings.
Certainly, every geo-polity has a few isolated pockets of insecurity, but the Nigerian case is extraordinarily frightening and huge. It is very disturbing to note here, that Nigeria is now the third most insecure country in the world. The first two most crisis-ridden geo-polities are Afghanistan and Iraq, where human beings are killed like goats on a daily basis.
This revelation was made by the Global Terrorism Index (GTI). Nigeria needs to change this ugly image as quickly as possible. In this connection, the next National Assembly (as the real representatives of the people) should not be a rubber stamp for decisions made by the Executive.
Foreign investors and tourists are naturally scared of doing business with or visiting Nigeria, where violent criminals are almost completely in charge. Even local business men and farmers can no longer move around freely to pursue their legitimate economic and social activities. Boko Haram insurgents, kidnappers, armed robbers, and ritualists among others are beating shit out of everybody. What a country!
Unemployment rate goes up daily leading to aggravated economic challenges and, of course, unprecedented material poverty. Satanic humans have turned Nigeria into their headquarters understandably because the political rulership appears not to believe in taking proactive measures. Taking proactive measures is the hallmark of charismatic leadership.
It is a pity that in today’s Nigeria, perpetrators of violent crimes are hardly arrested, let alone prosecuted. Our punishment/penalty systems have been heavily weakened as a result of dangerous politicisation of security issues among others. Religious bigotry coupled with ethnic chauvinism (a relic of savagery) robs the country of profound intellectual imagination.
Having observed a recess recently, kidnappers and other demons resumed full operations a couple of days ago. Thus, for example, 80 children (between 12 and 17 years of age) were abducted in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State on the 7th of April. Again, a former deputy governor of Nasarawa State was kidnapped a few days ago. Nobody is safe!
At least 43 people out of those staying in the Internally Displaced Persons’ Camp (IDPs) in the Nyiev Council ward of Guma Local Government Area of Benue State were mowed down recently. This was a few days after 25 innocent Nigerians of Benue extraction met their Waterloo in Umogidi in the Enetekpa Adoka district of Otukpo Local Government Area. Similarly, the king of Oghara in the Kabba locality of Kogi State and two of his chiefs were kidnapped on the 11th of this month. In addition, one female domestic worker in the palace was mowed down by these gun men.
It is no longer news that the southeastern region is currently defined and ruled by bloody massacres of innocent people. Even military formations and security men were/are not spared. Indeed, most Nigerians have refused to grow into angelhood despite the huge numbers of churches and mosques across the land. We are rapidly becoming a society of lies and deception of the first order. Surprisingly, the Nigerian political rulers continue with their heavy snoring while the country bleeds. This scenario is a world away from the Nigeria of our dreams.
The huge amounts of money that go to national security have no commensurate results. Endemic corruption remains a devil to wrestle with, especially in the face of military spending that has become a huge drain on the Nigerian resources. The Nigerian security straddles the sphere of kinetic and non-kinetic methodologies.
Recruitment of new members to the Boko Haram group, as well as other dangerous organisations, would continue to be easy if the government failed to rescue the led from the bondage of monumental material poverty. Abject poverty dehumanises. A desperately poor person is a threat to society.
The above analysis shows that a sentimental political leader cannot work for the common good. In other words, there should be no room for unfettered sentiment in governance. Now that the Nigerian people have elected Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as their next president, he and his team should get down to business. The agonies of the citizens are just too much.
Based on Bola Tinubu’s previous political and economic engagements within and without Lagos State, it would not amount to flattery to refer to him as a superb social engineer and organiser of resources. I hope this trust will not be breached in the long run.
The issue of unemployment, especially of the youth, has to be tackled with uncommon vigour and determination. Local industrialisation and agriculture are very critical in this regard. Although nobody should be expecting miracles overnight from the in-coming administration, the laying of some solid foundations for the national economy should begin immediately after the swearing in by the end of May.
Mechanised farming can provide a lot of employment opportunities for the youth. It is an irony that Nigeria is still importing huge amounts of food items such as rice, beans, and vegetable oil, despite the vastness and richness of the country’s arable land. In this context, rural development is central.
So far, past and present administrations were/are formulating urban-focused policies. This situation is anchored to over-concentration of money and grants in the urban centres for development at the expense of the rural sub-sector. It is too easily forgotten that most people in the deprivation trap are located in the rural settlements. Therefore, ignoring this sub-sector is a gargantuan threat to our security and, by extension, socio-economic sustainability. It is time for the Nigerian political leadership to start using a non-kinetic method of approach with respect to security management.
Also, Nigeria spends too much money on governance with a lamentably low output. For instance, the highest paid senators in the world are in Nigeria where each one of them takes about 30 million naira monthly. This is a country where the minimum monthly salary of a public worker is 30,000 naira. The situation is even more worrying, given the peanuts being paid to public varsity lecturers in the face of rising inflation. Certainly, desperately poor academics cannot be sufficiently productive with respect to good quality teaching and profound research.
The political class members have been bleeding the led dry. This ugliness should stop in the interest of the common good. Nigeria needs dedicated/patriotic leadership in order to get out of the woods. That is, a political leadership with zero tolerance for corruption and/or religious- cum-ethnic bigotry. No longer business as usual.
•Prof. Ogundele writes from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.