The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Much ado over Isiagu attire

    Much ado over Isiagu attire

    By Ike Willie-Nwobu

    SIR: Murmurs of discontent over the Isiagu attire worn by Air Peace crew during the launch of its maiden Lagos to London flight may have become muffled, but questions remained raised,  at least for those who must view every milestone through the prism of primordial sentiments.

    Isiagu has no neither ethnicity nor emotional attachment. It is a lifeless piece of cloth that is malleable to its wearer’s wits to evoke any wonder intended. Anyone can wear it. Ndi Igbo wear it. They have worn it consistently enough over the years but are yet to appropriate it, which is no surprise given that the Igbo are among Nigeria’s least skilled appropriators.

    Isiagu has clung to Ndi Igbo more than they have clung to it. Isiagu  literally translates to lion’s head and is fiercely evocative of the lion. Again, it is no surprise that it has naturally attracted the intrepid survivors of Nigeria’s civil war.

    Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace, cannot  deny his Igbo roots because to do that will make him rootless. But if there was ever a detribalized Nigerian, it is he. With Air Peace, he is trampling where the Nigerian government has so far embarrassingly feared to tread. Air Peace’s launch of its highly subsidized flights from Lagos to London is some fig leaf for the nakedness of Nigerians in its inability to float a national carrier.

    An astute businessman, Onyema has so far projected his enterprise as a prize of Nigeria’s greatness, swelling many Nigerian hearts with enormous pride. Yet, for clothing his crew with Isiagu  on a historic flight, himself and his brainchild have been branded as bigots by those who wallow in ethnicity.

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    What should the crew have worn? Suits? Skirts? Should the crew have stuffed themselves into clothing that pays odious homage to the remnants of a shameful colonial heritage, just so you appease the insatiable gods of Nigeria’s bigotry? For shaking free, Onyema is being crucified by those whose inferiority complex compels them to draw false assurances of unity from a way of dressing imposed by colonialism.

    Time and again, Onyema has put Air Peace to the service of the Nigerian good. When Sudan broke into its latest seemingly endless conflict, Onyema offered to evacuate Nigerians in the country who wished to get out for free? He has never failed to project  Air Peace and its array of impressive services as a Nigerian success story.  What else does he need to do?

    Those who want his head are conveniently ignoring the failure of government to float a national airline and the improbable success of a homegrown project, just because they are desperate to prepare a sacrifice for the gods of primordial sentiments. The responsibility to rebuke them falls on all those who know what it means to be Nigerian.

    • Ike Willie-Nwobu, Ikewilly9@gmail.com

  • Cultism and its impacts on society

    Cultism and its impacts on society

    By Obiotika Wilfred Toochukwu

    SIR: Too many wrong information, especially on social media, is destroying our youths. There are people today who carry enchanted charms and marks, using them for evil purposes. Many wear charms, demonic rings and amulets used to harm and rob others. They put on amulets on their waists and evil rings on their fingers as fashion accessories. Southeast Nigeria experienced the dark side of cultism when young students in Ebonyi State University, Ikwo, chose nothing but the extreme beliefs and dictates of secret cultism in the early 2000s.

    The same scenario has come down to Nnamdi Azikiwe University. In the past one year, Awka the capital of Anambra State, has been witnessing an upsurge in killings, arson, deadly assault and rape being perpetrated by cultist. Many youths have joined secret cults as a way of life in quest for freedom and happiness. We may not be certain whether victims are members of rival gangs, but the trend has generated intimidation and terror amongst residents.

    Becoming a member of a secret cult may be due to family background or peer group influence. Some young boys and girls joined secret cults in school out of mere curiosity. The present structural unemployment in Nigeria has equally made some people join secret cults. Lack of self-confidence and perceived injustice are as well motivations for others. School administrators in some institutions are members of secret cults, thereby pressuring young ones to join. Exposure to violent films and other reckless lifestyles can as well predispose someone to become a member.

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    The effects of cultism on the society range from proliferation of arms, disruption of academic activities, distortion of societal values, vandalism and murder. Some people have tried different ways to get joy and have been led into evil schemes, addictions and wrong associations. Life of fornication, cheating, lying, smoking, drinking, womanizing, backbiting, unforgiveness, seduction, malice, etc., are all avenues to cultism. One of the ironies of human nature is that it often has a way of rejecting the best and accepting the worst. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” This is the conflict of the ages!

    Many thanks to the ‘Solution Initiative’ of Governor C. C. Soludo whose bill against cultism in the state has passed a second reading in the State House of Assembly. Parents should constantly monitor the behaviour of their children even while they are in school. Regular visits to check on them as well as financial support can go a long way in keeping them away from bad company. Students should be encouraged to join religious groups and cultivate the fear of God. Educational institutions and government should enact strong laws against cultism and enforce such laws strictly. Expulsion of students in secret cults and prosecution of lecturers who encourage or harbour cult members should be upheld. There should be proper enlightenment and good orientation for new intakes. Sports and recreational facilities should be made available to youths and students for extracurricular activities.

    In conclusion, tolerating cultism is tantamount to complicity in its perpetuation, imperiling the very foundation of society. By recognising the insidious nature of cults and taking decisive action to confront them, communities can safeguard their members against exploitation and manipulation. Only through collective vigilance and unwavering resolve can society stem the tide of cultism and preserve the values of freedom, integrity and justice for generations to come.

    • Obiotika Wilfred Toochukwu, Agulu.

  • Celebrating World Health Day 2024

    Celebrating World Health Day 2024

    By Eze Onyekpere Esq

    SIR: Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a Nigerian knowledge institution, welcomes the theme of the 2024 World Health Day celebration. By focusing on “my health, my right”, the day provides an opportunity for stocktaking on the interventions and results achieved by all stakeholders towards the realization of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in Nigeria. 

    We recall that Nigeria is a state party to a plethora of international and regional standards providing for the right to health including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”- article 12), the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”- article 12), Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”- article 24), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (article 16), etc.

    CSJ is concerned by the inexplicable paucity of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 on the right to health, as the right to health is missing from the Bill of Rights found in Chapter Four of the Constitution. There is hardly a mention of the word, “health”, in the Constitution. We are concerned about Nigeria’s poor health indicators including very high out-of-pocket health expenditure of 70 percent; high levels of maternal, child and infant mortality and morbidity and low life expectancy. We are further concerned about the very low enrolment on the compulsory health insurance regime of the National Health Insurance Authority Act (NHIAA); as well as the low budgetary releases, low utilization and the poor results in the operationalization of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund meant to facilitate access to health for the poor. Furthermore, the Vulnerable Group fund provided in the NHIAA is yet to be set up.

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    Against the background of the foregoing, CSJ makes the following recommendations:

    • The National Assembly (NASS) should utilize the opportunity of the ongoing constitution review to include the minimum core state obligations on health as justiciable rights in Chapter Four of the Constitution. The right should include free primary health care, maternal, new born and child health, free medical consultation in public medical institutions; free medical care for all persons over 65 years of age, persons in detention and persons with mental health challenges, etc.

    • The National Health Insurance Authority should take steps to enforce the compulsory health insurance regime of the NHIAA to raise more funds for health care.

    • Funding should be provided for the take-off of the Vulnerable Group Fund provided in the NHIAA. This will enhance resources available for implementing the right to health.

    • NASS, working with the Executive and State Governors should consider altering the funding of the BHCPF from not less than 1% of the Federal Government’s consolidated revenue fund to not less than 2% of the Federation Account. This will ensure that all tiers of government contribute to funding the right to health and remove the need for counterpart funding for the BHCPF.

    • All backlogs of due statutory transfers/first line charges under the BHCPF should be expeditiously released by FGN for the improvement of health service delivery.

    • For improved accountability and transparency, transfers to state agencies under the gateways of the BHCPF should be published in the print and digital media – newspapers, websites and blogs. The names of all beneficiaries enrolled in the free services of the BHCPF should be published on a portal on a state by state, local government and ward basis. Furthermore, the names and locations of all health centres where BHCPF services are available across the Federation should be published on a website.

    • FGN and states should enhance value for money and service delivery in all health expenditure and involve critical civil society actors in all steps. These actors include national, state and local government level CSOs, the media, communities and citizens resident in the areas of the health centres, etc.

    • FGN and the states should ensure the full implementation of the National Health Act.

    • Eze Onyekpere Esq, Abuja

  • An education that makes the dumb speak

    An education that makes the dumb speak

    SIR: Quite strange that we are already in that future and we still do not know what kind of education we want to run. Is it Universal Basic, or Universal Primary, is it Unity Schools owned by government or the Unity schools owned by businessmen that want to declare profit after each academic calendar year rather than improve the quality of students and teachers and the education dispensed?

    In 1968 Solarin wrote “A good many of us spat on the education we had yesterday and of course what passes for education today. And there is, certainly, a stratum of our society that looks back, nostalgically, at the quality of yesterday’s education”.

    How many of us today can argue that this is not the truth? Even the generation that had its education in 1990 now looks back with nostalgia.

    In 1968, he opined that by and large, most of us believed that there was very much missing in the content of our yesterdays’ education. What we have today, in spite of innovations and the bold attempts to re-orientate it, remains, as it was yesterday, orthodox, slow foot, myopic.

    It is 2024; can we honestly call the situation any better?

    Our education is money centred. It is an education which goads the possessor asking “what can my country do for me?” not as J. F. Kennedy requests immortally, “what can I do for my country?”

    In 2024, we are left to define the quality of education we want for tomorrow when our peers have gone far in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore; neighbouring Ghana has even refused to wait for us.

    What is the value of the education given to a young man who lives or is doing his mandatory service year in a guinea worm-infested area and yet is incapable of causing a revolution in the lives of the villagers by transforming their drinking water into healthy supply? Today every graduate desires Shell, Chevron, MTN, GTBank and the rest jostle for pensionable ministry jobs; excluding those not in politics as educated thugs.

    How many graduates can carry aloft an oasis of light? Very few because the education is short on quality and is therefore poor?

    The bitter truth is that we are reeling out nonsense from our primary stage to the highest level of education. We have developed a set of students whose parents bribe up the academic ladder because teachers will teach nonsense after all. Our schools today at best are filled with frustrated persons that are still holding the chalk for lack of what to do next. Every year no one is really taking stock of the number of university manpower leaving the shores of this nation never to return and we just sit and term it brain drain, when in truth it has become a complete DRAIN, brain and belly, soul and spirit.

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    Today, agricultural science is a theoretical subject and schools do not even have farms any more. University of Agriculture takes more students for law than agricultural extension courses.

    Why do we like to lie to ourselves? I never will know, I can authoritatively say that in the whole of Plateau, Abia, Kano and Osun states by random sampling, no public school has a functional up to date complete computer unit, internet with functional printers even as governors will tell how they have transverse from Galilee to Riyadh in improving education.

    “Let me see your homework” is now a strange phrase in families.

    Very recently, one of my adult sons was at the park, having dropped his friend off to board a vehicle to Abuja. He was accosted by a ‘deaf and dumb’ woman who asked for a token. He dipped his hands into his pocket and gave her a token, and as he walked into his car he heard the woman say “Thank you”!

    In the words of Tai Solarin…”the education being given to our children today, will give us a newer and nobler Nigeria.” If that today was 1968, suffice to say that there is a problem in the land educationally with the kind of education being given in 2024 where dumb people speak!

    • Prince Charles Dickson, PhD pcdbooks@yahoo.com
  • Africa and promises of the future

    Africa and promises of the future

    SIR: Looking at Africa’s future through the lens of progress, evidence, foresight, and optimism – although it’s difficult to predict the future with certainty, several African countries have shown great potential for development. Countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana, and Botswana have made significant strides in economic growth, infrastructure development, and social progress.

    Remarkably, Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria are the top most powerful countries in Africa, according to US News and World Report’s 2019 power ranking. Several African countries, including Mauritius, Botswana, Cape Verde, Seychelles, and Rwanda, are known for good governance. These countries have made significant progress in political stability, rule of law, and fighting corruption. Speaking of issues of uniqueness, diversity, duration of existence, and variety, I would say, that Africa is sufficiently primed for greatness.

    In the profound words of Joshua J. Marine: “Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”

    To view Africa solely as a hotbed of disease and hunger is to ignore the significant strides that countries and communities have made. There is still much work to be done. But looking to the past can provide some hope for the future: Rwanda, once known primarily for its tragic genocide, is now known as a model of stability and economic growth, while Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement this year to end two decades of war and enmity.

    African countries must push for further peace initiatives while they continue to support refugees and populations affected by conflict to improve stability and growth on the continent further.

    Lest one is misunderstood, Africa lacks selflessness in leadership. Unarguably, Africa is the most resourceful continent and the naturally wealthiest in the world. Despite the amazing advantage of having nice weather, massive forests with fruit, vegetation and plantations, wildlife, gold, diamonds, uranium, various metals, and manpower willing to work hard for low wages, Africa is the poorest economically in the world. Because leadership is everything, nearly all African leaders are failing with some few exceptions.

    Collectively, the continent has more to gain pulling together and harnessing its vast natural resources to finance the development agenda towards greater prosperity. It must also ensure that future growth and exploitation of natural resources is results-oriented, climate resilient, and sustainable. Nearly half the world’s gold and one-third of all minerals are in Africa.

    Compared with China with land are of 9.6 million km2, Africa has 30.37 million km2 while United States has 9.8 million km2 and the Europe10.18 million km2.

    Moreover, Africa has 60% arable land with 90% of the raw material reserve. The continent owns 40% of the global gold reserve and 33% of the diamond reserve.

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    Africa has 80% of Coltan’s global reserve (mineral for telephone and electronics production), mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Africa has 60% of the global cobalt reserve (mineral for car battery manufacture).

    She is also rich in oil and natural gas. Africa (Namibia) has the world’s richest fish coastline.

    With its 1.3 billion inhabitants (China has 1.4 billion inhabitants in its 9.6 million km2 space), Africa is under-populated.

    The arable lands of the Democratic Republic of Congo can feed all of Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo has important rivers that can illuminate Africa.

    Africa accommodates 30,000 medicinal recipes and herbs that the West modifies in its laboratories.

    Africa has a young global population that should reach 2.5 billion by the year 2050.

    It explains why countries such as China are moving quickly to invest in Africa’s future, although the United States and other Western nations appears to have taken more passive roles.

    • Richard Odusanya, odusanyagold@gmail.com
  • Will Borno remain the Home of Peace?

    Will Borno remain the Home of Peace?

    SIR: Borno State was once known as a peaceful place, but the past decade of Boko Haram violence has changed everything. Now, as the region begins to recover, will it be possible to return to the peace of the past?

    The Boko Haram crisis has forced many young people in Borno State to take up arms and form vigilante groups known as “Kato da gora” or “the ones who came out of the bush”. Initially formed as a non-state initiative, these groups were officially recognized by the Borno State government in 2014 and given the name “Civilian Joint Task Force” (CJTF).

    While the recognition of vigilante groups like the CJTF has helped to reduce violence in the state, other groups have emerged that are not officially recognized by the government. These groups, which have names like Star Boys, Malian groups and others, have emerged in response to the violence caused by Boko Haram. While the violence has decreased overall, these new groups have contributed to a continuing atmosphere of unrest in the state.

    The emergence of new violence-prone groups has contributed to unrest in Borno State, particularly in areas like Dala, Ngomari, Ajilari cross, Gonge and other local areas. Many members of these groups carry dangerous weapons. These groups often recruit young people, who are subsequently enrolled into violence and other anti-social activities. This often leads to a breakdown in the social safety net, as communities become less trusting and more isolated. The increase in violence has also led to an increase in murder and other violent crimes with devastating impacts on families and communities.

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    In some cases, students have become involved in the activities of the groups, either as participants or as victims. This can have a long-term impact on their education and their future, and can also lead to further violence and instability in the state.

    It is therefore critical to address the root causes of these groups, and ensure that law enforcement agencies are able to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.

    One possible solution is to increase funding for educational programs that provide alternatives to joining violence-prone groups. These could be vocational training or job placement services. Second, is to improve law enforcement capabilities, including increasing resources for investigating and prosecuting these groups. 

    Additionally, government and community programs could be developed to address poverty and unemployment to promote social cohesion and tolerance.

    Finally, there should be increased monitoring and reporting of suspicious activities, particularly the acquisition of dangerous materials.

    • Fadeela Mustapha Lawan, Borno State University, Maiduguri.
  • Embracing Plato’s politics

    Embracing Plato’s politics

    By Ekpa Stanley Ekpa

    SIR:  Plato in the 375 BC developed a framework on the nature of politics and governance that combined political skill and philosophical knowledge in an ideal state. To Plato, an ideal state, “can never grow into a reality” until philosophers become rulers in this world, or until those we now call leaders truly become philosophers.

    In today’s political leadership landscape, Plato’s theoretical framework can be tested on the variables of four cardinal virtues in the art of political leadership: prudence as wisdom, justice as fairness in designing and implementing public policies, temperance as moderation/restraint, courage as the resilience and political will to achieve common public good.

    If concepts as corruption can become a thriving social reality, emerging political leaders must ensure that platonic politics is not abandoned on the pages of utopian theories but practiced as a pragmatic political reality in rebuilding societies through political leadership.

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    In Nigeria, we have had philosophers as public leaders. When we read the voices and reasoning of the first republic leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Aminu Kano, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, among others, it is not too hard to classify their people-driven politics beyond rhetoric. They were neither saints nor perfect but we made history with a productive economy that produced the food we consumed, quality education with a significant increase in literacy rates resulting in the emergence of a more educated workforce, a sovereign state that was regionally and globally respected, and a leadership class that was defined by their ideological leaning towards the people as the source of political power.

     At a time when politics is swiftly becoming comically lucrative, we must embrace Plato’s principles of platonic politics as a threshold to peg the conscience, humanness, performance and legacies of our politics and political governance. If we consider the notion of wisdom beyond ‘certificates and degrees’, then we are persuaded by politics defined by ideologies and contestation of ideas. A political climate with leaders who are committed to evidence-based decision making, visionary, truth-seeking, and disciplined in their pursuit of public purpose for public good. Without knowledge, it is hard to sustainably solve any social problem. It is wisdom, to account for your stewardship, to be open, transparent and inclusive in your approach when exercising public office. It is further important to appreciate that in an age of digital make believe, wisdom is not the same thing as constructive rhetoric, videos clips showcasing convoys with corresponding “likes, comments and repost on social media”, or impoverishing the people through unsustainable palliatives.

    Whether at the national, subnational or local government levels in Nigeria, there are widening cry for social justice, fairness and inclusion in our politics and pursuits of progress. Leaders who meet Plato’s KPI of justice as fairness must be those who above all sentimental expectations are able to seek and achieve fair outcomes in their decisions and actions. Justice in leadership requires public officials to be considerate, yet decisive in taking public decisions. In the face of uncertainty, leader must show strength, courage and resilience in driving visions that help restore certainty, stable and shared social security. But this must be done within the ambit of rule of law.

    Perhaps, the most important cardinal principle is the character of the leader as reflected in the ability of leaders to moderate their approach and show restraint in their actions, particularly in this era of primitive self-aggrandizement in politics and public service. The triumph of profiteering politics over platonic politics remains the bane of politics delivering public good. Character matters in politics, as it is usually difficult to draw a line between a leader’s personality traits and how the traits affect policy implementation.

    Since altruism may not be absolute, politicians can embrace enlightened self-interest in politics as a more pragmatic art of politicking. Furthering the interests of public good ultimately serves your interests in ways that money cannot buy, and every legacy-minded leader must be more focused on positive impact that outlives the brevity of an office or political title, than primitive practices that have defined contemporary politics across the globe. Both in wining and working for the people while in office, emerging politicians must understand that public office is a trust for public good, and their powers must be exercised to further advance the good, safety and happiness of their fellow human beings, irrespective of who they are, where they come or what religion they profess.

    • Ekpa, Stanley Ekpa, ekpastanleyekpa@gmail.com

  • Shaibu: The curse of second fiddle

    Shaibu: The curse of second fiddle

    By Kene Obiezu

    SIR: Philip Shaibu has been impeached as the deputy governor of Edo State and replaced by 38-year old Omobayo Godwin. He has declared his impeachment illegal, but until a court of law says so, such a declaration would remain beyond his fiat as an erstwhile deputy governor.

    Since he indicated his intention to become governor, Shaibu has become the number one enemy to power in the state. Godwin Obaseki, the governor, has been open in his opposition to Shaibu’s bid. As the theatre has unfolded in Edo State, the impossible fate of a deputy governor who aspires to be more than a figurehead has been laid bare.

    In his bid to become governor, Shaibu has evoked the homeboy trope. A career activist and unionist who rose to fame during the heady days of student unionism in University of Jos, he considers himself the quintessential homebred politician who not only knows where the pulse is in Edo State but feels it first-hand.  In this wise, Shaibu favourably compares himself to a certain favourite for the Edo State governorship who needed a translator to commune with his kinsmen and spirits when he visited his community.

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     What offence did Shaibu commit to impel his impeachment? What has changed to make a pariah out of a man who has claimed to have bankrolled elections in 2016 and has not been challenged?

    Obaseki and his stooges in the state legislature sure have no coherent answer. Shaibu’s fate sealed from the moment private disaffection over the next governor of Edo State spilled into public disagreement is a remaking of the impossible remit of the Nigerian deputy governor. An office hamstrung by the constitution itself is often made impossible by the clownish tendencies of governors who act like emperors, and crave control of everything.

     What is happening in Edo State is history repeating itself. In 2010, as President Musa Yar’Adua dangled between life and death from the threads of an illness, his closest aides and family members cared less for the president’s survival than to check his inevitable replacement by the vice president to the office. This was until death checked them all.

     Ondo State also required death to ultimately disarm the bomb that was about to detonate in the state. Since 1999, deputy governors in Zamfara, Oyo, Kogi, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, Osun, Akwa Ibom and Bauchi have all been impeached for contrived offences. It is a battle that is never far away from government with the prudent question being where next.

    It is disruptive that a governor should spend his last days in office orchestrating the impeachment of his deputy rather than consolidating his legacy. The clearest lesson for Shaibu and other deputy governors may yet be that in a duel of big dogs, it is impolitic to show sharp teeth.

     There is also a sense in which those who have treated Shaibu so shabbily are heedless and reckless students of history. Before he was re-elected in 2020 by the skin of his teeth, Obaseki had seen his political aspirations mortally threatened by the excesses of his predecessor Adams Oshiomhole. With the Aso Rock door firmly shut, and the odds stacked against him, he turned to Edo voters. Having done nothing to distinguish himself from his do-nothing contemporaries on the Nigerian Governors Forum, his subsequent victory at the polls was part moral outrage, part protest.

    Edo voters recognized a system synthesized to oppress and deployed their voter power to foil it. They may yet queue behind Shaibu as he seeks to shame his executive and legislative oppressors. But before they can, Shaibu may have to leave his the PDP lest fortune which fears the brave but tramples cowards under foot foil his fate.  But that he who latched on to the goodwill of Edo voters like a starved infant to his mother’s breast and was saved electoral humiliation in 2020 would now oppress someone who backed him to the hilt for nothing apart from showing ambition is another fraught lesson in the fragility of the human memory.

    • Kene Obiezu, keneobiezu@gmail.com

  • Using technology to combat insecurity

    Using technology to combat insecurity

    By Oladipupo Dopamu

    SIR: Over the years, Nigeria has continued to grapple with a myriad of security challenges, including terrorism, kidnapping, insurgency, and organized crimes. With recent events in the country, it has become increasingly evident that relying on conventional methods alone is grossly inadequate to effectively tackle these complex security threats. Thus, there’s an urgent need to adopt advanced technological solutions.

    One key aspect where advanced technology can make a significant impact is through surveillance systems. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with advanced cameras and thermal imaging technology provide real-time surveillance of vulnerable areas, enabling security agencies to detect and deter criminal activities. Additionally, satellite imagery offers valuable insights into the movements and actions of terrorist groups and criminal organizations, aiding in proactive response measures.

    The abundance of data in today’s digital age presents an opportunity for security agencies to leverage advanced data analytics techniques to combat crimes. By analysing historical crime data, law enforcement agencies can identify high-risk areas and allocate resources more effectively to prevent criminal activities.

    Effective communication and coordination are paramount in responding to security incidents swiftly and decisively. Secure communication networks play a vital role in coordinating responses to crises such as armed attacks or hostage situations, enabling efficient deployment of resources and swift resolution.

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    Drones equipped with advanced cameras and sensors offer up-to-date situational awareness in remote or inaccessible regions. These drones can be deployed for various tasks, including border patrol, criminal activity tracking, and aerial observations in high-risk areas. In combating crimes like kidnapping and robbery, drones provide valuable intelligence to law enforcement agencies, enabling proactive intervention and prevention.

    Engaging the community in crime prevention efforts is crucial for enhancing public safety. Mobile applications that allow citizens to report emergencies or suspicious activities directly to security operatives can significantly improve response times and foster community involvement. These apps, equipped with features like GPS tracking and anonymous reporting will empower citizens to play an active role in preventing crimes and maintaining security in their neighbourhoods.

    Block chain technology offers a tamper-proof and transparent framework for record-keeping, enhancing accountability and trust within the criminal justice system. By maintaining immutable records of arrests, evidence, and court proceedings, block chain mitigates the risk of corruption and ensures the integrity of legal processes. It facilitates seamless collaboration between law enforcement agencies, safeguarding data integrity while upholding the rule of law.

    Without doubt, embracing innovation and leveraging technological advancements, alongside effective governance, consistent capacity building for security personnel, and a commitment to upholding civil liberties, will strengthen the nation’s security infrastructure.

    • Oladipupo Dopamu, Chicago, USA.

  • Keeping terrorists at bay in our schools

    Keeping terrorists at bay in our schools

    • By Kene Obiezu

    Sir: In the week following the release of the hundreds of pupils kidnapped from the LEA Primary School Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, more students have done time in kidnappers’ den. About nine students were kidnapped in Ughelli, Delta State as they returned from their school in Calabar. They were freed after spending some days.

    Three students kidnapped from their hostel in the University of Calabar are still being held. Their families have been asked to pay N14 million as ransom for their release.

    While the crimes were committed in different locales of crime-scarred landscape, the connection is unmistakable and the implication inescapable that Nigerian students have become expensive commodities in an outrageously profitable but rather execrable business.

     Kidnapping for ransom is a terrorist tactic that has proven its ability to serve as a tool of unbearable pressure as well as rake in money.  The ability of non-state actors to snatch people, keep them and use them as bargaining chips to much publicity has often proven paralyzing and demoralizing for governments around the world. Throw in the convoluted dynamics of ransom negotiation and rescue operations, and the nightmare is complete.

    Kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria first came to prominence as a favourite tactic of militant groups in the Niger Delta Area. It was further refined by Boko Haram even if kidnappings orchestrated by the group have been for other reasons too. But it is the bandits waltzing through much of northeast and northwest that have taken the crime to another level. This has taken many years to fine-tune, yet Nigeria has not developed a security architecture that can be precisely deployed to dismantle what is a devastating menace. What does it all mean? Business — a trade in vulnerable Nigerians, presumably by a collection of ragtag criminals conducted like an orchestra by well-heeled sponsors in the cover of high places.

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     The criminals instigating insecurity in the country are determined to shred Nigeria’s shrinking obligations to its citizens and the international community, stir the shreds into a solution of humiliation and force it down the throat of a shamefaced country.

    Can Nigeria, which has greatly struggled to secure communities around the country, offer students who are a community within its beleaguered communities what it has consistently failed up to provide to this point? It will be asking too much.

    The government is failing to reinforce its legitimacy and validity by securing all those who place themselves under its provision and sanctions. The worst kind of failure is that delivered by the stronger party in a social contract. It remains to be seen if Nigeria can recover, or if it is Nigerians who must seek respite elsewhere.

    • Kene Obiezu,

    keneobiezu@gmail.com