Then a nation is insecure or perceived to be so, the effects on the safety of lives and property are incontestable. Also severe are the effects of insecurity on the economy. As people fear for their lives, productivity and production go down. So does foreign investment and the ease of doing business index. Ultimately, the national economy slumps.
It cannot be denied today that Nigeria is generally perceived to be insecure and really is insecure for those who have been exposed to one or the other of the four major manifestations of insecurity in the country. Even those who have not been exposed are in constant fear of imminent exposure. Such a situation could only aggravate an already ailing economy.
The four major manifestations of insecurity in Nigeria today are the nagging Boko Haram insurgency; armed robbery; ritual killings; and kidnapping for ransom. Each of them has led to numerous deaths and continues to be a threat to citizens. One or the other of these plagues gains ascendancy in the news at a given point in time, often depending on the scope of operation or the victims involved.
In the last one or two months, the focus has been on kidnapping, especially in the Southwest. Osun, the “darling” of the press, especially social media, has, once again, been scapegoated as it was on the delayed payment of salaries, even involving not less that 30 states of the federation.
To be sure, Osun lately has experienced some measure of insecurity but never on the scale experienced in other Southwestern states. The few validated cases notwithstanding, Osun still retains its position as the safest state in the Southwest and, indeed, the nation as a whole. Some of the reported cases were exaggerated or manufactured. Yet others were imported from elsewhere and planted in Osun. Where one case occurred, others were tagged onto it.
As if to prove the futility of negative social media fabrications about insecurity in Osun, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board held its policy meeting at the expansive Bola Babalakin Auditorium in Gbongan on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at the height of the social media hype. The event brought together in one place all the Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and Registrars of the nation’s tertiary institutions; various stakeholders; Osun state officials, led by the Deputy Governor, Benedict Gboyega Alabi; and the echelon of print and electronic media.
To be sure, there are several reasons why Osun is not immune to occasional criminality. First and foremost, among Southwestern states, Osun has the longest stretch of the Expressway, beginning from the Oyo border at Asejire to the Ondo borders at Owena through Ilesa and at Ifetedo-Oke-Igbo through Ile-Ife. The thick forest along the roadway between cities provides hideouts for bandits just as the damaged sections of the road engenders reduced speed, thereby exposing vehicular traffic to criminals along the roadway.
The second factor is the rush for Osun mineral resources, especially gold. The crackdown on miners and their associated criminal activities in Zamfara state has pushed them further south to Osun, especially the gold-rich Eastern and Western Senatorial Districts.
The third factor is Osun’s porous border with five other states, namely, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Kwara. These borders are marked by thick forests and hills, which require constant surveillance or patrol to fish out criminals from their hideouts.
Nevertheless, in my recent interaction with state officials, I was assured that whatever loopholes there have been for criminality in the state had been fixed within the past month. The security architecture of the state has been beefed up just as the bandits’ hideouts are being destroyed across the state. Besides, a definite mining policy in the state is underway.
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