As it has been every successive week in recent months, insecurity was on the front burner last Wednesday at the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Two lawmakers from two different regions raised two separate motions on the state of insecurity in their constituencies.
In the first motion, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi Central) cried out over the activities of bandits in Zamfara State which shares a common boundary with Kebbi State. Na’Allah expressed concern at the rising humanitarian crisis this has created in Bena, Kebbi State.
According to the lawmaker, hundreds of displaced persons from about 17 villages in Zamfara State have moved to Bena, Wasagu and Mage areas which had no arrangements for an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.
The result is that these IDPs have been scattered all over these communities with no clear plan by anyone to cater for their welfare. In the second motion, Senator Tolu Odebiyi (APC, Ogun West), rose to his feet, citing Orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Orders and briefed the chamber on the recent attacks by “suspected herdsmen” on communities in Yewa area of Ogun State.
Odebiyi said that, “many of these attacks were made possible by the near absence of police and other security agencies in the affected communities. Resolutions In view of these motions, our very distinguished parliamentarians resolved to urged the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj-Gen. Mohammed Babagana Munguno (rtd) to, as a matter of urgency, deploy more security personnel to communities affected by the activities of bandits.
They also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development as well as the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) to undertake an ‘on-thespot’ assessment of the affected communities with a view to determining the extent of the problem and providing relief to the affected persons.
There is absolutely nothing new in these motions except that the wind of insecurity which has been sweeping across Nigeria, had just hit some communities that were hitherto, considered safe. Indeed no where is safe again in Nigeria.
Every region, state, district, constituency, local council area and community are either directly or indirectly impacted by the plague. However, those saddled with the responsibility of safeguarding lives and property of citizens and residents are still unsure of what to do to end the spate of banditry and terrorism in the land.
Sadly, even our distinguished senators are playing politics with the matter. Otherwise, why did we still hear some lawmakers using terms such as suspected herders and bandits and warning other colleagues not to call a spade a spade during the debate.
Our parliamentarians also goofed when they directed their resolution at the NSA and charged him to deploy troops. In the first place, the NSA is nothing but a glorified adviser on security matters. Some persons have described him as a general without troops because he actually has neither troops nor the powers to deploy troops.
All powers to deploy troops, reside with the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who may delegate some of his powers to the Service Chiefs whenever he deems it appropriate.
As it stands now, the truth is that those tormenting the nation are tightening the noose on our necks. They are not relenting in their campaign of terror because they know we lack the right leadership at the topmost top to deal with them.
They also know that we have a parliament that is not ready to take decisive actions on critical national issues.
Our lawmakers can continue to pretend that insecurity is not as bad as the wailers on social media paint it. They can continue to blame the media for hyping the activities of the bandits for as long as their mansions in the cities are still safe.
They can afford to continue with their motions without movement and pretend to be serving the people; after all, they still have their police orderlies and other retinue of security aides walking by their sides or riding in their long convoys of exotic cars.
However, they must not forget the Ukwuani proverb which says: Ezhi lifu onye kpe uka, onye kpe etiti di kpe uka wani. Literally translated in English, it means, “when the wild pig finishes devouring the crops of the farmer closest to the forest, the farmer at the middle becomes the next target.”
The bandits may be attacking the poor and vulnerable people in the remote communities today but even the rich, high and the mighty, might not be safe in their mansions in the near future if we don’t all find a lasting solution to the various brands of insecurity starring us in the face now.
We had all better be sincere with ourselves in finding the root cause (s) of insecurity and confront those factors frontally without fear or favour.
The Federal Capital Territory might be considered safe today, but with the bandits and terrorists making more inroads into the neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna and Kogi, no one can tell where they will strike next
