New Telegraph

Random musings: Insecurity and 2023

In just over 14 months’ time, millions of Nigerians will be heading to the polls to perform their civic duty in possibly one of the most important elections of this generation. A lot will be riding on the February 2023 poll which will be the seventh in the series of the quadrennial routines which we have been carrying out non-stop since 1999 with the advent of the Fourth Republic, making it the longest stretch of unbroken democracy since we gained independence in 1960. Sadly for millions, the return to the rule of the people for the people has brought very scant benefits as all the indices show.

Rather than seeing their lives improve it has been a reversal on multiple fronts. Is it security? According to a report published by a national newspaper last weekend, 404 Nigerians were killed and 363 kidnapped in the month of November alone. The security incident report prepared by Beacon Consulting Nigeria disclosed that155 local government areas in 28 states of the federation were affected during this period. The report said: “We recorded a diverse range of security incidents and a total of 404 fatalities in 28 states across 115 LGAs.”

A breakdown of the incidents, according to the report, shows that 26 per cent affected the North-West geopolitical region, 20 per cent North Central, 17% South West, 14 per cent each in South- South and South-East and 10 per cent in North-East.

“These represented a 41 percent reduction in fatalities and a 38 per cent increase in abduction,” it said. The report said the thematic indications of the incidents that resulted in the fatalities included mostly armed attacks and a continuation of the trend of several non-state actors successfully challenging the state’s monopoly of the use of force.

“The threat factors and the evolving trends in Beacon Intel’s monthly report represent different levels of risks to individuals and corporate organisations as determined by their vulnerabilities – a function of their profiles, exposure and mitigation measures.’’ This was just over a 30-day period, the total number of those killed since the beginning of the year will run into the thousands! Let’s look at a few examples, in Sokoto State last Tuesday; bandits/terrorists callously set a passenger bus ablaze, killing over 40 people, including a pregnant woman, in the process. Seven of the passengers escaped with sustained grievous injuries.

Earlier in October, the same bandits stormed the Goronyo market in Sokoto, killing 43 people on a Sunday morning. Last Wednesday, in Ba’are, Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State, 16 worshippers were killed and 12 others injured by suspected armed bandits. Official figures claimed nine died. In the first six weeks of 2021, according to the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa programme, 1, 525 persons were killed in various parts of the country and this is in a nation supposedly not at war were such large numbers of deaths are a given.

The frequency with which these dastardly acts are being carried out across the land shows that whatever security measures the government is trying to adopt are clearly not working. Early this year after much pressure, President Muhammadu Buhari finally changed the heads of the nation’s security outfits – the army, air force and navy, including the Chief of Defence Staff – and yet the bloodletting, abductions and other vices have continued unabated. Although the government is reluctant to admit it, but it is clear that the security personnel are overwhelmed by the many security challenges they are confronting on a daily basis.

The Nigerian Army, hitherto confined to their barracks and only seen on special occasions like the nation’s Independence celebration, has now become common features in our daily lives as they take up more of the functions previously under the purview of the police. But even their presence has not been able to turn the tide against non-state actors who continue to dare constituted authority. Sadly amidst all this, rather than rally the people to find a solution to the problem which is no respecter of party affiliation, our politicians are busy throwing brickbats at each other.

Speaking at an event organised by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa in Abuja on Tuesday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said President Buhari has done his best and Nigerians are not expecting anything more from him, they are “whipping a dead horse”. The former president said Nigerians should be concerned about making the country a better place after Buhari’s tenure. “President Buhari has done his best,” he said. “That is what he can do. If we are expecting anything more than what he has done or what he is doing, that means we’re whipping a dead horse and there is no need.

“Then, where do we go from here? We cannot fold our hands. I believe that is part of what we’re doing here and what we continue to be doing. How do we prepare for post-Buhari? Buhari has done his best. My prayer is that God will spare his life to see his term through.

“What should we do to make post-Buhari better than what we have now? That is our responsibility now, because it concerns all of us.” Predictably, a response came barely 24 hours later with Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, arguing that Buhari continues to do more in addition to what he has done, under very difficult economic and social conditions, to tackle insecurity in the country.

He said: “Yes, banditry and kidnapping have added to the state of insecurity, President Buhari has also continued to provide quality leadership in order to ensure that our security agencies decisively tackle the cankerworm of insecurity of any hue. “No administration in Nigeria’s recent history has provided the security agencies with the hardware needed to tackle insecurity as that of President Buhari, in addition to raising the morale of our security men and women. ‘‘Only last week, Mr. President commissioned an armada of naval boats and ships in the latest effort to enhance our nation’s maritime security.

The army, the air force, and the police, among others, have also been receiving modern hardware to strengthen their arsenal.” Unfortunately, these words are very scant consolation for the millions of Nigerians that have been directly or indirectly affected by the antics of these non-state actors. The simple truth is that what millions of Nigerians want is to live in peace and not be afraid of being killed or kidnapped within the blink of an eye. However, for this to happen, it behoves on us to ensure that we properly scrutinise those gunning for office in 2023 and make sure that it’s only the best that enjoy our votes.

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