The world is talking about the civil war in Syria and the sectarian pogrom in Yemen while not much attention is given to the killings going on in Nigeria. The jingoistic zeal of the perpetrators of these killings made our security apparatus look like a neophyte in the battle of generalissimos.
The killings and attacks being carried out on daily basis in Nigeria are on par with those of Syria and Yemen even though no war is going on in Nigeria. We have a government that prefers talking rather than acting. Boko Haram is still very much active, herdsmen are ravaging the land and bandits are killing with aplomb.
No aorta of political will to truly address the root causes of these attacks and killings. The killing in Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State over the weekend was shameful. The governments at all level have done the usual lip service, condemn the attack and express condolence. Just like the herdsmen, the bandits are ghosts. The security apparatus will neither investigate nor arrest any of the perpetrators.
The only thing our police are good for this day is to confirm the number of the dead in the various attacks and killings going on around the country. The police confirmed that 45 people were killed in the attack by bandits on Birnin-Gwari. The same police were hapless in carrying out its constitution of duty of securing people’s lives and property.
The Army, the police and other security agencies have failed us. Why the President has refused to take action to restructure the leadership and operation modalities of the security is contrary to common sense. The biggest inadequacy of the present administration is in the area of security. While it must be commended for decimating Boko Haram to some extent, it’s handling of the herdsmen’s nefarious activities and other communal clashes have been a dismal failure.
How on earth can a country not be a war and yet be experiencing so much killing? The security situation is so bad that vigilante groups are everywhere. The emergence of vigilante groups portends great danger for the country. Nigeria is sitting on kegs of explosives with the way things are going.
Politics is being played with the lives of the citizenry. Favoritism and nepotism are being elevated and celebrated to the detriment of pragmaticism. Suddenly, religion and ethnicity are the major ingredients for appointment, applause or condemnation. Those in government and those out of government are distorting the truth for selfish ends while things are falling apart. Everyone is crying wolf in an orgy of political brinksmanship.
With electioneering activities for 2019 gathering pace, the ante of shenanigan will be upped with unscrupulous elements desperate for power at all cost unleashing mayhem and fear with media propaganda and fake news. The truth will be turned on its head and it will be confusion galore, except the government put its acts together. Nigerians are traumatized. El Dorado is now farther than we had earlier anticipated. Our hopes are dashed.
The onus rest on the President to do something urgently to stem the spate of killings going on across the country. The people are fast losing faith in the security system in the country. No nation can truly develop or enjoys prosperity without a sound security in place. The economic gains will be confined to the dustbin of forgetfulness if these attacks and killings continue.
It wouldn’t be out of place to ask the President to make changes to the leadership of the security agencies and their modus operandi. We need to other have headlines other than the stories of deaths and killings. The incidences that characterized happenings in Syria and Yemen ought not to resonate in Nigeria.
