Now that we can’t even go to farm

In 2014, prior to the 2015 general elections in the country, 3 in every 5 Nigerians would, when asked, tell you that electing Muhammadu Buhari would bring an end to activities of Boko Haram and other insurgents. The one thing I’m still having within my recollection is how some Nigerians rushed, surmised, held hopes high […]

In 2014, prior to the 2015 general elections in the country, 3 in every 5 Nigerians would, when asked, tell you that electing Muhammadu Buhari would bring an end to activities of Boko Haram and other insurgents.

The one thing I’m still having within my recollection is how some Nigerians rushed, surmised, held hopes high and kept fingers crossed that the coming of Buhari would mark a radical departure from the past practices and experiences of the previous administrations.

Were you to lurk in my neighbourhood in the days preceding the 2015 elections, you’d, if you cared to, make sense of their expectations – how they’d, with consummate ease, take wives, build houses, buy cars and how activities of the insurgents would be decimated.

But even the president now feels out of his element amidst this trying time as Nigerians watch in dismay how the administration is, in many – yes, we can’t say all – aspects, failing to deliver the goods in the country’s security system.

Yes, there have been efforts; there have been results, but there is still the urgent need that government gets back in full, robust swing to the business of protecting the lives and properties of its people.

Security, unlike other needs, is needed not only once or twice a day; it’s needed all the time, and providing it to all and sundry shouldn’t be put on the back burner nor be politicised.

This, perhaps, was the reason why the great American psychologist, Abraham Harold Maslow, put security as one of the fundamental needs of humans.

The killing of 43 rice farmers by Boko Haram insurgents in Koshebe, Zabarmari axis of Jere Local Government Area of Borno State is so terrifying that one will involuntarily be forced to grapple with the fear of staying indoors and going out to soil the hand in search of what to use to keep body and soul together.

A typical Nigerian farmer is thus made to inadvertently vacillate between staying indoors even when his security isn’t guaranteed and wallow, with his families, in hunger because safety nets and relief items aren’t forthcoming from the government.

And amidst all these, the presidential spokesperson, Malam Garba Shehu, the person I wouldn’t say could overstretch the bounds of the truth until now, came out and – I don’t want to use the word – “assail” the (dead) victims, that they had no permission to be on the farms as they hadn’t obtained military clearance to be there.

Mr Shehu was later to frown upon the media for misconstruing his statement. But reading the statement with allegorical mind, one will be safe to have reason to fuss over the statement since obtaining military clearance to be in a place doesn’t, as things stand in the country, guarantee one’s safety from the attack of the insurgents. Whether farmers or not, all Nigerians have the sheer right to be protected and be given adequate security.

The fight against Boko Haram and other insurgencies shouldn’t be left in the solo hands of the state government as it can’t stem the wicked tides of the evil acts alone.

Claim by the factional leader of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, that his group was responsible for the killing of 43 rice farmers in Zabarmari (though there are other conflicting figures) because they (the farmers) gave out intelligence, arrested and handed a Boko Haram member to the Nigerian Army further incites fear that residents may not be relaying helpful security information to the authorities concerned.

With the country’s borders closed and the government’s advocacy for food sufficiency in at least the staple food we consume in the country, farms and farmers must be given adequate security so that they would bear less the brunt of the border closure and the soaring prices of food items.

To achieve its food sufficiency agenda within the identified timeframe, the government must rummage around for better ways to handle the insecurity issue that is ravaging the north and the entire country, sending hundreds of thousands into their graves; rendering many homeless and subjecting thousands into avoidable but forced hardships.

Rilwan Muhammad writes from Jigawa State and can be reached via reedwandk@gmail.