The lesson from Dapchi is political!
Whether the successful kidnapping of over 100 schoolgirls from Dapchi Government Girls Science Technical College Yobe State is a “national disgrace”, or simply a “national tragedy” depends on whether one agrees with international news channel CNN, or the Nigerian government. One thing is for sure, it’s yet another indelible stain in the history of modern […]
Whether the successful kidnapping of over 100 schoolgirls from Dapchi Government Girls Science Technical College Yobe State is a “national disgrace”, or simply a “national tragedy” depends on whether one agrees with international news channel CNN, or the Nigerian government. One thing is for sure, it’s yet another indelible stain in the history of modern Nigeria.
Considering the fate of the Chibok Girls, (still missing after four years), there is little reason to hold out hope for the Dapchi Girls early return. The official response to the outrage is that no one should play politics with such a sensitive matter. Nigerian leaders know all about playing politics with sensitive matters. Nobody does it better than them. Always quick to accept credit when things go well, they reject blame when things go badly.
However, the kidnapping is a political matter because it boils down to the issue of whether or not those in authority have the capacity to keep us safe. The primary purpose of government according to the Constitution is the security and welfare of the people. Since independence, successive Nigeria governments have failed to provide citizens with either.
The Nation Newspaper Editorial of Sunday March 4th 2018 said the Dapchi Girls’ episode can only be “a farce that has portrayed our leadership in lights of imbecile incompetence and naivety”. Harsh words indeed! But the Editorial goes on to justify Government its stance saying that the abduction took place in the “flush of self-congratulations” by spokespersons and Service Chiefs who had declared Boko Haram defeated.
Blame comes with responsibility and in every “abnormal” situation somebody must be held accountable. In decently governed nations, at least one high ranking official will symbolically fall on his sword in order to soothe frayed public nerves when things go wrong. Regrettably this is hardly ever the case in Nigeria where failure is truly an orphan. As the security apparatus proves inadequate and an increasing number of Nigerians are more vulnerable and insecure, there is little likelihood of anyone being held to blame.
The real national tragedy will be if the lessons of Dapchi and Chibok aren’t learnt and the many lapses addressed urgently. Government must improve its communication systems. False claims must be eliminated. Spokespersons for security agencies must cease openly contradicting themselves. Mixed signals and public bickering simply aren’t good enough. The irony is that increasingly the only words that should be believed are those of Boko Haram who continue to successfully carry out their promises of death and destruction! If all the claims by government officials were to be believed, their criminality would have abated long ago.
The Nigerian public are weary of the monotonously regular slaughter and kidnapping of citizens innocently going about their daily lives, and lamentably it’s becoming clearer by the day that there is no end in sight. The latest daylight show of impunity is something which everyone thought could never happen again. It has exploded the myth that Nigerian security agencies are organized effectively. The failure of the army and police to coordinate and exchange information five years after unrest started in the area, can only leave an impression of incompetence.
Even given the vastness and level of underdevelopment of the nation, it beggars belief that so many schoolgirls were kidnapped in virtually the same locality as Chibok and security agencies had no backup plan for hot pursuit. Nigeria is under seize and those in authority appear unwilling to do anything about the pathetic policing system which does the nation no credit whatsoever. There isn’t a single city, town or village which is appropriately policed.
The Nigeria Police Force is undermanned, underfunded, undertrained, underequipped and poorly motivated. It’s abundantly clear that the nation’s vast territory cannot be effectively policed from Abuja. In this day and age of information technology the very act of instructing the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to relocate to an area of crisis, is an admission of a failed system. The time has come to pay attention to the repeated calls for the total overhaul of policing methods, structure and operations.
The reality on ground is that practically every State employs groups such as Road Traffic Managers and Vigilantes who effectively engage in police work. The National Assembly must address issues of police information systems, manpower levels and duty assignments. Criminality and insecurity are spreading because Nigeria is under-policed as regards the recommended ratio between population and number of police officers. To make matters worse, those who are in a position to do something about growing insecurity have simply appropriated the few police to themselves.
The Nigerian pubic is left to the mercy of marauders while “leaders” ensure their personal security with a retinue of armed police escorts! Outrageously most of their activities for which they require security are self-indulgent, irrelevant and frivolous. They busy themselves gathering at social functions, collecting awards, flagging off projects, and generally celebrating emptiness. These days political vanity supersedes considerations of effectiveness or substance. Leaders recently gathered in their finery with so much backslapping and fanfare to “celebrate” the production of the “first (?)” indigenous drone.
Leaving aside the furore over whether or not it was indeed the “first”, the pertinent question to ask is; where were our drones when the mass kidnapping took place? Or are they only meant for photo-ops? Something has gone awry in Nigeria and the problem is with the system not personalities. The increasingly strident calls for replacement of the Service Chiefs and IGP miss the salient aspect of the whole issue. Unless various structural misconfigurations are corrected, security agencies in Nigeria will continue to be constricted in functioning effectively no matter whom is in charge.
The current security architecture does not inspire any hope that suicide bombings, mass kidnappings or general insecurity will end any time soon. Asking Nigerians not to politicise the issue is in effect simply asking them to keep quiet, do nothing about all that is wrong, and wait patiently for the next tragedy.