The unending insurgency
Today unlike it was last year by this time the crisis of insecurity has certainly surged beyond anyone’s imaginations. Until I got close to the nation’s secret security service through capacity building and workshops at the Institute of State Security, my view of the institution was that it was populated with people who are anything […]
Today unlike it was last year by this time the crisis of insecurity has certainly surged beyond anyone’s imaginations. Until I got close to the nation’s secret security service through capacity building and workshops at the Institute of State Security, my view of the institution was that it was populated with people who are anything but apt and intelligent.
My interaction with some of them at the institute however exposed me to the fact that indeed the service is made up of very brilliant Nigerians who are equally concerned about not just the socio-economic and political issues at stake but importantly the nature, character and context of leadership in the country as central to the realization of effective security administration. I have never been an advocate of recruiting more police and soldiers as a solution to the growing insecurity in the country. I have always advocated for the enhancement of effective social and economic measures to curb the menace of anti social behaviors in our society.
As we stand today in this country, it may look like the crisis called Boko Haram is a specific Northern phenomena and those in the South are either less or completely unbothered about the implications of the unrest. It may also look like the state in Abuja is unwisely isolating the problem as either sectional, sectarian or even a worry of a section of the North Eastern flank of the country.
The problem is far much more than that and in fact my worry is that there does not seem to be anybody in the corridors of power who actually has a reasonable grasp of the magnitude of this social explosion Nigeria is facing. If the government does not make the deliberate move to understand the genesis of the crisis and addressing it faithfully, the whole nation may be embroiled in untold confusion in the not too distant future.
Look at the development of the group called Boko Haram. In fact its members are arguing loudly that the coinage was a negative representation of who they are and what they stand for. From 2009 when the late President Yar’adua ordered the police to shoot them at sight to the summary execution of the group’s leader in cold blood by the overzealous police and the manner of resurgence of insurrection shows that in fact the whole nation is in danger unless the social factors that precipitated the emergence of the group are carefully understood and addressed.
Nigerians need to read the handwriting on the wall with necessary wisdom to understand how despite the aggression by the state coercive apparatuses, the group seem to be enjoying wider support from desperate Nigerian youths and the seeming ‘successes’ they are recording in beating the security apparatuses of the state and inflicting hurt on the people.
I don’t believe that Boko Haram is a political movement or is acting the script of any politician or group of politicians for that matter. It is a product of the structural weaknesses of the Nigerian nation and state. It is a manifestation of the failure of governance especially at the center and can best be addressed through the evolution of dynamic social and economic policies.
The Boko Haram phenomena cannot be resolved through brute military operation or political romanticism which the government in Abuja seems to be adopting. The ‘them them’ theology which is said to be the view of some topnotchers in the corridors of power is a clear misunderstanding of what power is and the dynamics of social crisis in a plural society like Nigeria where majority of the citizens are aggrieved with the system in operation.
Whether anybody likes it or not, Boko Haram is today Nigeria’s most disturbing social phenomena. It is necessary that wisdom prevail and this is only possible if those who take decision on our behalf are humbled by the enormity of this national challenge. The earlier government opens up and begins discussion with the group the better for us all. This grandstanding in fight against terror is misplaced. The Americans will hardly be bothered because what the group does is not detrimental to oil supplies in the Delta region.
I am pleased to note that already the Governor of Borno is in the picture of what needs to be done to engage the minds of the young people. Improving and expanding the educational infrastructure and space as well as opening the employment avenues so that young people can be positively engaged is central.
What the government in Abuja needs to do is not to continue to send armed soldiers who are prepared to kill even the innocent on the streets of Borno and other Northern Nigerian cities. What must be done is to assist the states in facilitating openings to improve life and activity.
In a nation where some states are receiving over N40billion from the federation account on monthly basis and some others are getting only about N2billion, it is not likely that we can have peace in the near future. This imbalance must be addressed immediately even if the whole oil is gotten from such states.
Inequality in income of the constituent units on the basis of derivation is an unfortunate time bomb that needs to be looked at immediately if further crises are to be averted and avoided in Nigeria. I think Nigeria more than ever before needs power devolution. Responsibilities must trickle down while more funds go to the units because the center is diametrically inefficient.