By Burster Iyere – Nigeria is tethering on the verge of a total break-down of law and order occasioned by a cocktail of combustible mix of a brutal insurgency, banditry in the Northeast and Northwest, communal killings in Southern part of Kaduna State, kidnappings on industrial scale, incessant armed robbery, bloody Fulani herdsmen and farmers clashes in the Middle Belt, pockets of separatist challenges in the East and Niger Delta Areas accentuated by worsening economic and social conditions in the Country.
Thrown into this security-challenged environment is an increased inflow of small arms into the Country from neighbouring countries, and Turkish criminal gangs as reported by Colin Freeman of The Telegraph of January 29, 2020.
As a nation, Nigeria has always experienced its own share of insecurity stretching from armed robbery cases, a brutal civil war, communal clashes, militancy and most recently to terrorism and insurgency. But the nation has never had it so bad as it is today. It has become new normal and Nigerians seem to have resigned their fate to the situation.
The Security Agencies including the Army and Police appear to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the security situation in the Country. In apparent recognition of the failure of the use of brutal force to defeat insurgency and terrorism, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, recently solicited for support and cooperation of the Nigerian people to overcome the security challenges. But many Nigerians, including Law Makers, have accused the various Chiefs of Armed Forces of incompetence and asked the President to replace them.
The Nigeria Army have been battling the Insurgency and Terrorism in the Northeast of Nigeria for past 10 years and though the current Administration has been able to roll back the blitzkrieg of Boko Haram which under the previous administration seemed unstoppable, the terrorist group is still very much able to carry out devastating attacks.
Incessant interventions in the political arena have taken its toll on professionalism in the Army. Ill-equipped, overstretched, poorly trained to fight insurgency and terrorism, corruption ridden, and with poor welfare, the Military have become a weakened Force, unable to cope with the mission assigned to it. Billions of naira released for equipment procurement and training have gone into private hands. The Army have also been accused of taking sides in the conflict. T.Y Danjuma, a retired Army General and a prominent participant in the counter coup of 1966 and the overthrow of the Military Administration of General Gowon, accused the Army of aiding and providing cover-up for bandits spilling blood across Nigeria and therefore called on Nigeria to defend themselves.
The conflict between heavily armed Fulani herdsmen and subsistent Farmers has gained added impetus and is spiralling out of control as deadly daily clashes are reported in the Middle Belt even in the Southern part of Nigeria. There is a palpable fear that this conflict is likely to assume a wider dimension as Fulani herdsmen have threatened to enlist the support of Fulani across the West Africa sub region in the conflict. Ethno-religious conflict in Southern Kaduna is nothing new. What is new is the level of blood-letting and complicity of the political and military class.
Communal conflict arising principally over grazing and farming lands has provided oxygen for the conflict. Southern Kaduna has come to represent an epicentre of the conflict even as it has taken on religious and ethnic connotations.
Added to the insecurity mix is the worrying level of kidnapping. Neither at home, places of work or travelling are Nigerians safe in the hands of kidnappers anymore no matter their status. Kidnapping, especially of foreigners, first came to prominence when it was used as a tactic by Niger-Delta Militants to draw international attention to the environmental degradation and lack of development in the region.
Environmental degradation in Niger Delta
But kidnapping has become a big enterprise and a ready source of making easy money. From high profile personalities such as former Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria, Olu Falae, to Seminary students, one of whom was killed despite the payment of a ransom, no one is immune from kidnapping.
The fear of kidnapping and insecurity is generally preventing many Nigerians who are residents overseas from visiting home. In the not too distant past, which in the light of the severe insecurity problems plaguing Nigeria now seems time immemorial, it was always a thing of joy and excitement for Nigerians living overseas to visit home. Such visits afforded them the opportunity to meet loved ones they had sorely missed, interact with old friends and whet their appetite with local dishes specially cooked by family members. The family members, on the other hand, expectantly awaited the arrival of their sons or daughters they had not seen for so many years. No expense was spared; in fact, money was not an object, to make them comfortable during their visit without expecting anything in return.
A group of Kidnappers arrested by Police.
The atmosphere of insecurity has provided cover for armed robbers to become more daring in their operations. Bullion vans and banking halls are easily attacked at a place and time of their choosing. Cultists are on the prowl in daylight seeking out their rivals to attack and kill while street urchins make lives uncomfortable if not dangerous for people going out for their daily choirs.
Foreign investors have become weary in investing in the Nigerian economy because of the worsening security situation in the country, and in fact some are pulling out of the Country. And there is no end in sight in the foreseeable future.
As the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti who campaigned for social justice and railed against brutality by the Army and Police through his music once said in one of his songs, tears, sorrow and blood has become a regular trademark of insecurity in the Nigerian landscape.
Until the Nigerian government recognises that the primary responsibility of every government (whether democratic, authoritarian or dictatorial) is to protect lives and property; provide proper training, equipment, meeting the welfare of the security agencies, ameliorate the deteriorating economic and social situation in Nigeria, the on-going security challenges are bound to remain with us for a very long them. And tears, sorrow, blood and deaths will continue to be a regular trademark.
Burster Iyere is an alumnus of the University of Benin and The University of East London
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