In its editorial in December 2020, titled, ‘Nigeria at Risk of Becoming a Failed State’, the newspaper observed that in a country going backwards economically, carjacking, kidnapping and banditry are among Nigeria’s rare growth industries, citing the kidnapping of 340 students in Katsina state and the abduction of six Ukrainian sailors off the Nigerian coast by Nigerian pirates as recent cases.

The newspaper, which defined a failed state as one where the government is no longer in control and that Nigeria “is teetering on the brink”. It questioned the claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that Boko Haram had been technically defeated, adding that contrary to the government’s claim, Boko Haram has remained an ever-present threat.

Looking at other challenges facing Nigeria, the newspaper noted that security is not the only area where “the state is failing”. For instance, the newspaper stated that Nigeria has more poor people than any other country and Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children on earth.  The newspaper advised the Nigerian government to restore trust in key institutions such as the judiciary, the security services and the electoral commission, which will preside over the 2023 elections.

The Financial Times recalled that the #EndSARS protests led by Nigerian youths, signaled a glimmer of hope for Nigeria’s teeming youth population and that

“the broad coalition that found political expression this year in the #EndSARS movement against police brutality provides a shard of optimism”.  It urged theNigerian government to restructure the political system, concentrate on security, health, education, power and roads. And like the Economist warned 26 years ago of the consequences of Nigeria exploding, the Financial Times also warned that if nothing is done soon, “Nigeria will become a problem far too big for the world to ignore”.

The Financial Times editorial was followed by the Christmas massage of the Bishop of Sokoto Disease, Matthew Kukah, entitled “Nation in Search of Vindication”. In his Message, the bishop noted that against the backdrop of our endless woes, ours has become a nation wrapped in desolation. “The prospects of a failed state stare us in the face: endless bloodletting, a collapsing economy, social anomie, domestic and community violence, kidnappings, armed robberies etc.

He, however, warned that the country was drifting almost rudderless. “We seem like people travelling without maps, without destination and with neither Captain nor Crew.

Bishop Kukah’s message which Kukah accused the president of turning nepotism into a state policy and noted that there could have been a coup if a non-northern Muslim president had done a fraction of what Buhari did. He also accused the president of institutionalising northern hegemony by “reducing others in public life to second-class status” and that the North has not been spared by the socio-economic and political woes that have enveloped the nation, as the region has been the worst for it.

The Bishop also decried the handling of the deplorable security situation and economic woes in Nigeria said: “Ours has become a house of horror, with fear stalking our homes, highways, cities, hamlets and entire communities.”

While condemning the continuous assault by Boko Haram, armed bandits and kidnappers of Nigerians, the bishop said: “The challenge now is how to deal with the scars inflicted by a derelict nation, which is still unable or unwilling to protect its citizens.”

On the recent abduction of schoolboys in Katsina state and similar incidents in the recent past, Bishop Kukah said the incidents have exposed the danger children are

exposed to in the northern part of the country.

In concluding the message the Bishop said: “The United Nations has wailed. The Pope has wailed. Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Pastors have wailed. Emirs have wailed. Politicians have wailed. The Sultan has wailed”. Surely, it is time for the Lord to hear the wailer as they have sung their redemption songs. With St. Paul, I say: The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over the day is almost here, so let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Reacting to the Christmas message of Bishop Kukah, the federal government urged religious leaders in the country to refrain from stoking the embers of hatred and disunity, warning that resorting to scorched-earth rhetoric at this time could trigger unintended consequences.

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, said in a statement that “While religious leaders have a responsibility to speak truth to power, such truth must not come wrapped in anger, hatred, disunity and religious disharmony.”

According to the minister, it is particularly graceless and impious for any religious leader to use the period of Christmas, which is a season of peace, to stoke the embers of hatred, sectarian strife and national disunity.

“Calling for a violent overthrow of a democratically-elected government, no matter how disguised such a call is, and casting a particular religion as violent is not what any religious leader should engage in, and certainly not in a season of peace,” the minister said.

The minister noted that whatever challenges Nigeria may be going through at this moment can only be tackled when all leaders and indeed all Nigerians come together, not when some people arrogantly engage in name-calling and finger-pointing.

But another group of eminent Nigerians have said that 51 years after the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War, the country learned little or nothing from the deadly misadventure and could return to the disastrous path.

According to reports by Vanguard newspaper, the eminent Nigerians, drawn from all parts of the country, who shared this view included Elder statesmen Mbazulike Amechi, Ayo Adebanjo and Tanko Yakassai, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Ambassador Godknows Igali, Senator Shehu Sani, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, Onyeka Onwenu, Annkio Briggs, Mrs Charity Shekari, Peter Obi, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Professor Pat Utomi, Uma Elaizu, and Nnamdi Kanu.

Speaking at the four-hour zoom parley themed: ”51 Years After the Nigerian-Biafran Civil War, 2nd Never Again Conference” organised by Nzuko Umunna, an Igbo think tank group in partnership with Ovation International and Njenje Media, the eminent persons agreed on the need to ensure justice, equity, review of the constitution and the elite joining forces to save the country. They also agreed on the history of the war and the need for it to be taught to guide our children.

Delivering the keynote speech, the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic diocese, Matthew Kukah, observed that Nigeria has not recovered from wounds of the civil war 51 years after because the country failed to adopt resolutions that were meant to heal the wounds of citizens.

Kukah said some of those resolutions came from the Human Rights Violations Investigation

Commission popularly known as Oputa panel, which was set up by the former President Olusegun

Obasanjo administration. He also said while the military laid the foundation for Nigerians to begin a

process of rebuilding the nation, “things somehow went wrong” along the line.

According to the report, despite the activities of Boko Haram in the North East, which have left

several persons dead and properties destroyed, President Buhari scored his government high on

security in the zone.

The President, who gave the assessment while receiving the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria

Christian Pilgrims Commission, Rev. Yakubu Pam, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also asked those

criticising his regime, particularly the nation’s elite, to be fair in their assessment.

Buhari’s claim drew the ire of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Second Republic lawmaker,

Junaid Mohammed, who expressed surprise that despite the high level insecurity in the zone,

the President was gloating over protecting Nigerians.

It will be recall that no fewer than 76 farmers were beheaded in their farms on Koshobe village in

Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents at on November 29, 2021. There have also been constant

gunfight between the military and the insurgents which have resulted in the death of soldiers and

civilians.

But the President in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina,

said the security situation in the zone has improved, stressing it was no longer as bad as it was

prior to his assumption of office in 2015.

Although he admitted that there were still what he described as occasional Boko Haram problems,

the President said:  “What was the situation when we came? Try and ask people from Borno or from

Adamawa for that matter and Yobe. What was the condition before we came and what is the

condition now?

Despite the denial of the obvious precarious state of the nation by government officials, the country is daily exhibiting symptoms of a failed state. The government should change its attitude towards genuine and constructive criticisms and embark on

the restructuring of the country’s political system, seek assistance in the

fight against terrorism, invest in health, education, power and roads in order to

attract investors and boost industrial development that will assist in solving youth

unemployment and restiveness. Constructive criticisms, protests and leaders

listening and yielding to the appeals and cries of the citizens are the attractions of

Democracy and it is the way to go.

– Jan. 18, 2021 @ 12:14 GMT |

A.I