Featured, Security
Security issue in the last two decades in Nigeria has remained a dilemma. But the recent rescue of the 20 medical students from a university in Benue state by security agencies, the appointment of two new security chiefs and the appointment of the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria may inspire some level of hope that the state of security issues in the country may soon change for the better.
By Goddy Ikeh
IN his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu pledged that security shall be the top priority of his administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence. He also said that the government would reform both the security doctrine and architecture to effectively tackle the security menace.
“We shall invest more in our security personnel and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide, better training, equipment, pay and firepower.
Speaking on some of the sectors that can trigger insecurity such as economy and agriculture, Tinubu said that the government would target a higher GDP growth of 6 per cent and significantly reduce unemployment.
According to him, the federal government would accomplish these targets by embarking on budgetary reform, stimulating the economy without engendering inflation and that the industrial policy will utilize the full range of fiscal measures to promote domestic manufacturing and lessen import dependency. He also promised that electricity will become more accessible and affordable to businesses and homes alike. Power generation should nearly double and transmission and distribution networks improved. We will encourage states to develop local sources as well.
On agriculture, Tinubu promised that rural incomes shall be secured by commodity exchange boards guaranteeing minimal prices for certain crops and animal products. A nationwide programme for storage and other facilities to reduce spoilage and waste will be undertaken.
He added that agricultural hubs will be created throughout the nation to increase production and engage in value-added processing. The livestock sector will be introduced to best modern practices and steps taken to minimize the perennial conflict over land and water resources in this sector. According to him, through these actions, food shall be made more abundant yet less costly. Farmers shall earn more, while the average Nigerian pays less.
But despite these promises, Nigerians are still groaning and lamenting daily over the worsening security challenges and the consequences on the economy and their wellbeing as these promises are far from being achieved.
Unfortunately, the security situation in the country has taken a turn for the worse with reports of daily killings, kidnapping, while in the economy, Nigerians are experiencing high food and products prices and foreign companies are leaving the country in droves and local firms are closing down due to high cost of production and low purchasing power.
The recent poll by the Africa Polling Institute, API, on the first year of the administration of President Tinubu, scored the government low with an overwhelming majority of the citizens (84%) expressing profound sadness with the current state of affairs in the country.
The survey stated that “their voices, filled with dissatisfaction, are a clear call for action, as a significant majority of citizens (81%) feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, identifying Hunger (36%), Inability to meet basic needs (28%), Unemployment (13%), Heightened Insecurity (9%), and Poor Electricity Supply (5%) as the biggest challenges facing them personally today.
“In addition, a staggering 74% of citizens affirmed that their personal economic situation has deteriorated over the last year, compared to 20% who said their personal economic situation had remained the same and a mere 5% who said it had improved.”
The API concluded from the survey fieldwork that “a growing mass of aggrieved and discontented citizens nationwide, especially among the youth. Many are unemployed or underemployed and have become local crusaders and social activists in their communities, waiting for the slightest opportunity to vent their anger against fellow citizens and the Nigerian state.”
The result of the survey was vindicated when on August 1, 2024, Nigerians came out in large numbers to protest against bad governance with the 10-day nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests. Unfortunately, like the survey result warned, the growing mass of aggrieved and discontented citizens nationwide joined forces with many unemployed, underemployed with urban and local crusaders and social activists in the country to demand for an end to bad governance in the country.
Speaking on the security situation in the country, a security consultant, Kabir Adamu, told Arise Television on Monday, August 26, 2024 that about 6000 persons had been killed as a result of insecurity in the last one year while 4000 persons had been abducted.
Addressing the major causes of insecurity, especially kidnapping for ransoms, Adamu blamed the proliferation of small ammunition, which has been aided by the nation’s porous borders. He also said that the conflict between the Hausa farmers and the Fulani herdsmen in the north of the country has been a major cause of concern in northern states.
Adamu also warned that economic and social factors are some of the triggers of insecurity, especially kidnapping and killings in the country.
Meanwhile, some eminent Nigerians have warned that unless the situation is tackled with the urgency it deserves, any plans to fix the nation’s battered economy may not be successful.
For instance, Prof. Udenta O.Udenta, has called on the federal government to fix the nation’s politics if it must solve the economic problems being experienced.
Speaking on the #EndBadGovernance protests, Prof Udenta said: “Until we get the politics right we can never get the economics right. Bola Tinubu’s government has not gotten the politics right so it can NEVER get the economics right.
“I am not an economist and neither am I a policy wonk. But even if I am one, let it be stated clearly that given the way national politics is currently being played no amount of policy prescriptions will solve the current economic and social challenges that the nation faces. The economic foundation or base incarnates the political superstructure in a complex pattern of cause and effect relationship, but again as Marx averred, the history of hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle (over economic determinants), but all class struggles are political struggles.
“Until we get the politics right we can never get the economics right. Bola Tinubu’s government has not gotten the politics right so it can never get the economics right.” he added.
On the non-participation of the five South East states in the protests, Prof. Udenta said: “So the Igbo non-participation in the just concluded protests, in itself a form of protest against the Nigerian state, is a vexatious matter that requires rigorous interrogation and negotiation so that Igbo people can continue to play their very important role in the conversation about the future direction of the country and their place in it.”
In the same vein, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, has lamented the high level of hunger in Nigeria and the alarming rate of corruption in the country. The Bishops stated at their 2nd CBCN Plenary Meeting in Auchi in Edo State that the huge debt burden of Nigeria can be cleared by stolen monies stashed away by politicians in foreign countries.
The President of CBCN, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, in his welcome address, criticized the killings in the recent #EndBadGovernance protest, which he said went violent, contrary to the original plans, but insisted that it was wrong for anybody to prevent Nigerians from protesting in fulfilment of their constitutional right.
He also lamented the recent kidnap in Otukpo, Benue State, of some Catholic medical students, at the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri respectively. But the Inspector General of Police has announced that the medical students had been rescued.
“The socio-economic problems of our nation are unmistakably beyond what economic reforms alone can effectively resolve, no matter how well thought-out and how meticulously implemented.
“When all is said and done, we must admit that the cost of running our military-imposed presidential system of government with so many elected officials assisted by numerous support staff is staggering and unsustainable.
“We must also acknowledge that the corruption level of many Nigerian politicians has gone beyond scale and measure and that controlling our national resources at the federal government level creates more opportunities for corruption to flourish.
”Having experimented with the presidential system of government for over 25 years and having groped in the dark in search of solutions to our socio-economic problems, now seems to be the opportune time to heed the advice of some of our best minds canvassing our return to the former regional system of government, as envisaged by the wise founding fathers of our nation or devolve power to the present six geo-political zones,” local media reports quoted the Archbishop as saying.
The Archbishop also listed the numerous problems bedeviling Nigeria to include public debt stock of $93.7 billion, multiple taxation, hunger and hardship induced by insecurity. He, however, said that proactive steps should be taken urgently to address the situation before it snowballed into a huge crisis.
Perhaps, the recent successes achieved by the security agencies, especially the rescue of the medical students from Benue state, the appointment of two new security chiefs as well as the appointment of the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria may signal a new and positive direction in the security architecture of the country.
A.I
Aug. 27, 2024
Tags: Archbishop Lucius Ugorji CBCN President Bola Tinubu
