It is difficult to accurately describe the present state of insecurity in Nigeria. What is happening now is like a horror story set in medieval era. On daily basis we are inundated with horrifying and mind-boggling tales of savagery orchestrated by terrorists nationwide. A few individuals emboldened by barbaric and primordial beliefs have declared war on the greater majority. From all fronts, the citizens are buffeted and attacked.
From state to state, it is the same gory tale, in the streets, in the farm and on our highways. There are mindless killings and carnage on egregious scale. Over 50,000 Nigerians have died in the hands of Boko Haram, dare-devil bandits, and herdsmen in the past five years. Prior to this period, what we know of insurgency was mainly limited to the north-eastern part of the country.
But today, the battle has metastasized to every part of the country. Now we have Boko Haram, ISWAP, ISIS, bandits and herdsmen terrorising Nigeria. Regrettably, there seems to be no respite in sight if the conflicting signals from the official quarters are anything to go by. The officials seem to be lethargic about the state of insecurity in the land. The service chiefs are apparently not on top of the situation. The National Security Adviser is trading blames with Chief of Staff to the president and the president’s position is questionably indecisive.
The National Assembly appears to be doing nothing to compel the executive to provide the needed security to the people. The once vociferous civil society groups appear uncharacteristically helpless and taciturn while the dispirited masses appear hapless and hopeless. Only the Church is seemingly active praying, making some feeble protests here and there.
The leadership of Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body of the murderous herdsmen is talking tough and there is no arrest and no official reprimand from the government. It is said that they have unfettered access to every police command and military formations but the governors who are said to be the Chief Security Officers of their states have no such privileges. Herdsmen are classified as one of the most deadly terrorist group in the world by World Terrorist Index yet in Nigeria, the officials said they are not and should be accommodated in all the states of the federation. In 2019, a whooping N100billion taxpayers’ money was said to be paid by the government to bandits to stop the killings.
During the campaign prelude to his election in 2015, the president had promised, among other things, to provide security and to crush Boko Haram insurgency in three months upon assumption of office and in December, 2015 after about six months in office, the president announced to the whole nation that Boko Haram had been defeated and that they were only looking for soft targets. And, in December, 2016, the government declared again that Boko Haram had been defeated, brandishing their flag and other insignia as evidence of that claim.
By April, 2017, they again negotiated with the defeated Boko Haram for the release of about 82 kidnapped Chibok girls. In February 2018, Boko Haram struck and kidnapped about 110 school girls in Dapchi following military withdrawal from a checkpoint and ever since, there have been unrestrained attacks and kidnapping by the insurgents.
A glimpse at Boko Haram timeline indicates that they have done more attacks and more killings in the last five years than before. And the government has been negotiating and indirectly funding Boko Haram by paying their ransom demands. What could be garnered from all of these is that the war against Boko Haram has not been won contrary to claims from official quarters and may never be won given the questionable lacklustre approach of the government. Boko Haram seems more emboldened to fight despite the spurious claim of its defeat by the government.
Undoubtedly, what is more worrisome in the whole debacle is the apparent official helplessness. Nigeria’s security architecture seems to have collapsed as the war pervades. Under Buhari, Nigerians are watching helplessly as the country is gradually macerated into a state of anarchy and instability. Those displaced by the terrorists live under sub-human conditions in camps while the aggressors are treated as heroes. The nagging question is why the administration would want to pamper Boko Haram insurgents whom the president described in his inaugural speech in 2015 as: “a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam?”
Admittedly, there is global insecurity as the excuse-makers have pointed out, but not on the scale witnessed in Nigeria currently where the citizens live like hostages. We can distinguish between security challenges perpetrated by social deviants and criminals and that occasioned by culpable, tacit or covert official negligence and complicity.
We know those who brought this sorry state of affairs on us; some have repented and apologised. That Nigeria is in a state of war is no longer in doubt. There is therefore urgent need to close ranks. We cannot tackle this by wishful thinking or reliance on “compromised” state security that has failed us thus far. We need vigilance, cooperation, collaboration and affirmative action. I believe that this is the beginning of the end of evil plaguing the nation. Those who orchestrated this state of affairs should remember as Marxists put it that: every thesis has its anti-thesis. The same fire they have stoked may ultimately consume them.
Irogboli is an economist, a consultant and public policy analyst.
