Protests in any form especially in a society where hunger stares at everyone are always not peaceful. That was why despite the promised peaceful protests that started last week, massive destruction of critical assets were recorded in many places thereby serving as a setback for the country. In this piece, SUNNY IDACHABA writes on why this threatens national security.
When the Commandant of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Osun state, Dr. Michael Adaralewa, warned days before the commencement of the nationwide protest against destroying critical national assets, he was obviously right.
This is because a few days into the on-going EndBadgovernance protest, the level of destruction brought upon public facilities and institutions especially in the north has been massive.
This was why the NSCDC boss in Osun enjoined the protesters, especially the youths, to be law-abiding and refrain from vandalising critical national assets in their domains.
He was of the opinion that the protection of national assets is the core mandate of the Corps and to that extent personnel of the Corps, he noted, were being deployed to protect critical infrastructure which, according to him, are the means of economic survival of the country.
He noted that all acts of vandalism by miscreants, who planned to capitalise on the peaceful protest to destroy critical national assets, would be resisted.
“It is our collective responsibility to protect critical infrastructure in our domains. We must not allow hoodlums to destroy our collective wealth all in the name of protest.
“I appeal to protesters to express their grievances through lawful and peaceful means and to avoid engaging in any activities that can compromise national security and public safety,” he said.
Defiance to the appeal
Despite this appeal by NSCDC and other security agents, looters took advantage of the protest to wreak havoc on many critical assets across the country, especially in the northern part of Nigeria.
In Kano state, for instance, protesters carted away records and other essential documents kept as exhibits in the State High Court located at the Audu Bako State Secretariat where they stole an unspecified amount of money and guns seized from kidnappers kept as exhibits for some cases yet undecided. Also, several vehicles were destroyed and case files plus undisclosed amounts of money were equally stolen.
This was also as the protesters touched the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) Digital Park located close to the secretariat in which equipment worth billions of Naira were looted and some destroyed. Not only that; traffic lights and road slabs were massively destroyed by the rampaging protesters.
Destruction as setback
In reaction, the minister of communications and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, confirmed the destruction saying the digital park was meant to be commissioned this week before it was destroyed.
He described the destruction as a slight setback for the country’s digital economy ambitions and youth job creation efforts, especially in the north, just as he lamented that millions of Naira meant for the Nigerian government have gone down the drain.
“It is sad to learn that our Digital Innovation Park in Kano slated for launch next week to support our technical talent accelerator (3MTT) has been set ablaze and looted by protesters. This is an assault on the economy of the country,” he said.
According to him, it was intended to support the Technical Talent Accelerator programme and host the Buildathon Holiday Maker programme for secondary school students, an initiative that is a vital component of the Renewed Hope agenda of the administration.
Yobe case
Also, in Yobe state, the angry protesters set several vehicles belonging to the state’s mass transit scheme on fire in Potiskum local government area of the state.
The police spokesman in the state, DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed that there were reports of arson in Potiskum where two cars and a house were burnt while a few other public and private structures were touched by the protesters.
Illiteracy/vandalism, any link?
Blueprint Weekend investigation reveals that the bulk of damage done to critical assets in this protest happened mostly in the northern region that is noted to have the largest population of out-of-school children. This is accentuated by the surging youth unemployment figure from that region.
In the views of a school principal, Usman Bala, the North has the highest population of unemployed youths who have been waiting for the slightest opportunity to vent their anger over the failures of their leaders to address their problems.
“They are simply angry because for a long, they feel used and dumped by politicians with fake promises. You can imagine that in Jigawa state, an APC lawmaker who was even courageous to come out was attacked and would have lost his life if not for his security. The level of illiterate youths is embarrassing to the region. What these youths see is the ‘I don’t care’ attitude of their leaders with their body language suggesting that the poor should remain poor forever. That is usually why whenever protests begin in the north, it is always lethal as they want to vent their anger on anything they can lay their hands on,” he said.
Vandals arrested in FCT
Meanwhile, as the protest progresses in Abuja, 12 people suspected to be vandals have been caught in different parts of the city of Abuja by operatives of NSCDC FCT Command otherwise some critical assets would have been touched in the territory.
According to a statement by the Command, three of the suspects were caught attempting to vandalise infrastructure at the Moshood Abiola Stadium after climbing the fence. Four other suspects, the statement noted, were arrested while trying to vandalise streetlights.
Another one was a scavenger apprehended on the newly-commissioned Wuye Bridge at the wee hours of the day without any valid explanation about what he was doing there at that hour, but after interrogation, it was discovered that he wanted to vandalise parts of the bridge.
According to the FCT Commandant, Dr. Olusola Odumosu, “Vandalism is a threat to our socio-economic well-being. It causes retrogression in society and we would do all within our powers as an agency to ensure that any act inimical to our collective growth and development is nipped in the bud.”
According to him, destroying public property does more harm than good to the public; therefore, warns all mischief-makers to steer clear of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI), stating that anyone found culpable would not be spared the full weight of the law.
Law on vandalism
According to a senior officer and former spokesperson of NSCDC who preferred anonymity for obvious reasons, any attack on national assets is an attack on national security.
“If you look at the legal instrument that backs the formation of NSCDC, it’s clear that critical assets are part of national monuments that cannot be allowed to be destroyed by anyone under any guise. Those assets represent the image of the country. Considering the resources deployed to build them, an attack on them is seen as an attack on the nation. The law is very clear in this and I advise anyone who is not aware to read the act again. That is why I pity anyone caught vandalising national assets. It’s inimical to progress and viewed as economic sabotage.”
Value for education
In his reaction, Lasisi Olagunju, a public discourse analyst, said what is happening, especially in the North, with regards to massive destruction of public facilities is a product of ignorance about the value of education. He said that is why they are simply angry at anything that reminds them about education and they touch anything they can lay their hands on. For him, it’s like one sitting on a keg of gunpowder ready to explode when triggered by any force.
Olagunju said, “They did what locusts do to farms. They ate road slabs, pilfered roofs and stole ceiling boards. They attacked and looted at least one mosque and at least one church. They hammered concrete slabs and squeezed out of them iron rods for sale. Well-paved roads suffered their anger because the beauty of the asphalt offended them. In a library, they stole dustbins and spared books.
“For them, trash is valuable, but books are worthless. They attacked public and private buildings, looted doors, wrenched windows off their hinges and stole installed tiles. They are the perfect proof of what the un-built child will ultimately do to the well built structures.”
He said no educated individual would descend so low to destroy assets meant to upgrade knowledge, but to an uneducated, it means nothing.
Good enough the protest is gradually winding down, but it is a lesson for leaders to realise that for every action, either good or bad, there are reactions. As the governor of Nasarawa state, Abdullahi Sule, noted on a live television broadcast a few days ago, this is a challenge for leaders, especially those from the North.
