Dear Emir, Prayers Do Not Solve Security Problems -By ‘Tope Oriola

Most traditional rulers, by inclination and social positionality, are naturally conservative people. They owe their positions to the status quo and rarely ruffle feathers. It is a survival imperative. They take a risk every time they make public comments, as their words are dissected for political sentiments, partisan loyalty and (shifting) allegiances. Therefore, I read with keen interest a story on the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumin Kabir. Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home State, had been dealing with embarrassing levels of banditry, cattle rustling and miscellaneous criminality. The Emir seemed deeply touched and sincerely concerned about crime in his domain: “The bandits have killed my people and kidnapped women and children.” I wish that His Royal Highness stopped at that point. He issued something akin to an executive order: “As from today, all citizens of Katsina Emirate should embark on special prayers against the activities of bandits and cattle rustlers…We all must pray. Our special prayers will surely assist the security agents in their operations against the bandits”. Besides the obvious fact that the “order” has no legal backing, the Emir has no mechanism for implementing it and the order is in fact not implementable, it also completely misses the point. I am sorry, your royal highness, prayers do not solve security problems.

I am not opposed to prayers. Like most people, I have reached critical junctures in life at which I had no recourse than to go on my knees and pray fervently. However, I do not know of any modern state that successfully dealt with insecurity by asking people to pray. Humans have developed capacities to tackle many problems. Insecurity is within our domain of solvability. Insecurity in Katsina and the whole of Nigeria is a routine manifestation of the kind of society we have built. It is not an otherworldly problem; it is a problem immanent in social organisation. Consequently, we cannot outsource to God the consequences of basic incompetence, mental laziness and the lack of vision.

Our American friends have largely used the same mechanism to seek to tackle gun violence, a stupefying matter given the pragmatism of the United States. “Thoughts and prayers” are offered after each mass shooting, which currently happens every two weeks. The problem has proven stubborn and impermeable to prayers.

Nigeria’s elite seem jolted by a growing assemblage of kidnappings and assassinations. The unfortunate death of Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Rueben Fasoranti, was the wakeup call for political leaders in the South-West. The killers could not have targeted a more socially valuable avatar: The daughter of the leader of Afenifere, killed in Yorubaland. Suspected herdsmen executed Ms. Olakunrin at a time when she ought to begin to enjoy the fruits of her labour. South-West leaders are in the process of putting a taskforce to assist the police along major highways in the region into operation.

The anguish of a mother crying on the shoulders of her daughter and the agony of a young woman newly released from the kidnappers’ den are on display in a video on one of the three students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) kidnapped along the Abuja-Kaduna road. The young woman also cries on her mother’s shoulders as she sits in the living room. Her mother puts her left fist near her mouth, shakes her head repeatedly as if wondering how on earth she was unable to protect her beloved child. Another young woman sits across them in the living with a stern look, seemingly upset by the absurdity of the kidnap episode. She seems extremely angry and does not make any effort to hide it. The young ABU student in the video joins the growing ranks of newly minted kidnap survivors in Nigeria.

The Nigerian state did not rescue the victims. The Nigeria police suffered humiliation as it became clear that they played no role in the release of the victims, despite previous claims. Therefore, we must not lose track of the fact that the three ABU students are among the privileged ones who survived. The three families paid about five million naira to secure the release of the young women. What would have happened to the young women if their families had no millions in their accounts? Besides, the young women are from an endangered demographic: Young educated women in a region where the age of females at first marriage is under 16 years, according to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (15.9 years in the North-East and 15.7 years in the North-West).

Anyone who is surprised about kidnapping, banditry and cattle rustling in the North is probably engaged in self-deception or has never been to the North. It is similar to someone who expresses surprise about mugging or area-boyism in Lagos. The clouds began to gather a long time ago. The real shock is that it took so long for these problems to manifest with such virulence. I visited Maiduguri on two occasions in July. My research-related trips convinced me that we have given the security agencies, especially the military, an impossible job. These are problems about leadership at all levels, the economy and welfare of the people. Potential recruits into criminal groups are being produced on a daily basis.

For instance, a 20-year old man with no education or skill participated in one of the mass weddings a governor in his wisdom thought was a solution to his State’s problems. That was the young man’s second wife. Helping an uneducated, non-skilled, unemployed and unemployable 20-year old marry a second wife is a crime against humanity. Such persons and their progeny populate the ranks of Boko Haram and other criminal gangs. I get that such actions help you secure his vote but you have destroyed him and his unborn children and you know it.

Your Royal Highness, kindly ask General Yakubu Gowon about the outcome of his prayer excursions across Nigeria. In reality, countries that have tackled major social problems like insecurity, unemployment, high cost of living, illiteracy, child marriage, diseases, among others have had to work hard. They introduced mass literacy (education for all, rather than government-sponsored overseas scholarships for children of the privileged few), and instituted functional police services with trained personnel, hired on the basis of competence. Such countries also established social welfare programmes based on needs, finance regimen for small businesses and mechanisms to prevent and punish corruption. They did all these by ensuring that qualified individuals, regardless of their backgrounds or godfathers, occupied positions of authority.

My first visit to Maiduguri puts the above in context. We landed at the Maiduguri International Airport waiting for our luggage. Somebody should remove the term “international” from the airport’s name until further notice. There was no functional arrival lounge. We stood under a shed-like contraption. There was no carousel to deliver luggage — they were dropped somewhere nearby and everyone, including aides of a serving senator, rushed to grab their luggage. It was surreal. There was a group of five or six privileged Northern young persons beside me, who were visiting from overseas. They were roughly between 15 and 20 years. One of them wondered, “Is this the airport?” Another said he had seen train stations that were better than the airport. A third person among them was shocked that anyone would liken the Maiduguri airport “arrival lounge” to a train station. She said most bus stations she had ever seen were better. I was intrigued by their conversation and impressed by what seemed like social awareness. My research team member, who was from Borno State, was unimpressed. He said, “Don’t mind them. They are being trained overseas with the money meant for social facilities. They will come back after their studies and take up plum positions in government and will stop criticising what they are seeing now.” The children we refused to train are the ones kidnapping and killing the ones we trained. Insecurity in Nigeria has the potential to consume everyone, regardless of region and class.

Follow Oriola on Twitter: @topeoriola.