From Insurgency To Banditry: Any Hope For Nigeria And Nigerians? -By Emmanuel Omeiza Momoh

Peace and safety have constantly been identified as one of the many catalysts that speed up a country’s rate of economic development.

Abraham Maslow couldn’t have been overly apt when he listed safety as one of the cores of human needs in his 1954 publication entitled “Motivation and Personality”. Thus, we can say what Maslow proposed is also applicable in society at large and thus, not only limited to an organization.

Many countries in a bid to achieving this spend a quantum amount of both human and financial resources to make this a reality. This is largely due to the fact that the onus is legally binding on the government as an instrumentality and machinery of the state to defend its territory, protect it maximally from external aggressors, and maintain internal safety for its citizens.

This on its own, is within the purview of democratic principles and the rule of law as opined by Abraham Lincoln and Professor A.V. Dicey respectively.

Apparently considering the above principle, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari had in the previous week expressed his apologies to the people within his territory for falling to protect them from criminals christened bandits.

Nigeria in the last decades has been subjected to a plethora of security challenges ranging from the maitatsine crisis which metamorphosed into the present Boko Haram insurgency to the Jos Crisis, the Fulani armed militia and more recently banditry which has pervaded almost all North-Western States especially Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, etc.

In separate views and opinions all geared towards raising the consciousness and attention of the government to the pervading circumstances and challenges in the nation’s security architecture, the Northern Elders Forum, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the middle belt forum had all through the week before sounded different notes to alert the nation on the situation which though seemingly little is turning into a war.

The Presidency had in its usual practice of shying away from absolute truth was quick to counteract the opinion of the various organizations by noting that the nation’s security challenges weren’t gigantic as speculated in several quarters. This was made known through the Presidential Aide on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

In his words, Adesina noted that the government was working at improving the security situation of the country and it was untruthful for anyone to say nothing was done to salvage the situation.

However, the current reality of things proves the above statement and assertion wrong. This is because of several states record attacks from both bandits and insurgents. These attacks cannot be referred to as bloodless or free from casualties as several souls in their hundreds are given as a prey to death and thus sent to their untimely graves.

One cannot but imagine and feel the anguish, pains, troubles and disappointments of helpless and innocent citizens who flee from their homes especially in the night in a bid to find cover and refuge.

The nation’s statehood is constantly been threatened by faceless individuals who go on a rampage for an unknown cause and celebrate their victories while Nigeria’s sacred streets are flooded and desecrated with blood from “martyrs” who have died and are still dying for the country.

It is as though pressmen and media organizations are always in a hurry to release gory pictures and reports of attacks by these heinous and odious individuals to the glare of the public.

The statistics of death is rapidly increasing. What we could see as the resultant effect is the digging of mass graves, performance of mass burials.

Would we then assume that the opinion of Benjamin Odiase which he expressed and infused into the first stanza of the national anthem which reads thus: “one nation bound in freedom, peace, and unity” is null and a more of theory than practical?

The 1986 winner of the Nobel laureate in literature, Professor Wole Soyinka, couldn’t have spoken anything further from the truth when he opined that the unreasonable culture of impunity is thriving and flourishing in Nigeria’s garden.

The ludicrous nature of these criminals parading themselves under several guises coupled with their modus operandi makes one believe that our security establishments aren’t fit in any way to maintain internal security let alone defending the country from attacks.

The uncontrolled insolence and effrontery of these faceless groups resulting in the unimaginable killing and raping is what has plunged the nation into this mess.

Is it not, therefore, bewildering from all angles for people who aren’t skilled in war and military expertise to show themselves strong and mighty while our security agencies christened under different names keep parading themselves in our communities as though their parades have a lot to do with the country fighting the war of insecurity characterized by insurgency and banditry successfully and victoriously?

Nigeria and Nigerians like captives are held to ransom while we engage in meaningless negotiations and signing of a peace deal with agents and enemies of progress who aren’t meant to see the light of the day and who are worthy of death.

Rehabilitation is done to unscrupulous elements who do not deserve the prerogative of mercy and who have ripped families apart; turning women to daylight widows and children to lifetime orphans.

Our country has been taped a red zone among her counterparts around the globe. Several countries due to the genuine love they have for their citizens prevent them from traveling to our country under any circumstance.

Our citizens too cannot live as expatriates in another man’s land. Do we blame these countries when literary writers note that damage to one is damage to all? A single bad egg in the crate is of grave danger to other eggs too.

Nigeria has no doubt missed it at one point or the other. Our walls have given way making “lizards” of varying degrees and sizes to penetrate inside without unrestricted access by anyone.

We have traveled the road of destruction for long. Sin is without ado in our camp of which the delay in fishing out the sinner/culprit could plunge the nation into a further mess and set the prelude for another civil war.

Momoh, Emmanuel Omeiza is a media professional and can be reached via email: momohomeiza8@gmail.com