When a man is carrying a heavy load, it’s referred to as carrying a baggage, the shell of a snail or the baggage carried by a donkey. It is a known fact that baggage’s could either contain good, bad or evil products. Carrying a baggage could be self determined.
Also a man can decide not to carry a baggage depending on the content if it is beneficial or not. History has it that Nigeria, like a traveling man, had been traveling with a very big baggage which were open only to discover that the content were surprises upon surprises. Infact, since it comenced its fourth democratic journey in 1999, it was discovered that two issues that had impeded its journey and had over the years slowed down its movement are insecurity and economic corruption. I would delve more on insecurity.
This baggage of insecurity and economic corruption have become part of the country like Siemens twins and it seems they are inseparable. Every Nigerian leader had open a new part of the baggage to the utter surprise of its citizens and other international onlookers.
Since 1983 when dangerous armed robbers infiltrated the country using our once porous Lagos boarder from Benin republic and along the fringes of Taraba and other northern state to enter the country causing mayhem and havoc to both Lagosiams and residents of Ogun state. Notorious armed robbers like Shina Rambo and his gangs, including armed robber like Hamani Tijani who was arrested by Anti robbery officer Amusa Bello and his men from the Special robbery squad from Adeniji Adele police station, Lagos. Also the then Lagos commissioner of police, Sir Mike Okiro had saved the country from further arm robbery baggage with his patriotic, courageous and galant officers like Simeon Midenda, Sam Okaula, Taiwo Lakano and Vincent Orubebe now late who with members of their anti robbery squad ensured that the country never witnessed any cases of trans boarder robbery.
Coincidentally, while the spate of robbery was abating , a new crime was rearing up its head by adding more pains and suffering to the citizens .
This new part of the baggage content was the crime of kidnapping which simultaneously rear its ugly head in Lagos and Imo state where Cp Taiwo Lakanou arrested Imo state kidnap king pin Mr Eric Chibueze Alias vampire. Nigerians at the time had continued to ask when would the content in the baggage be completely offloaded in the overall interest of the country. With the emergence of new criminal baggage, many innocent citizens are sent to their early grave while millions are expended by security agent as votes to fight the insecurity increases. The country’s develops and the youth population was not accurately captured, the crime rate became diversified because youth unemployment had continued to soar high and there were no job vacancies for the growing number of youth around the country. According to national statistics, “Overall unemployment rate: 5.3% Unemployment rate for people with post-secondary education: 9% Unemployment rate in urban areas: 6% Time-related underemployment: 10.6% Employment-to-population ratio: 73.2% NEET rate: 14.4% As Nigerians steps into the field of democracy in 1999 , President Olusegun Obasanjo once again started battling with the twin issues of armed robbery and kidnapping at all fronts because the baggage was not completely offloaded when the democratic movement started after the Nigerian Biafra war which witnessed free usage of firearms across the country . Many issues were left unresolved and the country hurriedly carried its baggage without offloading all the dangerous items inside believing that time would change the baggage. Unfortunately, President Musa Yar’Ardua carried the baggage which unknowingly was already filled up with bad idea of self emancipation by the restless youths of the Niger Delta where the likes of Askari Dokuno, Tompolo and others became bad baggage, the government had to carry without knowing what to do about it. Again, men like Sir Mike Okiro was on hand as the lnspector General of Police, to save the situation by advising on negotiation with the militants and including amnesty. President Yar’Ardua obliged to the negotiation by allowing the militants to surrender. However, while the government was trying to amend the torn baggage. Mike Okiro sequel to instinctive foresight assembled a unique force named “Anti terrorist squad” before retirement which he trained in many countries abroad . Unfortunately, his successor, Mr Ogbonnaya Onovo who did not fully understand the purpose for establishing of the anti terrorism squad went ahead to scrapped the special squad and painfully, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration instead of offloading the evil baggage handed over to him, saw nothing wrong carrying the baggage along without completely offloading the content of the baggage handed over to his administration. Truely, activities of Inspector General of police, Chief of Army staff or the Chief of Defence Staff , have the ability to either make the president to be successfully stop internal or external insecurity affecting the country.
So, when President Jonathan received the evil baggage, the intelligence agencywhispers into the atmosphere about the assembling of evil boys in a mosque in Maiduguri under an Islamic scholar , President Jonathan and his lnspector General of Police, Mr Onovo were fast in nipping the activities of the deadly group in the bud. However, the operational exercise was bungled and the repercaution of that administration’s foot dragging , had caused the country loss of over three millions citizen, trillions of Naira worth of properties destroyed and the country is still counting its losses. Despite these painful experiences carrying the evil baggage of Boko Haram, the country believing and trusting that a democratically elected military officer as president would stop and completely offload terrorists from the nations baggage, instead of allowing President Jonathan to redeem his image by decisively offloading the evil baggage with terrorists. As the democratic journey continues, President Muhammadu Buhari was handed over the evil baggage which has been fully infested with more terrorists of various caliber from Libya, Niger Republic and Chad all gained entry into the country thereby worsening the insecurity problems of the country. Again, the Buhari administration severally battled with Boko Haram terrorists, Bandits who were operational kidnappers for huge ransom plus the merciless killing of thousands of innocent citizens including students, women, children and traditional rulers.
Then came another election season when Nigerian voters would have frustratingly decided to vote out the political party that inflicted pain ,sorrow , yet another President from the same political party was elected and the evil baggage of insecurity was handed over to the new President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who from the first day of his assumption of office , informed the electorate “Emi lo Kad and l will continue where my predecessor stopped”. One year after , apart from carrying the evil baggage of insecurity of Boko Haram ( which is gradually reducing), Banditry and the resurrection of the militants behind the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and currently, a new terrorist group( The Lakuwara) have emerged out of the national evil baggage.meanwhile the Niger delta former militant has said to be warming up are these signs of a disturbing 2025¿. The question on many lips is why should a country deliberately carry a baggage that she’s not used to at a time when other countries are ensuring that their baggages are clean and free of illegalities
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