In my formative years as a pupil of Saint David School, Lagos, every lndependence Day celebration, a Nigerian flag hoisted on a short stick was distributed to every pupil. We joyfully carried it, waving it in the air, because we totally believed in it. That act was how patriotism was injected into us and with time we imbibed the spirit of patriotism. We believed in the country and the government. We believed that the government would not only provide job opportunities for our parents but would also protect us from insecurity.
Today, security and economic problems are usually the determining factors that aggravate uprising or national demonstration in countries and this has led to the downfall of many governments or created complete insurrection and anarchy. Even when listening to any of the over 400 radio stations across the country, all you hear are the groaning and lamentations of Nigerians of all classes.
It is worse on the over 5,000 online news platforms already turned into channels where fraustrations are vented.
They are all complaining about the traumatic situation government policies have caused.
We are at the receiving end of a harsh economic reality, where parents are selling their children for food. Where villagers become informants to criminal bandits in exchange for money to fend for their families. The harsh economic policies being unleashed on the country have further complicated the situation.
Apart from the emotional trauma people are experiencing, many have been thrown out of job, as companies can no longer meet their obligations. Even religious gatherings are shrinking, as members find it hard to transport themselves to these places of worship. Traders return to their homes with their goods, while hospitals are jam-packed with patients of different ailments attributed to economic trauma. From happenings around, it seems the centre can no longer hold, as hardship has enveloped the system, thereby breeding more unemployed youths.
The same youths are exiting the country in droves in search of greener pastures that are no longer green, while others stay back to embrace crime, to the shame of government.
According to the unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2022, Nigeria, about 53 per cent of 151 million Nigerian youths, that is, over 80 million, are unemployed; specifically about “53.40 per cent of youths are unemployed.”
Such reports ought to be frightening to the government at every level, but not so in Nigeria, where lip service has always been the modus operadi. The Nigerian cross, unlike that of Golgotha, which was carried by one innocent Messiah for the salvation of humanity, is becoming overwhelming and unbearable. The Nigerian cross is government-imposed. It is President Bola Tinubu’s cross shifted to Nigerians to carry, and it is being forced on Nigerians.
The cross of hunger, economic pain and insecurity is gradually dehumanizing Nigerians. No doubt, the pain is gruesome and evidently becoming unbearable. Faces along the streets speak volumes about the situation in the country. Simply explained, the cross is the creation of government’s not well thought out policy of subsidy removal.
The UNESCO report for the year 2022 shows that approximately 20 million Nigerian individuals of the approximately 200 million population are not enrolled in school.
These numbers have continued to provide recruitment to the Almajiri foot soldiers, bandits and other terrorist groups operating in and outside the country.
Unfortunately, a report recently issued by the International Organisation for Peace Building and Social Justice (PSJ) has revealed that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s youth embrace crime due to lack of economic opportunity and poverty in the land. It is believed that this trend may continue, if the government does not put in place programmes to absorb the growing number of unemployed youths in the country. No wonder criminals are springing up like soldier ants invading every nook and cranny of the country. These same youths are exposed to various types of illicit drugs, which has created another battlefront for the NDLEA.
In fact, the cross many Nigerians are carrying today was built since 2003, when the government and its security agencies were nonchalant to the security buildup in Maiduguri, where the Boko Haram sect was being organised by Mohammed Yusuf, an Islamic leader who had clandestine, ulterior motives to organize a terror group, which, unfortunately, was not detected early enough by security agencies in Borno State. This group is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon and Mali sequel to the wrong doctrine. Over the years, more unemployed youths have been financially induced and recruited into other similar criminal groups operating inside and outside the country.
Security experts suggest a complete reorientation of these misguided criminal youths. It is suggested that media messages that would counter the wrong beliefs should be inculcated into these adherents before embarking on the strategy of ending the insecurity by massively using intelligence activities, cutting off their major source of supply of arms and ammunition and blockage of communication to the group. There should no longer be lifelines for any repentant terrorist except their women and children.
Also, the prolonged insecurity in the South East ought to bother the government, as it affects the economic welfare of the region. One thinks that the government that swiftly extradited Nnamdi Kalu should have done same with the IPOB spokesman, Mr. Simeon Ekpa, based in Finland, for his criminal indulgence instigating his members into acts of terror. Also, if truly the government is not following a script left on the presidential table, then the government should withdraw its case against Kanu and toe the way of dialogue.
What is wrong if dialogue is entered into with stakeholders, and complying with the court decision on the detained personality, for the sake of our collective national peace?
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Security Hints (2)
1. Avoid boarding commmercial vehicles that are not branded or marked. It could be dangerous.
2. Patronize registered parks and garages in public areas, avoid taking free rides.
3. To avoid ‘One Chance’, assess the occupants of the vehicle you intend boarding, don’t be in a rush.
4. When boarding a vehicle at the park, check the driver and make sure he is not drunk, if he is, wait for another one, and be alive.
5. When you drive, watch your speed but not your time, avoid over-speeding or reckless driving. It is dangerous.
6. Use your side and centre mirrors while driving, check movements and objects around you, this could save you from danger.
– By ACP Muyiwa Adejobi,
spokesman, Nigeria Police Force