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The seriousness of the security situation in the South-East propelled the governors of the region to meet recently in Enugu. Unlike in the recent past when some of them preferred sending their deputies, all the governors of the five states that make up the region attended the meeting. At the end of the day, they resolved to intensify war against insecurity collectively and individually in partnership with the federal government and other stakeholders.
It is common knowledge that the spate of insecurity in the region has gone beyond what one state can tackle alone. In each of the states, there is a network of criminals terrorising people and making life unbearable for the citizens. The so-called unknown gunmen have graduated from killing security agents, carting away their weapons, and burning their stations and vehicles to kidnapping and killing innocent citizens with impunity. Many examples of their evil exploits abound.
For some of the victims, their sin was coming out on Mondays earlier designated as sit-at-home day by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in solidarity with its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The IPOB leader has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021 after he was arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria. IPOB has since cancelled the sit-at-home directive; but some criminal elements have continued to use it as a smokescreen to cause havoc in the South-East to achieve their selfish ends. During his inauguration as governor in March 2022, Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, lamented that the poor masses lost as much as N19.6 billion each day there was sit-at-home in the state. Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, said his state lost over N10billion every Monday that people sat at home. In two years that the madness has lasted, the South-East has reportedly lost over N7 trillion. This is outside loss of many lives, properties and potential investments.
The governors had attempted to curtail the spate of insecurity in the South-East in 2021 when they set up Ebubeagu, a regional security outfit fashioned after Operation Amotekun, established by the South-West governors in January 2020. This effort failed because there was no synergy in the operations of the security outfit. Apart from Imo and Ebonyi states, which have some presence of Ebubeagu personnel, the rest of the states – Anambra, Abia and Enugu – do not reckon with the outfit.
This is why it has become imperative that leaders of the entire states in the region meet and fashion out a more effective way of combating crime and criminals in the region. Various communities in the South-East have vigilance groups. These groups should have easily formed the nucleus of Ebubeagu as envisaged at formation. But, the states chose to go it alone. This may not solve the problem. Having a regional approach may produce a better result. But, the governors must be sincerely committed to it and shun the temptation to use any established security outfit as attack dogs against their political opponents.
No doubt, behind the uncertainties and crime in the region is unemployment. This is why the governors should think of rehabilitating Nkalagu Cement factory and some other moribund factories in the region. This will go a long way in providing jobs to the people. They should also provide the necessary infrastructure that will encourage industrialists to establish industries and create more jobs for the youths. If there is constant power, for instance, some of the youths will fully engage themselves in meaningful ventures. The governors should encourage their people to go back to agriculture, which used to be the mainstay of the economy of the region. Anambra State government is getting close to that with the distribution of high-breed palm and coconut seedlings to its people. The governors should think of how to link their states with rail to ease movement of goods and services in the region. They should also consider joint road projects as well as economic cooperation like it is done in the South-West.
On its part, the federal government should seek ways of dialoguing with aggrieved groups in the region. This is to reduce the unrest and killings which may have been aggravated by years of injustice and marginalisation the federal government meted out to the people of the region.
We commend the governors for their bold initiative for a collective action against insecurity. They should maintain the momentum, as South-East has suffered a lot, especially since 2021 when the sit-at-home order came into force. There is also the need to engage other stakeholders in the region. Anambra State, for instance, has integrated the president-generals of town unions into the governance structure of the state. Other states can emulate it.
It is one thing to reel out resolutions; it is quite another to follow up. People need to be assured that they can come out and do their business without molestation. The ball is in the court of the governors. They should sustain the meeting and make it more regular. The meeting is like sunshine after the storm. It has shown that it is mainly the South-East people that can solve their problems.
