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Ayo Baje
“One man’s hero is another man’s tyrant”-a popular maxim.
Can it get any worse than this, talking about Nigeria’s increasingly embarrassing insecurity conundrum, that is? We pray not. But let us consider just a few of the recent haunting newspaper headlines that should worry the patriots. For instance, Senator Ibrahim Geidam, representing Yobe East under the All Progressives Congress (APC) has presented a bill titled: ‘National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalization and Integration of Repentant Insurgents in Nigeria’. The nebulous aim, according to him is to “rehabilitate, de-radicalize, educate, reconcile and reintegrate purported repentant Boko Haram terrorists into the Nigerian society”.
How did you feel when you read through it? Did you cringe, with moral revulsion like yours truly did? One could not have asked himself how on earth would a concerned Nigerian,bother more about rehabilitating blood-thirsty criminals than taking care of the hapless victims of their terrorizing, blood- lettinginsurgency? These are fellow Nigerians left to stew in their hunger, feeding on onion leaves, naked to rape and several debilitating diseases. Something malodorous is oozing somewhere!
According to Wikipedia, of the 2.3 million people displaced by the insurgency conflict since May 2013, at least 250,000 have left Nigeria and fled into Cameroon, Chad or Niger. Boko Haram killed over 6,600 in 2014 alone. The group has carried out mass abductions including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014 and subsequently that of the Dapchi School girls. In fact, Leah Sharibu, the Christian victim who reportedly stood by her faith has, according to recent news item given birth to a baby boy for one of the terrorist! But Senator Geidam and his ilk are more concerned about protecting the lives of the vampire breed! He is of the opinion that the repentant insurgents would acquire relevant skills, literacy and Islamic Religious Knowledge via the Agency,using our public money.
That this unpatriotic idea at a time that ten members of the Islamist militant group,Boko Haram have been executed by firing squad in Chad should serve as food-for-thought for us here.All 10 were convicted over their roles in twin attacks on the capital in June, which killed at least 38. A month after the attack, Chad reintroduced the death penalty for acts of terror. Should our country not take a cue? May God save Nigeria from some of our own political leaders.
And talking about political leadership, how did you feel again when you learnt about the ‘war’ in Aso Villa, between the National Security Adviser(NSA), Babagana Monguno and the Chief of Staff(CoS), Abba Kyari?They have been at daggers drawn for weeks, with the NSA accusing the CoS of undue interference in matters bordering on national security. That role as the Constitution clearly spells out is within the purview of Monguno’s office.
In the said memo, the NSA had warned the president’s ‘all-powerful’ Chief of Staff against meddling in security affairs in the presidency. He also warned the nation’s service chiefs to stop taking orders from Kyari, a civilian, and to be wary of his interferences. The memo addressed to the service chiefs and copied the president and ministers for foreign affairs, defence, interior, police affairs and Kyari himself, was dated December 9, 2019.
But what has happened recently? The NSA has been given a new appointment! He was named Co-Chair along with Humanitarian Affairs Minister for the newly formed National Humanitarian Coordination Committee, by none other than Mister President. Again, we suspect that something odious must be wrong, somewhere. May God save Nigeria from some of her political leaders.
The same president, we wonder has consistently refused to listen to the voice of the people’s representatives at both the Green and Red Chambers. They, like several patriotic Nigerians have been asking that the Service Chiefs take a bow, at least now, when the ovation is still at some audible decibel. After all, their tenures expired back in 2019 and in spite of all the huge sums spent so far they have been unable to curb the swelling waves of terrorism, banditry, killings by armed Fulani herdsmen and kidnappings.
Even the president woke up weeks ago, shocked at the increasing level of insecurity in a country he swore by the Koran to defend the rights of the citizens and protect their lives and property. But he does not want the Service Chiefs to go! Evidently, the wishes of the people left vulnerable to the wiles of the blood-seeking vandals amount to nothing. May God save Nigerians from the hands of some of their leaders.
Honestly, those who have scarce regards for the pricelessness and sanctity of human life but value theirs,while alwayspoaching for political power only to hound fellow citizens, in any country,should be ashamed of themselves. Those who ride to the pedestal of power,promising paradise to the long-suffering, gullible citizens, but turn it to the throne of blood under a democratic setting shouldremember that someday, somewhere there will be a God sitting in judgment. And He willask them to account for the innocent lives they have wantonly wasted.
So, the burning questions remain: Who are the Nigerians benefitting from the insurgency, the banditry, the killings by fully armed herdsmen and the series of harrowing kidnappings? Why has it been difficult to identify and bring to book those involved in the killing spree across the land now greatly enmeshed in the culture of impunity? Why has the intelligence gathering mechanism of the security forces been unable to nail the sources of funds of the insurgents and asphyxiate them at the jugular veins?
So far, there is little value for the huge amounts earmarked as annual budgetary allocations on insecurity, added to that taken from the Excess Crude Account to fight against the criminals. There are certainly the enemies within; the blood merchants of blood.
It has become imperative for the president and his security team to rise up to the occasion and do the needful. Culprits must be brought to speedy justice, irrespective of religious, ethnic and political colourations. Only this will serve as a form of deterrence to other evil minds. Granting them amnesty would lure more idle youths to take up arms against the state, hoping to be rehabilitated someday.
Baje writes from Lagos.
