If you measure from the surface the flurry of expressions and sea of condemnations by the government and its officials on the recent terror attacks on Kaduna, you may run into the temptation of assuming that this is a system that cares for its citizens.
Since a Kaduna-bound train was attacked on Monday, March 28, various figures have been bandied on the number of passengers affected. Kaduna State government and the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, however, declared that the number of passengers on the train’s manifest was 398.
There have also been conflicting accounts on the number of victims. Military sources, however, claim that eight passengers were dead and 41 injured. Some passengers are yet to be accounted for.
One thing that has run through it all is the outpouring of emotion on the incident. From the Presidency to the National Assembly to the governors and the military, all have been literally up in arms, seeking vengeance against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Some seasoned politicians have even made a show of the moment by openly announcing suspension of their programmes and schedules. In a normal setting, these could pass as a clarion call and mobilization of the people to stand firm and say, “thus far, no further.”
But that is, unfortunately, where it all ends. Ours is a system where no one bothers nor takes responsibility. Beyond the trending photo shots at the scene of the mayhem and expressions of anger and calls to fish out those behind the attacks, I can bet that there will be nothing on ground to guard against a recurrence. It will only take one more incident in another part of the country for attention to be shifted from the Kaduna issue.
There is hardly any development, no matter how monumental, that galvanises us into sustained action. At the end of it all, it is the bereaved families of the train attacks and the injured passengers that will be there to pick the pieces and bear the brunt.
Insecurity has become our lot in Nigeria. That is why, if you take a critical look at the leading media organisations in the country, you would notice a seeming neglect of the global practice in news reporting: ‘when it bleeds, it leads.’ The maxim, simply put, means that any news item that involves loss of life, should be the lead story.
This is a major demand on the practitioners, to emphasize the primacy of life. Sadly, this demand is gradually taking the back seat in news selection and presentation in the Nigerian media space, not on account of laxity or callousness on the part of the newsmen. Rather, the rate and regularity of loss of life in the country on account of insecurity, leadership failure and infrastructure collapse have combined to make death common here. There is hardly any day that people are not killed in various numbers and for various reasons in the country.
Perhaps, more than any other factor, it is this rising culture of insecurity that is rousing the question on the continued existence of Nigeria as a country. No matter how hard the leaders try to paint or bend things, the situation in the country is dire. In fact, as it is, any Nigerian who does not feel sufficiently concerned with the persistent drift of the country to the status of a failed state deserves pity.
Gradually but steadily, Nigeria is losing it on all fronts. Except a few, just a few, who may be feeding fat on the remains of the carcass that the country has turned to, most citizens would rather not have anything to do with it.
Security of life and property is listed as the primary function of government all over the world. But that cannot be said to be the case here, presently. As we write, we are yet to know the number of Nigerians that may have been dispatched to their graves today. The Kaduna attack is one out of the lot. Elsewhere in Zamfara, Borno, NIger, Benue, Imo, Ondo and other parts of the country, it is the same story of Nigeria turning to a killing field. In each of these encounters, lives and properties are lost; the victims are helpless. The immediate reaction by the lucky survivors is loss of hope on the system.
This feeling of despondency by the citizens explains why Nigeria is increasingly losing respect abroad.
In a post on its website, sometime ago, the United States Embassy had, in an advisory for its nationals intending to visit Nigeria, described the country in very unflattering terms. It stressed two major failings, namely, crude infrastructure and poor security. The directory touched on other aspects of our national being, including health, roads, transportation systems and even such basic necessity as water. The situation has gone worse than it was when the U.S. Embassy issued the alert. For a country that prides itself as the giant of Africa, the verdict was very damning. But it is a sad reality.
The most embarrassing aspect of the regime of insecurity is the menace of armed gangs in various forms. The pledge to tackle insecurity, corruption and unemployment was the key point of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign in 2014, but, seven years after the President’s inauguration, things are not looking up. Nigerians are, rather, sinking deeper in standard and essence.
When, therefore, the government humours itself that the specter of insecurity has been technically degraded, Nigerians know that it is a lie. When its officials prance about claiming rise in standard of living of the citizens, they are mocked by statistics. The truth is that Nigeria is seriously going the way of some failed states in Africa.
It is a huge irony that Nigeria, which was buffeted with requests for wish-list by the U.S., Britain and other Western nations at the election of Buhari in 2014 is being lumped in similar travel directory as Libya, Chad, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan and even Somalia by the very same countries that had earlier thrown wide their arms in open embrace.
Whether those in power would want to hear it or not, the truth is that this house called Nigeria is falling. No matter how state officials feel secure in their homes and offices, we are all victims of the Kaduna terror attacks.
This calls for the Buhari administration to come down from its high horse to face the realities in the land. There is need for another look at the security arrangements in the country.