From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) has decried the spate of insecurity in the country, blaming it on exclusive politics, which has continued to ignore a large segment of the population.
NPSA President, Hassan Saliu, in a statement on behalf of the association titled:‘’The Alarming State of Insecurity in Nigeria’’, stated that Nigerians living in Benue, Borno, Plateau, and other places in recent weeks have not been able to sleep with two eyes closed.
Saliu, who pointed out that before now, the general feeling, especially among government officials, was that the country was on the path to subduing insecurity, expressed disappointment that things are getting worse. While admitting that factors such as ungoverned spaces to religious fundamentalism, poverty, external conspiracy, unhealthy politicking, and problems arising from inter-group relations have heightened insecurity in the country, he declared that the main cause of insecurity is the exclusionary politics that ignore the people in the nation.
According to him, rather than concentrate energy and attention on tackling the increasing wave of insecurity, the political class is fixated on the politics of 2027.
Saliu added that if the Federal Government had been serious about combating insecurity, its efforts in the last two decades would have yielded positive results.
‘’It is observable that instead of energy being focused on making Nigeria safe for her people to live anywhere they choose in the country, politicians’ attention is focused on the 2027 elections, which no one can predict who will witness. This is the time for our politicians to realize that politics only has meaning when the security of the people’s lives is guaranteed. For now, that is not the case.
‘’That is why some have argued that if an emergency rule is required, it should be directed at the agents of insecurity in the country, not at suspending democratic structures. If the federal government had addressed insecurity seriously, the war declared on it for over two decades would have yielded positive results.’’
Reeling out the implications of the continued state of insecurity, Saliu stressed that no foreign investor would put their money where insecurity is becoming a way of life.
He stated that President Bola Tinubu should go beyond the routine charge to security chiefs and agencies and address the issue of agents of instability having more firepower than the military.
‘’If the President must be told the truth, managing the security situation has become a huge business. Those concerned have been smiling to the bank, reflecting the general environment of plundering public resources for personal gain.
‘’The lives of Nigerians and their property need to be accorded top priority in the country’s governance. We advise that politicians lower their concern for politics and accord priority to securing the country first.
‘’Mr President, as the Commander-in-Chief, you can do more to ensure the security of Nigerians. The government needs to rise to the occasion in subduing insecurity by carefully soliciting the involvement of more Nigerians in the war.’’