There is no better way to describe the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. That attack has mocked Nigeria’s entire defence and security apparatus and architecture. The attackers conveyed an unmistakable message. There is nowhere, no institution, and no agency of government that is impenetrable, secure and unreachable. Terrorists can strike at the soul of the country’s defence anytime, anywhere and anyway they choose.
The onslaught connotes a national scandal. The repercussions are many, worrying and grave. As many commentators have said, nowhere and nobody in Nigeria should be considered safe from criminal attack.
The raid on the NDA is a strike on the soul of the nation. The NDA is not an ordinary institution. It is not a playground. It is not a tourist centre. It is an elite academy that represents the centrepiece of our national defence, security, policy, planning, training and management. The NDA ought to have been fortified against foreseen and unforeseeable attacks of any kind. Sadly, it was not. If criminals, bandits and terror groups can kidnap schoolchildren easily, ransack and loot school property regularly, indiscriminately bomb places of worship, motor parks, and places where people gather, the NDA should have been extremely difficult for terror groups to infiltrate. That was the impression everyone had until the assault on the NDA exactly one week ago.
By that cold-hearted action, terrorists shattered our national dignity and our sense of superiority. Many questions have been asked since that attack. Where is Nigeria headed? Why couldn’t the government provide strong security for a major institution such as the NDA? Why was the NDA so vulnerable to attack at a time when all governments across the world were fighting global terror groups, fortifying their national defences and tightening national security? Why were the soldiers responsible for protecting the NDA caught unawares? Why has Nigeria become a theatre of the absurd, a place where anything is possible, a country where terrorists and bandits have made the impossible to become possible, a nation where law and order has disintegrated, and a recreational ground for continental and national crime gangs to assemble and execute their evil plans?
Long before this latest embarrassment, Nigeria has been on a swift descent into anarchy. There is nothing to shield or slow the tumble. Everything has conspired to drag the country down. The government must take full responsibility. It is mindless for officials at the Presidency to attempt to evade blame. The government is culpable. If security had not been lax, the attack on the NDA would have been foiled or prevented. The attack signifies also a failure of intelligence. If intelligence gathering and sharing had been as effective and prompt as it ought to be, the plot would have been disrupted before the terrorists struck.
The high level of insecurity in Nigeria has sullied the image of the country and indeed the image of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Whenever a crime occurs, the government swears to go after the criminals. But it never does. And the criminals have got the message. A government that talks but fails to act offers an invitation to criminals to commit more crimes. We live in a state of hopelessness, a state in which elected politicians who promised to take Nigeria to the next level have failed to show leadership or establish any sense of law and order.
As we approach the 2023 national elections, we must ponder some critical questions: Should a presidential candidate be elected on the basis of his or her capability and track record rather than on the basis of his or her region of origin? Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, seemed to have answered this question at a public forum organised in Abuja by THISDAY newspaper in June 2006.
Masari insisted that voters should concentrate on the personal ability of a presidential candidate to provide “good governance” rather than on the candidate’s region of origin. He said: “We can live and rise above our primordial sentiments and choose a leader that will be competent, just, fair and trustworthy and deliver good governance…It should not be because he is from your zone; it is because the person so recognised is so appreciated by Nigerians. I think the sooner we start thinking of such kind of leaders, the better for us.”
This might be the best way to approach the 2023 elections but only if voters are able to overlook instant gratifications that are offered by politicians such as bags of rice, money, clothes and other inducements. Voters must resist incentives offered to them to make wrong electoral choices. Once voters elect politicians that are unfit to govern or unsuitable to hold political office, they will live with that horrendous decision for four years of frustration and impoverishment.
The 2023 national election will provide an opportunity for Nigerians to elect an energetic and unbiased President who is open-minded and inclusive in decisions. The manifesto of every presidential candidate should be scrutinised carefully and thoroughly. Voters must not be overawed by speeches and campaign slogans that are grandiloquent but meaningless.
Going forward, we must see 2023 as the year of political and economic responsibility, accountability and transparency.
The President to succeed Buhari must be someone who is willing to interact and talk with the people rather than talk to the people. That person must be prepared to represent all Nigerians rather than serve the narrow interests of his or her region. The person must respect press freedom, civil rights of citizens and should be ready to be scrutinised by the media. The President must travel across the country, to see things with his eyes rather than rely on his assistants to feed him inaccurate information about the country.
Buhari’s successor must be willing to listen to all segments of society, the poor, the middle class and the rich, including men, women, children, traders, artisans, the sick and the disabled. In September 2005, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said Nigeria needed a listening leader. In 2023, Nigerian voters must identify and elect a listening President.
It is apt to end this essay by drawing on Atiku’s words regarding the virtues of a true national leader. Atiku’s speech was delivered on September 16, 2005, at the second anniversary of The Week magazine’s leadership award. In that address, Atiku said: “Of course, we have had political leaders all these years but, for most of our history, we have not had good leadership…When a country has abundant human and natural resources but still wobbles, it is clear that it has not had good leadership. A country is developed by people, and people need someone to organise them, to train them, and to motivate them…They need someone to listen to them, to love and care for them…when the leader is committed, the rest tend to follow. If the leader is honest and even-handed in his dealings with people, the people believe in him or her. But when the head is rotten, the rest of the body tends to rot as well.”
Voters must keep these words in mind when they elect a President in 2023. There should be no room for error or space for regrets.