If the security situation in Nigeria had not degenerated into the Hobbesian world of brute force, we would have ignored the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and his bogus claims. We would, at best, have simply dismissed the falsehood oozing forth from his coven as the ignoble fancy or fantasy of a compulsive propagandist. But we cannot afford the luxury of such indulgences anymore. Those who deodorize falsehood and pass them off as gospel truth must be confronted with hard facts at this time.
That is why we are taking more than a passing interest in the absolute descent into savagery that Kaduna State is witnessing. If it were before, we would have simply had a good laugh over Mohammed’s claim that Nigeria is getting safer by the day, even in the face of the security emergency in Kaduna State. But the bestiality taking place in Kaduna is too harrowing to be reduced to sardonic comedy as the minister was trying to do.
Lai Mohammed, as we know, is adept in making outlandish claims. He has a compulsive penchant for standing truth on its head. That is what he has chosen to do even as Kaduna State has become a living, breathing proof that Nigeria is anything but safe. The minister, while addressing a press conference last Monday, was in his elemental worst. He wore the toga of combativeness and sensationalism. He was out to do battle with anyone who thought or felt otherwise. His target, this time, was the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was incensed that the PDP derided the just concluded national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The minister could not come to terms with how a political party, which, in his estimation, mismanaged the country when it was in the saddle, could be critical of another political party, which, again in his estimation, is doing everything humanly possible to bring about a better Nigeria. It was in this mood of admonition that Mohammed set sail. He needed to prove a point to the opposition PDP whose recent bold moves have become irritating to the minister.
While lashing out at PDP, the minister also sought to impress his audience. It was this ploy that led him into making ludicrous claims, one of which was that Nigeria, under the government he serves, is becoming safer by the day. How? The minister said this was the case because, according to him, Nigeria is recording a string of successes against Boko Haram, Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), bandits and other criminal elements in the fight against terror. Apparently swayed into more hysteria by a certain feeling of triumphalism, the minister went on to say that the APC administration is “proud that in our time, Nigerians are once again able to travel by rail, this time in total comfort and safety.” He mentioned the Abuja-Kaduna rail line as part of the rail revolution that is giving Nigerians “total comfort and safety.”
But what makes Mohammed’s claims really absurd is that it is coming on the heels of the unspeakable security lapses that have brought Kaduna State to its knees. The week before Mohammed regaled us with government’s string of successes in the terror war, bandits murdered at least 50 persons in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Three days later, 15 more people were killed in Hayin Kanwa in the same Giwa LGA. Reports by the locals in the territory say that the security situation in the local government area is getting worse because people get killed there on a daily basis.
Just some two days before Mohammed came up with his theory of a safer Nigeria, the Kaduna International Airport was attacked by terrorists. The attackers invaded the runway of the airport and killed a security guard before security forces responded to the attack. Following the development, Azman Air, which operates a regular frequency to the airport, had to suspend its operations to and from the airport. We were yet to get the hang of what happened at Kaduna Airport when the Abuja-Kaduna rail track was bombed by bandits, leading to the derailment of the train. Some eight people were killed, some sustained injuries, while many others were abducted. We must recall that the same rail track came under terrorist attack in October last year.
This was the situation in Kaduna State alone at the time Mohammed was disingenuously claiming that Nigeria was getting safer by the day.
Kaduna, from the situation we have on our hands, can no longer be accessed safely from Abuja either by road or by rail. Those who must make the journey to Kaduna are doing so at a very grave risk. In fact, in recent years, it has become extremely risky to go to Kaduna from Abuja by road. Terrorists and abductors have taken over the highway, leading to frequent kidnappings and loss of lives. This was what led to the activation of the rail system in that corridor. Now, the rail option has also failed. Terrorists have moved in. They now derail moving trains, kill, maim and abduct travellers at will. So, how then can people go to Kaduna? This complete lockdown of a state is taking place before our very eyes. It has never happened anywhere in the history of this country. Yet, rather than the government that took us to this Golgotha to be humble and remorseful, one of its agents is petulantly telling us that the country is safer today. This kind of posturing is not only childish and irresponsible, it makes mockery of governance.
Having seen through the antics of a Lai Mohammed, we must now situate the security crisis in Kaduna for what it is. The attack at the Kaduna Airport is an enormous and worrisome development. It signposts the possible collapse of airport security, if the fallout of the attack is not properly addressed. Since the collapse of security in Nigeria under the Buhari order, many Nigerian travellers have abandoned the roads. They ensure that they access their destinations by air. Now, the safety that air transport provides is about to collapse. What happened at Kaduna Airport is a dress rehearsal. It can easily compromise airport security if it is not nipped in the bud. Maybe when that begins to happen, it will be clearer to us how safer Nigeria has become.