By Chukwudi Nweje

The year 2021, without doubt, has been eventful in Nigeria and indeed globally. From the COVID-19 pandemic and the EndSARS protests, the lockdown that grounded socio-economic and political activities, the insecurity to the large scale kidnapping of school children, the events that ended 2020, ushered in 2021 and unfortunately remain topical issues as the year comes to an end.

In his New Year broadcast on January 1, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari acknowledged that the problems exist and went ahead to set agenda for himself on what his administration intended to do in those other areas to move the country forward.

He said, “2020 indeed came with a lot of challenges ranging from security and economic issues across the regions to understandable protests that were mainly led by our youths and served notice to the demand for police reforms and accountability. This government heard, this government listened and this government is committed to fulfilling the five demands of our youths, fully understanding that we all wish well for Nigeria.

“Amid all these challenges, I had initially pledged that as you elected me President and Commander-in-Chief, I would ensure that these ongoing challenges will be faced head-on with renewed determination and with all the appropriateness and urgency required… I wish to use this occasion of New Year to reaffirm my commitment to the people of Nigeria, especially the youth who need our collective encouragement and support. In securing this nation, we need to secure the future of our youth… As a government, we are committed to actively engaging with the creative energies of our young people. In this regard, we will partner with the legislature to develop an enabling environment to turn their passions into ideas that can be supported, groomed and scaled across regions. This will create vast opportunities in Fintech, agriculture, business process start-ups and in the entertainment industry…”

The 2021 New year address also provided President Buhari with the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of his administration to the three cardinal pillars on which he campaigned and came to power.

According to him, “The year 2021 will indeed be a year where we will work to reinforce the hopes of fellow Nigerians in the vision of a united and progressive Nigeria. This administration would continue focusing on delivering key strategic priorities under our “SEA” – (Security, Economy and Anti-Corruption) Agenda.”

However, 365 days later, many of the issues President Buhari promised to address in his January 1 speech have either taken a turn for the worse or have been completely ignored.

Insecurity on the rise

The insecurity in the country seems to have taken a turn for the worse despite the president’s promise to re-energise and reorganise the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police “to enhance their capacity to engage, push back and dismantle the operations of both internal and external extremist and criminal groups waging war against our communities in some parts of the country.”

In January, Buhari bowed to mounting pressure over the years to adopt a new approach to the war against banditry, but not limited to changing the service chiefs who had been in office since 2015.

General Abayomi Olonisakin, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar respectively who held the positions of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Navy Staff and Chief of Air Staff respectively were relieved of their posts.

Major-General Lucky E.O Irabor, Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, and Air-Vice Marshal Ishiaka Oladayo Amao, respectively were appointed as CDS and heads of the army, Navy and Air Force, and charged to concentrate their efforts on helping the administration to “make Nigeria a safer place for citizens to live.” In May, a new Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Farouk Yahaya was named after the former died in a military plane crash on May 21, 2021, while on an official visit to Kaduna.

Expectedly, the new service chiefs brought renewed vigour to the fight against terror, but insecurity has remained a major issue throughout 2021. Many schools in the Northern parts of the country have been forced to close due to the frequent abduction of school children.

Boko Haram has continued to ravage the North East despite the Federal Government’s claim that the terrorist group has been decimated. In the North West, bandits and kidnappers continue to have a field day, while in the Middle Belt, otherwise called North Central, herdsmen continue to terrorise communities.

A survey published by Save the Children International in September this year indicated that over 1000 children were abducted in Nigeria, with so many of them still in the hands of their abductors between January to August 2021.

The Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a compilation of the Council on Foreign Relations, which catalogues deaths due to violent incidents related to political, economic, and social grievances, also indicated that over 6,000 lives were lost to insecurity in Nigeria between January 1 and June 30, 2021.

The record further shows that a total of 1,325 incidents, compared to 824 in the first six months of 2020 occurred. It also shows that the rates of civilian deaths and kidnapping have also worsened compared to the same period last year.

It indicated that while 1,015 people were recorded to have been kidnapped in the first half of 2020, the number increased to 2,842 in 2021. And then while a total of 824 violent incidents were documented in 2020, the number rose to1,272 in 2021.

Fragmented unity

The promise by President Buhari that “the year 2021 will indeed be a year where we will work to reinforce the hopes of fellow Nigerians in the vision of a united and progressive Nigeria” has not been achieved.

On the contrary, groups that have lost confidence in the unity of Nigeria spring up daily. In the South East, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has continued its agitation over the marginalisation of the region and demand for separation from Nigeria. The demonstrations have most times been met with brutal force from the Nigerian military and security forces that have occupied most of the South East major cities for some time now.

In the South West, the pan Yoruba organisation, Afenifere has continued its demand for the restructuring of the country, fiscal federalism and if possible, reverting to the 1963 constitution of Nigeria which guaranteed some level of autonomy to the then Regional Governments. Still in the South West, another group Ilano Omo Oodua is demanding an independent Yoruba nation.

In the South-South and Middle Belt parts of the country, various forms of protest and agitations that indicate a disunited Nigeria also go on.

In September 2021, the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) staged a protest in front of the United Nations building in New York to among other things call the international community’s attention to the need for a referendum to determine the future of Nigeria.

In the words of Tony Nnadi, Secretary-General of the Lower Niger Congress (LNC), an aggregation of several self-determination ethnic nationalities spread across the pre-1966 Eastern and Midwestern Regions of Nigeria, a member of the NINAS alliance, “The constitution is full of injustices, responsible for the killings that are widespread and making Nigeria a danger to the global community and security.”

Nnamdi Kanu’s abduction

IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu’s re-arrest and repatriation to Nigeria also dominated discussion in 2021. Kanu had been on the run since he jumped bail and fled from Nigeria in September 2017 after an invasion of his home by the military in Afara-Ukwu, near Umuahia, Abia State.

Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami had claimed that Kanu was arrested through “collaborative efforts of Nigerian intelligence and Security Services.”

Later details were to show that Kanu’s arrest and return to Nigeria may not have followed due process and that he may have been abducted illegally.

The arrest and return to Nigeria sparked protests in the South East where IPOB declared sit-at-home on Mondays to force the Federal Government to release him.

Anambra governorship poll

The successful conduct of the Anambra State governorship election on November 6 is a landmark achievement, a discussion that will linger for a long time. Many naysayers had forecast the poll will not hold and will be bloody if it does. The fears were based on the state of insecurity and the menace of unknown gunmen in the South East before the election. Also, IPOB had to call off a proposed one-week-long sit-at-home it scheduled to commence on the eve of the election. The proposed sit-at-home would have marred the election, but it was called off following the intervention of Anambra State traditional and religious leaders as well as elders. The emergence of Prof Chukwuma Soludo, a former Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor as governor-elect of the state has inspired hope among many that governance in Anambra State, South-East and Nigeria, in general, will improve.

EndSARS panel and reports

The EndSARS protests, another spillover from October 2020, remains an issue as 2021 gradually ends. After the protest in 2020, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced that the 36 State Governors and the FCT Minister will set up judicial panels of inquiry to look into the violence that accompanied the EndSARS protest.

He admitted that the issues that triggered the protest are bigger than just the Special anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force and that the Federal Government will take comprehensive measures to revamp the Police by addressing issues of welfare, service conditions, and training. Needless to say that the issues of police brutality that triggered EndSARS have not been addressed.

The reports of EndSARS panels across the country has become an issue as some state governments are not comfortable with what is presented to them. In Lagos State, for instance, controversy trails the report of the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led judicial panel.

Some groups allege inconsistencies in the report, even as others fault the White paper released by Gov Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, described the White Paper as illegal and argued that the Tribunals of Inquiry Law of Lagos State “does not recognise the publication of a White Paper after a properly inaugurated judicial panel submits a report.”

According to him, “There is nowhere in Tribunals of Inquiry Law of Lagos State that they mentioned the need to set up a White Paper committee. The law is very clear that once a properly inaugurated judicial panel finishes sitting, they will submit their report to the governor. Under section 15 (1), once a panel of inquiry that is properly constituted has concluded, it shall submit its findings and recommendations to the governor. The Tribunals of Inquiry Law of Lagos State states that the recommendations of the panel shall be equated to the judgement of a High Court. However, anybody dissatisfied with the findings of the panel shall go to the Court of appeal, not to the governor.”

Meanwhile, President Buhari has said he will await the steps taken by governors before the Federal Government would take action on the reports of the judicial panels of enquiry set up by states.

Buhari rejects Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021

To many, President Buhari ended the year on a sad note when on December 9, he rejected the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 passed by the National Assembly. The Bill among other things recommended direct primaries for political parties in choosing candidates for election and had inspired hope among Nigerians that the democratic space in Nigeria would be deepened.