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Tears usually depict painful or sorrowful situations a person is involved or is passing through. The cumulative agony that results in the shedding of tears can break down the human emotion. Most times, when people are overwhelmed by terrible circumstances, it can trigger of emotional shedding of tears. Like the loss of loved once.
Men hardly shed tears but not so with the female folk. Unfortunately, as womenfolk all over the world, especially in Nigeria, are supposed to be celebrating their coming of age in the scheme of things, the women in Nigeria are still grieving in shock and tears over the recent abduction of 110 female students of the Government Girls Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State. It is regrettable that the same scenario is playing out four years after the abduction of the Chibok girls with no solution in sight.
While God formed the woman to assist the man in all his endeavours, unfortunately, some men have decided to put restrictions around the woman, thereby pegging her down. When a woman is pegged down, her liberty is curtailed and her freedom is completely pegged. It is on this basis that the United Nations resolved to set aside every March 8 as the International Women’s Day, which is a global day that meant to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The question is, how has the Nigerian woman fared, considering her security? Nigeria has produced great women leaders like Mrs. Magret Ekpo, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Queen Amina and many other notable women intellectuals, but never in the history of Nigeria were the female of the species been so harassed and abducted like slaves as in recent times in Borno and Yobe states. When the terrorist group known as Boko Haram emerged, part of its angst was that the governemnt allowed girls to acquire Western education that would free them from mental slavery. They were angered that girls were being allowed to acquire education that would eventually emancipate them and empower them to be free from religious, political and social restraints. Among their first actions was the abduction of market women and young ladies found homes they invaded. It got to a climax when, on the night of April 14, 2014, about 276 female students were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. By that single action, Boko Haram was reintegrating its earlier position and affirming its mission against Western education, especially for the female child. They schoolgirls carted away like rams and, till date, only a percentage have either regained freedom or were exchanged as pawns for captured commanders of the Boko Haram. Many criticised the new trend of paying ransom for the abducted girls, yet, from all indications, it seems the sect is more advanced in strategic security planning.
How else can we explain the scenario where the terrorists who dressed in military uniform and carted away the Chibok girls have returned after four years using the same tactics to abduct another 110 girls from another girls’ secondary school, also a boarding school, using army uniform as camouflage? What this implies is that government, security agencies and members of the public were completely careless about their security.
Does it mean that there was no elementary security education in all the northern states, especially in boarding schools? Does it mean that there was no alarm security system installed in all the girls’ boarding schools and connected the police area commands and the military battalion in these northern states? Unfortunately, the country’s loss is the gain of the terrorists who have vowed that Western education is a taboo and girls must be restricted from obtaining it. If Boko Haram is succeeding in actualising its mandate, are there politicians in the North who at one time or the other have spoken against girls’ education? Such person should be further questioned, hoping that they are not the faces fronting for Boko Haram members.
Today, as the entire world joins hands to celebrate the joy and feel the pains of the girl child, who are usually victims of war, victims of terrorists and tools in the hands of human traffickers, one hopes that our security agencies would step up their game in rescuing these girls that are either abducted or trafficked. The story of the Yobe abduction should not be allowed to repeat itself again in Nigeria. Maybe before March 8, being Inyernational Women’s Day, some or all of the abducted girls of the Government Girls Technical School, Dapchi, would have been released.
What we are not getting right
Security practice evolves just like a girl matures into womanhood, as she evolves over the years. Her approach to issues as a baby are completely different when she becomes a woman. So is security.
In the early 1950s, not many buildings had fences and the method of securing such buildings have changed with time. It is very painful that our security operatves are not ready to develop the art of security in the country.
All over the globe, security evolves faster than any other sector of society. It is a misnomer when criminals have an edge over those that are constitutionally empowered to secure the life and property of the citizenry. There are some factors that impede the progress of security in a country. Funding, training, inter-agency cooperation and rivalry, and weak leadership. These obstacles to security in a country would be expansively discussed next week. When any of these elements is noticed in security administration, criminals would have an edge over law enforcement agents, and this can be disastrous. We experienced such a situation in the past with the invasion of armed robbers from neighbouring countries and today we are witnessing the invasion of terrorists also from neighbouring countries.
