Follow Us on Google
“In the absence of wake-up calls, many of us never really confront the critical issues of life”
—Stephen Covey
By Cosmas Omegoh
Uneasy, they say, lies the head that wears the golden crown. That is the truth as ancient as the hills.
But to what extent does the truth as above concern Senator Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna State?
Close watchers of the goings-on in Kaduna State right now are pondering over what goes on in Governor Sani’s mind. They are wondering whether he ever sleeps at nighttime. Or if ever he sleeps, whether his sleep is nightmarish? People are asking whether Governor Sani’s food still tastes delicious in his tongue given the mountain-high insecurity problems plaguing Kaduna State.
But which ruler will see the avalanche of insecurity blitzing his domain and not grow grey over night?
Looking back, Governor Sani, 53, was elected with great hope and expectation in March 2023.
The Kaduna State he currently governs is the pride of the North, a city-state many from the region always look up to with great feelings in their hearts.
And so when the people cast their votes for Sani, they were optimistic that he was the right man for the job. They believed Sani would give the job his best shot. And if he did, the course of the insecurity rampaging through the state, daily pushing it farther afield would change. They were upbeat life would be better.
But now, it is a little more than nine months since Governor Sani mounted the podium, but nothing has changed for the better security-wise.
Rather, insecurity in Kaduna State is cruising and coursing further South. The state has continued to be a hotbed for senseless killings, mass abduction, kidnapping for ransom and more. The proportion is one has never seen before. Life in Kaduna has continued to be unpleasant. For the rural folks, hope for the future appears to be fading each day as the people have continued to remain in the grip of bandits, raiders and marauders. None of them is sure of tomorrow.
As it stands in Kaduna State, felons of assorted hues now have the bragging right. For long, they have chased away the king and his prince. They have successfully enthroned themselves as lords. They have emphatically claimed large swaths of ungoverned lands which they now rule with temerity, collecting taxes and levies and enjoying the trappings of a legitimate government.
It becomes more concerning to note that aside their activities in the bushes, they occasionally storm the city and its suburbs to leave a testament that they are here to stay. Every of their moves is a testimonial that they have revolutionarily elevated their act to a trade, a money-spinner at that. And now, one can claim it is not so. A fallout of that is that the people are hopeless, and the government helpless. The criminals are a step ahead of the government and the people. That sounds like fiction, but it is true.
Since Sani assumed office as Kaduna’s helmsman, series of abductions and killings with attendant burning and destruction of property have persisted.
But to be fair to him, the insecurity in Kaduna State is characteristic. While Malam Nasiru el-Rufai held sway as governor, no week passed without a reported incident of killing and abductions in Birini Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru or Zangon Kataf and some other areas in the Southern Kaduna district.
The people cried and wailed, and even at some point, accused the governor of conspiratory silence, but he pressed on. His minders always had a template in hand to report the latest incident in their press statements.
Sadly, since el-Rufai quit office, nothing has changed. Kaduna seems to be bedlam, and sinking deeper each day into the miry waters, with some angry watchers suggesting that every new incident is a derivative of what the former governor did and didn’t do.
Now, the latest mass abduction of 16 residents of Gonin-Gora community in Chikun area, coming on the heels of the taking of over 287 students and pupils of a group of school in Kuriga village is mindboggling. The chain of events has continued to prompt and promote outrage across the world. Every man, every woman of goodwill has continued to condemn the burgeoning evil trade sweeping through Kaduna in particular and other parts of the country in general.
Now, this is what a Gonin-Gora community leader, John Yusuf, is reporting about the bandits’ audacity. “They are demanding N40 trillion, 11 Hilux vans, and 150 motorcycles for the release of (the) 16 people they are holding captive.” Then he asked with despondency: “Where are we going to get this kind of money? Even if we sell the entire community, we cannot raise N40 trillion. Even Nigeria as a country has never made a budget of N40 trillion.”
The abductors of the kids too have handed out a whopping N1billion ransom demand. In addition, they left a caveat that if their words were not heeded to within 20 days, they would kill all of them.
Now, reflecting on the two ransom demands, made by the bandits, one might conclude that they are hearing esoteric voices from the wilds. But no, they are those of the criminals the Nigerian state and some other privileged individuals have made cult persona.
Meanwhile, as the imbroglio goes on, certain individuals are already angling to claim a dubious place in the now lucrative chain of abduction deals as negotiators.
In one breath, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi has appeared again and offered to help as he usually does. Perhaps some other persons are waiting in the wings to also help.
But President Bola Tinubu has said he won’t pay a dime to any bandit. Governor Uba is also saying so, claiming he is “doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of the students and pupils.”
But in another breath, the latter is suggesting reaching out to the criminals.
But those knowledgeable in interpreting the behaviour of people in government at a time like this say those pronouncements by government officials might as well be gaseous. Sometimes, they are mere words and no action.
Now, many people are asking multi-pronged questions concerning insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, abduction in the land: where is the DSS in this mix? Where are the Nigerian Airforce and Army and their drones which are capable of picking and taking out the bandits? Why is the government seemingly silent over this monster romping through the Nigerian space? Why has the government abandoned the use of technology in tackling security challenges head-on?
Now, what about the leaders of the northern region? Why are they not coming out with a roadmap for tackling this problem ravaging their area?
Then turning to Governor Sani, it is true to say that he inherited the Kaduna debacle. But can he truly beat his chest and say he has effectively deployed every trick under his belt if ever he has any? How much of the pot of cash he lifts every month as security vote has he effectively deployed towards fighting this now full-fledged menace?
Here is a clarion call on him to wake up. Indeed, he must now realise that time is running out on Kaduna!
