EARLIER in the life of the present Federal Government, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua identified and accepted that one of the challenges facing the administration was the issue of security. At that point in time, the contradictions within the Nigerian society had almost produced a state of anarchy in which even the Nigerian state itself could not be absolved of having committed heinous crimes against certain communities within its borders like the Niger Delta region. This, it should be certain, was the backdrop against which the amnesty programme became inevitable.

THINGS were such that the Nigerian state whose insensitivity and ineptitude created the Niger Delta problem in the first place was forced to confront the militants who had moved from agitation to committing heinous crimes like kidnapping and hostage-taking of expatriates for ransom.  And when the militants agreed to lay down their arms, many Nigerians were stupefied by the volume and level of sophistication of the arsenal of the militants. Besides and more importantly, the security agencies of the Federal Government had become corrupted and compromised to such an extent that they could no longer be trusted to perform their statutory duties of apprehending and prosecuting crimes and criminality. The former President Olusegun Obasanjo even once admitted that the Nigeria Police had been infiltrated by armed robbers.

MATTERS have not been helped by the virtual inability of these security agencies to enforce laws in cases of ethno-religious murders which have heightened in Plateau State. We recall with indignation the speech made by President Goodluck Jonathan in his reaction to one of the gory incidents in Plateau State as to the commitment of the Federal Government to stamping out such bestial occurrences there. The speech has only served to encourage the killing spree. Rather than abate, many more people have been killed and those who have been arrested are yet to be arraigned before a competent court and punished.

IT is, therefore, becoming impossible to refute the impression that the Nigerian state is indeed irresponsible and inept. Apart from being incapable of solving the problems of insecurity which it created in the first place, it seems that some powerful elements within the system are behind these vicious crimes and they are profiting from them and sabotaging whatever efforts the state seems to be making at social control. Nigeria, as far as we know, is the only country in which the state negotiates with criminals, especially kidnappers. In the very recent case of the abduction of four journalists and their driver, the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, cut a pitiable picture as he resorted to primordial ethnic sentiments to persuade the abductors to release their captives. It was plain that he was not on top of his game. Although a traditional ruler was said to have been suspended, nobody has been arrested as far as we know, to be held responsible for the heinous act.

YET, Nigeria cannot expect that life and property will be secure at the behest of such a lax and lackadaisical attitude from the state. The issue of security is even vast and beyond mere protection of life and property. It begins with erecting a just and equitable system in which opportunities are equitably distributed amongst the citizens. Even this ideal is not a guarantee that crime will not exist but it will give the state a solid ground to repudiate and punish it when it occurs. Even in states which have reliable database of vital information of its citizens and their security details, crime still occurs regularly. But the case of Nigeria is that when crimes occur, it is almost impossible to identify and punish the criminals because the state and its apparatus lack the will and the system itself is operated by compromised and corrupt officials.

THIS is what has led to the existence of dubious parallel alternatives of security outfits which offer their services to the rich and influential citizens of the country at high prices. But this would have been needless if the state had lived up to its own end of the social contract between it and its citizens. Until the Nigerian society can erect a just and equitable social system, provide means of legitimate livelihood and opportunities for its citizens, the country will continue to be challenged by the issue of security. The corrupt and compromised officials of the state can only serve to exacerbate the problem and not in any way stem its vicious and consuming tide.

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment