Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko
The Government erroneously see those who complain aloud, about the anomalies in the land, as enemies of the state, while assuming that the people who have adopted “siddon look” attitude, are patriotic citizens. Sad. The signs are everywhere. The country is drifting.
Check out the scenario.
First, the sectional and one-sided domination of the headship of all military, paramilitary and security agencies, creates despair, loss of faith and loss of confidence amongst the people. Then their desire to seize all the ancestral rivers, streams and waterways, create RUGA, pay and pamper armed bandits, instil fear and panic about the future of the country. Next, they pardon and release Boko haram fighters into the society, saying they have repented and therefore quickly rehabilitated and forgiven.
They say well-armed fighters who have the capacity to bring down Airforce jets, are not terrorists but businessmen bandits. They approach them in their jungle bases and even authorise one Sheik to visit and negotiate with them regularly. These pampered businessmen bandits kidnap and abduct innocent citizens, especially school children from time to time. They are negotiated with, paid and sometimes donated motorbikes while tons of food, is delivered to them in their forest camps, even as our gallant forces claim they can’t crush the bandits or rescue their unfortunate captives.
These great bandits, and their herdsmen wing sack villages, loot their food and livestock and burn down their homes, while our gallant forces and security agencies find it difficult to arrest, arraign and prosecute these villains, who act as if they are above the law.
Shockingly, these pampered armed fighters abduct hundreds of students and move them successfully into their forest hideouts without running into checkpoints or being challenged by a military that has received the highest funding ever, since the life of our nation.
Meanwhile, in the quiet peaceful regions of the country, dozens of checkpoints are deliberately planted along every road in the region, dutifully extorting money from hapless citizens, making it cheaper to transport a container of goods from China or Dubai to Lagos, than from Lagos to Aba or Onitsha. Sad.
Now, our compatriots jubilating and congratulating the Taliban in their social media posts over what they described as “driving away the infidels” and about to institute a strict religious Government in Afghanistan, may not fully understand the fear they are creating in the hearts of fellow Nigerians, who are shocked by the clear incompatibility of our countrymen.
Bearing in mind that ISWAP and Boko haram certainly enjoy some degree of sympathy from some of our compatriots, hence the difficulty in defeating them for years now, our countrymen who identify with the Taliban are only pushing and supporting the argument and narrative of secessionist agitators, that Nigeria is home to incompatible folks, who have no business stuck together in one country.
The refusal to reconstruct the polity back to what it was in the First Republic: Regional autonomy, resource control, true federalism and devolution of power as enshrined in the 1963 constitution, seems to suggest a hidden agenda towards hegemony dominance by certain folks.
We will lose nothing, if we consider the fears, real or imagined of our fellow countrymen and women that their future is threatened, and endeavour to reassure them that every citizen is safe by assuaging their fears of eternal domination, either by other section of the country or of one religion over another.
The ruthless brigandage of the Fulani herdsmen and the body language of the Government over perceived land grabbing(cattle colonies) ostensibly for the benefit and expansion of the Fulani herdsmen, do not, in all honesty, help contain the fear of Islamisation of the country, spreading all over the land.
It is the duty of leadership to always carry every section along and to reassure all, that their rights and liberty will always be protected.
The agitations in the land and the frightening insecurity eating up the country should be enough signal and warning that if we do not constantly reassure our citizens of their safety and protection of their rights and liberty, the country may gradually begin to slide towards irredeemable cracks that may be difficult to heal.
The signs don’t look good. The perceived sectionalism and nepotism reigning today, isn’t helping matters.
Those who are silently watching and waiting aren’t actually the most patriotic citizens. Most are secretly wishing that the worst happens.
Government must worry about these untoward and unhealthy signs. Government must begin to heal the land by addressing the issues inspiring despair and loss of faith.
Isn’t it time we begin the needful restructuring?
