Nigeria: Unprecedented Times - by Emmanuel Nwachukwu

We have not trod this path before. These are unprecedented times. It is foolhardy for anyone to believe now that they are safe in the current climate of bastardly carnage unfolding in the country. Hundreds, if not thousands of our fellow citizens, have lost their lives so far this year and many more have been maimed for life. The scores of people who are killed or kidnapped on a daily basis in villages in the North-East go unreported because this has ceased to be news because of its frequency. The dead must now bury the dead.

Everyone is a target of this maniacal army. Even the poor banana hawker trying to eke out a living from the daily drudgery of life was not spared the recent Emab Plaza bombing in Abuja; poor people cut down in a bastardly act of heartless destruction. Sadly, the poor have borne the brunt of casualties from this insurgency; the people that are least able to cope with the aftermath. All of this, in the name of religion!

We have lost more people in one year from acts of terrorism in Nigeria than the numbers killed in the Irish Republican Army terrorist campaign in the United Kingdom that lasted 30 years. We are in a war, in all but name. The difference is that there are no frontlines. The enemy is in our midst, and as we were told by the President they are even in his government.

How did we get here, many have asked?

A problem that could have been contained early was allowed to fester because of the incompetence of leadership and the lackadaisical attitude of government, both at federal and state levels. Even the President earlier this year on his trip to Namibia admitted that his government had hitherto dealt with the insurgency issue with kid gloves. This was a regrettable admission of ineptitude. The consequence of this at both federal and state levels is that a small group of insurgents have been allowed to grow into a monstrous maniacal army, seemingly at will to choose their target.

The political elite in the North cannot absolve themselves from the causes of this crisis.The seeds of this insurgency were sown over many years by successive state governors who preferred to give arms to their people rather than invest in education and job-creating infrastructure. They helped sow the wind; now, we must all reap the whirlwind. Like their counterparts in the South, they embarked on a primitive acquisition of wealth from state resources, acquiring real estates in London and Dubai, whilst their people eked out a living in mud houses, on less than a dollar a day. If those youths in the North had jobs building roads or working in factories, they would not have been ready recruits for Boko Haram.

From Washington to London and from Paris to Beijing, global attention has turned on Nigeria following the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls. Who would have thought that the hashtag, ‘BringBackOurGirls’ tweeted by an Abuja-based lawyer, Ibrahim Abdullahi, from a speech given at a UNESCO event by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili would have captured the world’s attention and triggered demonstrations all across the globe. But for the concern this campaign generated globally, these poor girls would most probably have been forgotten. Perhaps, it is a blessing that the world attention is now on Nigeria. Sadly, given our antecedents in dealing with these matters, the prognosis for the rescue of these girls is not good, but we must continue to trust God for a miracle.

It would appear that the government is now beginning to address this insurgency head-on from its regular press briefings. Hitherto, they seemed to be in denial, with Presidential aide, Dr. Doyin Okupe, rolling out the usual mantra that the government was on top of the situation, even when Boko Haram was bringing the fight to the heart of the capital territory. Being in denial will not make the problem go away, or labelling as opposition those who tell you the truth. At some point, as government, these challenges would have to be addressed head-on, as it appears our security agents are beginning to do. We must all rally round them and give them all the support they need. The government must now speed up the reform of the Police, including their training, to make this institution fit for purpose. The current Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, unlike his predecessors, has shown some seriousness and will to address the failings of his establishment. He should be allowed to complete this task. This is not the time for a change of guards for an unknown.

At the root of this insurgency and the wave of crime all across Nigeria is corruption and the failure of government both at federal and state levels to engage our youths in gainful employment. The President may be sincere in his commitment to move Nigeria forward but his advisers have not served him well, and indeed Nigeria by default. For the sake of Nigeria, the President must now clear the decks of all these advisers that feed him falsehood and tell him what he wants to hear. Whilst most people agree that corruption has never been worse in Nigeria, the President appears completely oblivious of this elephant in the room, seeming even at times to defend corruption or re-label it as something else, insulting our collective intelligence. Whilst his peers in saner climes would distance themselves from individuals that have any taint of corruption, Jonathan seems to do the opposite, embrace them. He pardons these individuals and appoints them and their spouses to government positions, sending the wrong message to Nigerians that corruption pays. This is regrettable. You cannot deal with a problem until you acknowledge it exists.

Even our justice system has not been spared the brush of corruption with prosecutions taking so many years to go through the court system. The lack of punishment and swift justice are themselves enough motivation for insurgents to continue their acts of terror. In a country where the wheel of justice grinds ever slowly under the weight of corruption and incompetence, justice has become the casualty.

There is no doubt that the President is doing his best to restructure and reposition the economy, not least by the privatisation of electricity generation and distribution. No doubt, these policies would yield fruits in the long run, but he must first address the inferno at our gates. He must take his eyes off 2015 and deal with the problem on the ground.

The victims of the recent bombings in Abuja, Jos, Kaduna, and Kano, including the 47 students who were murdered in their sleep in Yobe and the thousands of nameless casualties, including our security agents that have paid the ultimate price for protecting us must not be allowed to fade from our memories. We urge the President to dedicate posthumously this year’s honours list exclusively to the memory of these Nigerians. The least a government can do is to afford these victims the dignity of a name and a memorial to remember where they fell.

...Emmanuel Nwachukwu is an International Business Consultant based in London