Bomb Blast, Abducted Girls And Insecurity In Nigeria

By Bilikis Bakare

The spate of insecurity in the country is becoming very alarming. While we are yet to come to terms with the nightmarish Nyanya bomb blast and the abducted school girls, lightening struck twice at Nyanya on the last Workers’ Day. Security is one of the most important pre- conditions for human existence. Public safety and security, sometimes referred to as protection of lives and properties, is a sine qua non for a viable and sustainable society. Indeed, without a measure of public safety, normal human activities that enable a society exist, thrive and grow will be severely compromised. Every day in Nigeria, the news seems to get from bad to worse, as the security situation deteriorates. How we got to this stage is a mystery as few years back, we were acting big brother to other African nations in crises , by sending peace keeping forces to safeguard lives and properties in the affected countries.

It is now a common phenomenon to wake up to the news of bombings, of children butchered in their sleep, kidnapping, communal clashes, Fulani herdsmen palaver and lately the abduction of innocent girls from their hostel at Government Girls’ College, Chibok, Borno State. The girls were herded off to an unknown destination, although it was later discovered that they are being kept in Sambisa forest after some of them escaped from their captors. The emotional state of the parents of those still in captivity is indescribable as a Yoruba adage says : “a dead child is better than a lost one”.

We did not just wake up to find ourselves in this mess; it is a result of accumulation of national problems ranging from bad leadership, corruption, unemployment, illiteracy and unnecessary wrangling among the political class. The desperate, intolerant and ruthless contests among political parties, political leaders and their followers is partly responsible for security challenges in the country. Nigerian politicians will do anything to be successful at the polls, including disrupting the peace enjoy by the citizens. Sadly, some of those that  perpetrate instability have a way of escaping from their actions, leaving the vulnerable members of the society- women and children – to bear the brunt.

In the words of Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people: “a lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity “. There is lack of transparency on the part of our leaders which is making the people to have the notion that the former are insincere and lacking the feeling of empathy. In the face of flagrant display of affluence by those in power , and a few of their collaborators, the underprivileged in the society have no option but to resort to dastardly acts such as kidnapping, ritual killings, vandalisation of public properties and, perhaps, bombings as a way of settling scores with their perceived ‘oppressors’.

The unemployment situation in the country partly promotes insecurity. According to a World Bank statistics , youth unemployment rate in the country is 38%, but realistically, 80% of Nigerian youths are unemployed with secondary school graduates mostly found among unemployed rural population, accounting for about half of this figure, while Universities and Polytechnic graduates make up the rest of the figure. Ironically, our tertiary institutions continue to churn out over 150,000 graduates annually. The result is that we now have a army of idle youths who are ready made tools foe mischief makers. Since an idle hand is the devil’s workshop, most of our unemployed youths are now the tools being used to destabilise the country. Attesting to this is a report of a foreign journalist which revealed that the insurgents in the north lure idle youths into the group through pecuniary gains.

Illiteracy is also a major cause of insecurity and a major factor of instability in our polity. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) reports that one out of every five Nigerian children is out of school, topping the table of 12 other countries with which it accounts for 47% of global out- of- school children population. These out of school children, sizeable number of whom can be found in the Northern part of the country, where Boko Haram holds sway, do anything to survive because they lack formal trainings or skill acquisitions. Naturally, it is easier to brainwash an uneducated mind with religious and other primordial  sentiments that could lead to instability in the society.

Insecurity as it is in Nigeria has dangerous consequences. For one, it threatens the very existence of our nation thereby making nonsense of the labour of our heroes past towards nation building. Second, it slows down progress in all dimensions. It is a general truth that no concrete development could be attained in an atmosphere of instability. On the educational front, for instance, development is being affected as schools in the affected places have been under lock for an upward of 10 months. Third, it is leading to a serious dent on the image of the country within the international country. we now have cases where some countries warn their citizens concerning visiting Nigeria. Equally, Nigerians living abroad and those willing to travel abroad have become subjects serious ridicule as they are exposed to all manners of unbelievable treatments.

It is, therefore, imperative that we collectively make concerted efforts to address current security situation in our country. irrespective of ethnic, religious, cultural, political and other such divisive affiliations, all of us have a duty towards maintaining peaceful co-existence in the country. our leaders need to give   every member of the society a sense of belonging by providing equal opportunities to all irrespective of societal status. We need to lay much emphasis on human capital development, especially in places with higher rate of instability. Government at all levels should creatively fashion out security measures that could stem the tide of insecurity across the land.

Finally, our leaders need to eschew all divisive tendencies and other acts that could further throw the county into crisis. This is not the time for our leaders, no matter how politically expedient ,

•Bakare wrote from Alausa, Ikeja.