The strongly-worded statement by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), last Saturday urging Nigerians to rise up and protect themselves because the federal government was no longer able to protect her citizens against kidnappers and marauding criminals in different parts of the country, is one alarmist correspondence that will do nothing to ameliorate the worsening security condition of the nation because any resort to self-help risks widening existing cleavages, fan the embers of disunity and make a bad situation worse. Against the backdrop of repeated kidnappings of students that has led to school closures in the region, the NEF called on northern governors to explore avenues that could give them more powers to protect and secure their citizens because “it has become painfully obvious that the federal government is unable to muster the will or the capacity to limit exposure of Nigerians to violent criminals,” NEF said in a statement in Kaduna by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. The indubitable truth is that insecurity is transforming into a hydra-headed monster and it should be clear to all well-meaning Nigerians that the situation in the north has continued to spiral out of control and now threatens the unity of the whole country. Mr. President should do all within his enormous presidential powers to prevent a groundswell of popular anger against his government.
That President Muhammadu Buhari does not appear to grasp the gravity of the crisis his administration and the country faces is daily advertised by his sometimes frivolous words and deeds. In reaction to the recent wave of kidnappings of students from their hostels, headlined by last Friday’s abduction of 317 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State by terrorists, Buhari, in a statement by his media assistant, Garba Shehu, admonished school owners across the country, to militarize college campuses and scale up security in their environments, saying this was in keeping faith with the standards laid down by the UN-backed Safe School Programme of his administration. “The President reiterated his earlier advice to school owners particularly, the state and local governments as well as religious organisations to scale up security around their schools in line with the standards laid down by the UN-backed Safe School Programme of the administration,” the statement stated.
These are unusual times. This is an unusual war. It requires uncommon patriotism and strategy. What this time calls for is not politics as usual, but a clear reality check and dispassionate decision that would promote unity and attain peace in the nation. It is obvious that the orgy of killings of innocent citizens and destruction of property has escalated rather than abating. The criminals have even expanded their activities through the unwholesome abduction of hundreds of students from their hostels. But here was the president of the federal republic of Nigeria; the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces telling students that they are on their own. By his perfunctory action, Buhari in effect, is asking State governments and religious denominations that run private schools to take over responsibility for the security of their students. The president’s position is so illogical and provocative to give rise to the conclusion that he clearly spoke without thinking.
Many Nigerians now find no reason to believe that their “security and welfare” is the “primary purpose” of this government.” The NEF may have sounded alarmist, but their frustrations resonate with most Nigerians. “In spite of assurances from the federal government that it will end banditry and kidnappings, the life of the Nigerian is becoming more endangered by the day, and citizens have lost faith that governments will reverse the successes of the criminal against defenseless citizens. Northern Elders Forum shares the profound shock and outrage of Nigerians at the spate of kidnappings of boarding school children in different parts of the North. Apart from the likelihood of similar abductions re-occurring as bandits engage in copycat crimes in a region that is basically unprotected, these abductions will severely damage the poor state of education in the North, particularly girl-child education,” the NEF statement noted.
Granted that the NEF may have felt constrained to speak out partly out of frustration with the way the Buhari administration is handling the deteriorating security, political, and social situation especially in the northern part of the country; granted too, that the NEF, being in the thick of events, feel like most northerners, the impact of the kidnapping and the heat of Boko Haram’s terrorist acts; nevertheless, in content and in form, their statement could be interpreted as a call to insurrection, hence improper. The language was indecorous and inappropriate to their status as elders; and the assertions that some would even describe as wild and unguarded, were just plainly scare-mongering and irresponsible.
The accusatory missive is characterized with harmful grandiloquence and seethes with disdain against the Buhari administration with frightening prognostications; it was a statement that, even as it claims to address an urgent and important national issue, is severely diminished in appeal and concern. It is further rendered unacceptable by, first, being directed to a section of the whole and second being substantially focused on northern concerns. If, as the saying goes, the problem of a part is the problem of the whole, for the reason that the clear and present danger threatens everyone, the NEF should have addressed their statement not only to their fellow northern Governors but to the people of Nigeria that they see on the verge of disaster.
The statement though divisive, rabble-rousing and because it risks pitting a section of Nigeria against another, the implication of its content is dangerous to the polity, given that Christians in the north have been subjected to an ethno- religious campaign of hate fueled by some northern governors with the tacit support of the federal government. It must however be put on record that the NEF has invested too much energy into generally, bad-mouthing President Buhari and his government. Whereas well- meaning criticisms are in order in a democratic society, the NEF would be of greater help if it would be more analytical in its submissions, as well as offer specific, practical solutions to the problems facing the nation. Indeed, as a prominent northern group, their thinking and suggestions would be of tremendous importance. It is advisable that anyone who would comment on the insecurity crisis facing the nation should thoroughly think through his or her position and propose solutions instead of stating the obvious failures or trading blames.
What is needed from the NEF is not just endless criticism of the President but constructive efforts to aid the war against terror and insecurity, primarily in northern states, and the country as a whole. No doubt, the war against insurgents has been waged with a great deal of incompetence especially on the part of the political leadership at both the Federal and State levels. The President and northern governors, given their words and deeds, seem to have become part of the problem. Also, the possibility that fifth columnists exist in the prosecution of the war can no longer be discountenanced. Indeed, there are indications of the spawning of a conflict economy from the ongoing campaign as spurious contracts are being awarded with little or no results. Buccaneers have continued to feed fat from the war.
These conflict entrepreneurs would obviously want the crisis to continue in order to remain in business. Buhari must come clean on allegations by the Northern Youth Movement (NYM), of complacency by the army which enabled the invasion and abduction of 317 girls from the Zamfara school, reportedly located less than 100 meters from a military check point; and that the escalation of acts of terrorism including the rampant kidnapping of students, were being masterminded to justify the huge security allocations for the anti-terrorism effort. The time has therefore come, for the Nigerian military to redeem its image by winning this war for the country. The war demands a great deal of professionalism while the political leadership must honestly make available the resources needed by the military for the war effort, including catering fully for the welfare of the soldiers. The same Nigerian military has good track records in international peace operations, and it is quite capable of winning this war.
