State of the Nation

The African proverb goes, ‘You don’t
need to tell a blind man, it is
raining.’ Our ‘security status’ as a
country is worse than what full
blown AIDS is, to a HIV patient. Ours
is a situation of chaos. A tragic-
drama which not only dares but
rubbishes military might in the
wake of several bomb blasts in;
military (mami) barracks, merciless
bombing of police stations and
barracks, gunning down of security
agents in and out of duty; others
include, total climb down on both
native civilians and foreigners,
burning down of places of worship
(Churches and Mosques) and
government parastatals. These have
become a nightmare giving us a
bad name internationally. This
tragedy further unfolds a tragic-
comedy turning civilians to armed
militias and the military/police cum
para-military, civilians. What a mess
of ourselves!
Popular words on the lips of
Nigerians are; boko, bomb and
bullet. A sure creed for a people in
travail hopelessly hoping against
hope – looking up to a security
outfit that has failed either because
it has compromised its stand or it is
helpless due to its unsophisticated
armaments compared to those of
those threatening the unity and
integrity of our common existence
as a people and a nation. The ugly
state of affairs namely insecurity,
plus a poverty-stricken populace
unsure of the so-called dividends of
corruption-bound democracy
greased by privatization and the
deregulation of the petroleum down
stream sector, leaves much to be
desired.
The state of security in
our country is near a grave
experience, especially the north-
eastern part of Nigeria. A country
where the security of lives and
property has deteriorated to the
Hobbesian state of nature; a
situation of anarchy, total lack of law
and order, a precarious
circumstance of survival of the
fittest and the elimination of the
unfit, reveals nothing order than O.
Henry’s ‘banana republic.’ Such is
our situation – suspicion has
become the order of the day as the
number one citizen of the country
has made public confessions
Late President Musa Yar’adua was
confronted with the twin evils of
Niger Delta militancy/hostage taking
and boko haram (remote stage).
The economy was threatened – the
possessive south purposefully took
to its protective resource-control
resolve. The northern elite elicited
national support – ‘we are one
Nigeria.’ The 7-Point agenda/rule of
law disciple, thought fast and the
Amnesty Programme was born; the
Niger Delta Commission was
consolidated. With the initial
seeming quagmire gone,
restiveness became a thing of the
past as did the humble servant
himself.
A constant ritual now is butchering
our fellow human beings thus
turning our streets into abattoirs.
Nurses who nurse infants and
teachers who tutored same
suddenly wake up to see these
same children going after them for a
slaughter. Foreign investors are
vanishing. Looking at the wave of
attacks in our country and its antics,
one cannot but conclude that ours
is a case of orchestrated organized
crime.
The state of security as described
above reveals insecurity and
bewilderment in a country that
prides itself as the most populous
nation in black Africa. There are a lot
of maneuverings and intrigues in
this sensitive yet sensible matter of
unbending magnitude. These
intrigues include:

Security Vote: The issue of
security vote is a big fish as far as
government is concerned. Large
and mostly unaccounted sums are
purported to be spent on security.
Once it is security vote, no one
raises any eye braw. This is
indicative of a polity that finds a
leeway of doing away with money in
the name of maintaining peace –
fake peace, it is, because, once
there is peace, security vote
becomes a mirage.

Compromised commitments:
There are indications, that our
security has been compromised.
The popular game now is once
security agents are deployed to a
volatile area, in no time, you will see
some of them extorting money from
motorists while allowing them go
unchecked. Worse still, some will
remain in their camp and ask
prospective bidders to come and
pay money to be secured.If you do not
have money, you remain insecure.
The President has said the group
has infiltrated government, the
police and the military. The escape
and subsequent re-arrest of the
suspected boko haram master-mind
of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church,
Madala, Christmas day bomb blast,
Kabiru Sokoto and the drama that
followed the exit of the former
Inspector General of Police Hafis
Gingim and Zakari Bui, Commission
of Police in charge of the culprit’s
case, is not only a sign of
compromise of our security agencies
but a big shame on our national
sensibilities.
Fallout of Religious convictions/
fanaticism: The ugly state of affairs
in our country cannot be divorced
from religious coloration. The
bribery and corruption we are facing
today, which has further breaded
violence, is the undoing of religion.
Religious fundamentalism and
disorientation occasioned by
ignorance, poverty and unjust
structures have combined to create
the situation we find ourselves in.
The challenge of being unlettered,
the failure of sound moral family
values and aggressive/sadistic
preaching by illiterate and
disoriented clergy are burning
issues that have landed us where
we are.

Rudderlessness of the political
class: The political class has often
taken advantage of poor and
gullible Nigerians whom they use as
political thugs, agents of destruction
as evident in the April 2011 election
violence.

Betrayal of traditional rulers
and elder statesmen: The wisdom of
our elders seems silent in the face
of evil. We have grown to know and
belief that, ‘an elder doesn’t sit
down to watch a goat struggling to
give birth with a rope round its
neck.’ Some traditional leaders and
elder statesmen have been accused
of having a hand in the evil
crippling our nation. With things
taking this twist, what becomes of
our fate as natives living in the land
of our ancestors?
What we use to hear taking place in
Chad, Niger, Iraq and Palestine is
now bedeviling us. The media is not
even helping matters as sometime
it blows things beyond proportion or
whips regional, geographical,
political or religious sentiments. A
sad commentary it is that Nigerians
now attack each other on socials
networks like Facebook, 2go, Twitter
and Skype mostly based on the
divides of the largely Christian-south
and Muslim north. One wanders if
there are no Muslims in the south or
Christians in the north. We have
domesticated our thinking. In a
supper-highway world such as this,
we are sharp in accepting every
change except a change of
mentality (little wonder Akunyeli’s
rebranding did not work) because
no one can wake up and decide to
exterminate others and succeed.
Ask the Hutus and Tutsis of
Rwanda. In the face of all these
tribulations, how do we intend to
meet the demands of the MDGs?
How do we expect to rank high in
the globalised economy? How do we
intend to hold our heads high
among the League of Nations?
Way Out
Is there any way out of these evils?
Certainly, yes! We need to go back
to our roots – the principles of the
foundation of our country. We need
to rekindle the ideologies of the
founding fathers of dear and great
nation. Nationhood is built on the
ethics of being our brothers’ and
sisters’ keeper and the firm resolve
of the indispensable place of every
Nigerian created in the image and
likeness of God, for a purpose. Is
government alone in this matter?
Not at all – Security is every body’s
business – the police and the
policed. Community vigilance and
policing would not be out of place.
We have to watch dangerous
religious and ethnic affiliations,
which puts nationalism at risk
realizing that allegiance to the
nation, comes first. Where are the
stakeholders? Where are captains of
industries? Where are our NGO’s?
Where are our traditional and
religious leaders? Where are our
men and women of goodwill?
Shunning bribery and corruption,
going into government for self-less
service, commitment to duty by all
and sundry (security agents
especially), preaching and living out
peace, reinvestment and
empowerment and the good
example of leaders of every grade
will be bold steps in the right
direction.
It seems that sometimes we tend to
think for God. Our pitfall is the
product of religion without a soul. If
we submit to fatalism and
predestination, the place of reason
and freewill will definitely become
questionable. Only God can heal us
of our wounds. Since we live in time
and space, time equally, a divine-
product is the greatest healer.
Against all odds, counting our
blessings and not losses is key to
our myriad malaise.
Government and security agencies
must resolve to develop confidence
in the people. While justice is
unequivocal, peace must prevail for
reconciliation and reconstruction.
We need to nurse back to health,
our national psyche of, ethnic,
religious and socio-political
sentiments and underpinnings. No
one has ever been paid for being
public enemy number one. Giving
birth to many children one cannot
fend for only generates trouble for
society. Government must have the
political will power to prosecute
offenders. Our porous borders must
be on constant check. The National
Identity Card should of compulsory
usage; provision should be made for
those who do not have, to get theirs
to weed-out unlawful foreigners in
our country. Our security apparatus
which hitherto is the check-point
style needs a change; this means
our security agencies need a
change of tactics.
Nothing can really or truly
compensate for any life taken away
nevertheless, adequate
compensation to all families of those
who lost their lives ‘in-between the
bomb and the bullet’ (especially
security agents) is fundamental.
While the satisfaction of our material
needs by government is important,
what we need now mostly is, the
fulfillment of our invisible hunger
with ‘a civilization of love’ anchored
by the indivisible truth of the
integrity and oneness of our nation.

Excerpts from Bombs and Bullets by Fr. Justine John Dyikuk, a
Catholic Priest and a Public Affairs
Commentator.