Is Nigeria not being led down a blind alley?

By Andrew A. Erakhrumen

The Chapter 2, Section 14, Sub-section (2)(b) – one of the non-justiciable declarations – of the warped and fundamentally flawed (now ‘operational’) Constitution (or is it Decree 24?) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), put together under a mysteriously fuzzy arrangement and decreed with fiat, to life, do clearly and correctly, states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Nevertheless, do we need to ask if all successive Nigerian governments have done well concerning this vital provision of the document they have been ‘solemnly swearing’ to abide by, and defend, since the beginning of this Fourth Republic? If this question is asked in the east, north, south and west, of the country, the predominant answer will, undoubtedly, be ‘NO’! This, of course, is not a secret!

Governments, in Nigeria, had been, and are still, shying away from ensuring the security and welfare of ordinary Nigerians, even with the massive resources (human/material) available to them! Human life has become so cheap in Nigeria that its people are beginning to get used to regular killings of humans! The northern part of Nigeria is particularly in the gutter owing to this pervasive insecurity while ‘leaders’ there and their counterparts in other parts of the country are engrossed in their permanent quest to hold on to the unsustainable militarily-centralised power in a unitary ‘federal’ system of government. There is no basis for accusation of sectionalism here; we are being factual based on current realities. Objectivity is, obviously, required in analysing this position. Insecurity is now sorely uncontrollable, to governments, that some state governors are, in public, charging untrained, unarmed, disarmed and disillusioned residents of their states to ‘defend’ themselves against ‘bandits’ now belatedly designated as terrorists!

These well-armed enemies of Nigeria and Nigerians are: very much in control of vast spaces; hoisting flags that defy Nigeria’s sovereignty; deposing and installing village heads; imposing and extracting taxes; snatching and sexually exploiting females. No doubt, Nigeria is, today, in a serious mess! It is clear that other parts of Nigeria are not invulnerable, thus insecurity situation there is bound to worsen if those criminals causing chaos and crisis in the north succeed! The potentials for Nigeria’s current agonising experiences, regarding widespread insecurity, had been present before/shortly after the 1960 British-contrived ‘Nigerian independence’. For instance, these potentials (for crisis) were evidenced by the politically-motivated chaos/violence experienced in the defunct Western Region of Nigeria by 1963. This and other occurrences were eventually consolidated by the crass arbitrariness of the 15th of January, 1966.

The various politically-created fault lines, now unbearable cracks, were there, but left in latent states and/or merely managed/maintained, during the military juntas’ days. This is partly because most civilian politicians were, then, expecting the military politicians (in khaki) to leave the stage for them. With the wisdom of hindsight, it is now clear that the civilian politicians considered the usurping military politicians to be common ‘enemies’ that must be chased away from power, as at then, even with military’s audacious unwillingness to quit power! They even overthrew themselves to allocate crude oil wells! Of course, that is not the complete story! It will be a disservice if we gloss over the fact that many of the civilian politicians, then, went ‘into hiding’, kept mute or hankered after appointments of whatever kind from those anomalous military regimes! To the best of our knowledge, it was the civil society organisations that were mainly at the forefront in the ‘battles’ for restoration of civil rule in Nigeria!

It is noteworthy that civilians working with, and benefiting from, those military politicians appeared to see nothing wrong with the aberration known as military rule! Today, many of those opportunists have become ‘reborn’ democrats! Unfortunately, most of those brutalised by the military during the quest for restoration of civil rule were either distrustful of the sincerity behind the 1998/1999 transition to civil rule or relegated to the background while many of the military apologists got into power then and are still very much in power today! Now, we can clearly see that chasing military away from power was to enable civilian politicians recapture the commonwealth, for them, also, to brazenly loot and vandalise it, as they and former military politicians are currently doing with relish! So, considering what Nigerians describe as corrupt activities in government, neither the military nor civilian government appears to be better – today!

Shortly after the 29th of May, 1999 (when the ‘military’ – again, after the 1st of October, 1979 – handed political power over to the ‘civilians’), it was one violence/crisis or the other in most parts of the country. Thus, this scenario supports the strongly held opinion of those pointing accusing finger at the politicians as the main ‘culprits’ behind the insecurity challenges we currently encounter, anywhere and everywhere, in Nigeria! Those considering themselves as Nigeria’s political elite are so reckless that they appear to care less about security (insecurity) of those they claim to be ‘leading’. This may sound absurd but these ‘leaders’ appear not to see anything wrong with the currently raging maddening insecurity (a supposed insanity) gradually being firmly entrenched in our psyche as a way of life in the country! Certainly, we are not fooled; we are aware that these ‘counterfeits’ are far from being leaders but more of misleaders!

We have been said to be sounding like a broken record for consistently calling attention to insensitivity of governments regarding lack of adequate security and poor welfare of the ‘common man’. We are used to this and other derogatory remarks from thoughtless morons that downplay the number of people killed by terrorists! Therefore, we will continue to contribute to all sincere efforts, by well meaning and clear-headed humans, toward making Nigeria a better place to live in by today’s inhabitants and those yet unborn. With the way the rate of insecurity has been soaring in this country, it is obvious that we cannot continue on this path that leads us nowhere except a cul-de-sac! With the current clear manifestations, we may already be dangerously approaching this unwanted dead end! Those in government may not (and always really do not) want to hear and discuss this truth even as they are already aware of this possibility! 

Those in power including the corridor and bedroom of power may even not bother since they are in safe haven, now, and also have other places to run away to, if need be, now or later! Those currently holding elective and non-elective political positions and others struggling to succeed them – either from the same nebulous group or other equally vague groups fraudulently classified, in Nigeria, as ‘political parties’ – are seen as major part of the country’s problem. This is because they are contributing, willy-nilly, to the swelling pool from which criminals and criminalities are, daily, springing from! In order to prevent high blood pressure and possible heart attack, we are not expecting much from these slimy groups of politicians belonging to the same ambiguous ‘camp’ but discreetly engaging in well-planned subterfuge of presenting their groups – with no clear-cut ideal(s) – as different political parties! They cannot deliver!

Nigerians, particularly the ‘common man’, who are still being blind-folded to believe that there are currently more than one political party in Nigeria, should wake up from their deep slumber! They should quickly embrace, with both hands, the painful reality clearly showing that these charlatans/con-artists, wrongly called leaders, are ill-prepared for ‘real’ leadership meant for spawning and nurturing sustainable growth and development. These politicians (and many top civil servants) are well-prepared, solely, for their joint resolution to plunder the country’s commonwealth! We all may not be happy with the way the country is being run but it will not be ran better if we decide to abandon it to the same plunderers! That is their expectation! The country needs everybody to come together for the rescue mission! No one, except Nigerians, will solve their problem! Hence, as we always say, it is the responsibility of those with good intention for Nigeria, to continue to contribute their quota towards retrieving the country from ‘vampires’.

• Andrew A. Erakhrumen currently teaches at the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.