Insecurity: The Bane of Northern Nigeria

For the umpteenth time, Nigerians continue to wail and lament the overwhelming gale of insecurity in the country. On a daily basis, we are beset with the miasmas of heinous activities such as: killing and maiming of scores, kidnapping, banditry, insurgency, cattle rustling, communal and farmer’s clashes, amongst others. These cascading crises plaguing and ravaging our nation only compound myriad of problems that confront our daily existence and constantly enervate us to our very soul. Thus, the term ‘security’ has no foothold in our socio-politicized space.

While this baleful reality remains our lot, we should be bothered that the Northern part has become an epicenter for these perturbing absurdities. To be candid, the situation is deteriorating by the day as schools and hospitals are now turned into hideouts for criminals, farmlands into training grounds for criminals, houses into graveyards, with people going to bed with one eye open in fear of being killed or kidnapped. Indeed, these existential threats simply thrust the Northern region into chaotic and cluttered conditions which fuel the flames of crime, criminality and religious intolerance.

The sad fact about this ugly reality is that the President and the Northern governors seem unmoved and unconcerned about the dwindling and failing state of security in the North. The facts are clear as it takes government officials days before an official statement is released, or they simply keep mum about the unwarranted killings and kidnappings as nothing substantive is done and the marauders walk away freely to other communities unleashing violence and mayhem on the poor masses. Therefore, in hindsight, we can say that the incompetence of the government and her negligence to address these issues suggest that there is a cynical propaganda that undergirds these killings, for there is certainly more to these issues than meets the eyes.

While our hearts continue to bleed profusely from the harms caused by traumatizing insecurity challenges our government needs to be reminded that they have an obligation to fulfill to every Nigerian, it is constitutional; they are to safeguard the lives and properties of the citizenry. Thus, they must understand that our brothers and sisters, who get killed, abducted, displaced, and injured, as a result of these monumental insecurity challenges in the North are Nigerians, and as such should not be reduced to pawns used for their political agenda. The daredevils who persistently enjoy a field day in many parts of the country, more especially in the North, should be brought to face the law for their evils.

If the government fails to heed this call, then our many challenges cannot also be resolved. This is because any country that remains beleaguered cannot experience growth and progress. At this point, we do not need a prognosticator to tell us the effects of insecurity on the North and in other parts of Nigeria. Something must and should be done especially as we inch towards the 2023 general election. Fear grips the hearts of many who wish to change the sad narratives that inundate the cover pages of our national dailies.

Tobechukwu Johnpaul Nwabuisi, melchi5801@gmail.com