EKITI STATE AND RURAL INSECURITY
Some weeks ago, Akin Rotimi, member representing Ekiti North in the House of Representatives, broke down while moving a motion for increased security for his people. His tears provided another poignant moment for Nigeria’s telling insecurity.
The surging insecurity in the state has hit at the very heart of the traditional institution. Two monarchs were killed last month in what was suspected to be an attempted kidnap.
Insecurity is a menace that contradicts tradition as well as convention. It spares no one. It takes no prisoners. If it was sparing, it would have refrained from taking the lives of the two Ekiti traditional rulers.
From Abuja to Kaduna to Imo, insecurity is ravaging Nigeria. It is tearing lives and livelihoods to pieces. Because of insecurity, many people now question their place in Nigeria. Indeed, they also question if at all they have a place.
Nigerians leaving the country conclude that they have no place here before they cross the Rubicon. Companies relocating from the country with employment opportunities also come to this fatal conclusion.
Nigeria’s disparate parts often find more discord than concord. This disunity remains a chief driver of Nigeria’s development problems.
Because the Northern elite and their counterparts from the South do not agree on some common variables, Nigeria remains rooted to a spot of rot.
Whenever and wherever insecurity strikes in Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen and their likes are always the principal suspects. The North disputes this, however, despite overwhelming evidence. While it is not uncommon for the kinsmen of criminals to refuse to hand them over to the authorities, it is precisely that attitude that is holding Nigeria back.
It appears from all indications that the sprawling insecurity which led to the formation of the Amotekun group is making a comeback. Owo still remembers when worshipers were mauled down in church. Chief Olu Falae would still remember his encounter with kidnappers. The entire Southwest remembers the skirmishes different villages have had with kidnappers.
There is also a distinct recollection that the chaos in Nigeria’s Northwest and Northeast did not flare up in a single day. It started little by little. When a community’s security is breached, more than tangible things are lost. A breach of security leaves very deep wounds. It shatters any sense of serenity and even defiles the sanctity of such a community. In fact, it trivializes what they hold sacred.
It is what the good people of Ekiti North are experiencing at the moment. It is what Akin Rotimi, their representative, brought to the floor of the House of Representatives.
The loss of traditional rulers who the Yoruba hold in divine esteem is a cruel blow to the people. It invariably means that more people are questioning their place in Nigeria.
Amotekun operates in the Southwest. The group was formed for a time like this. It indicts the Nigerian state that in the face of such an iniquitous assault on the sensibilities of the people of Ekiti North, the people would rather place their confidence in a vigilante group than the agents of state.
It is just the second month of the year, but the insecurity troubling Nigeria is indeed a very vicious one. The new government is a few months from reaching a year in office, but already its hands are full of Nigeria’s security concerns.
It would appear that efforts are in full flow to discredit the new government so early in the day. And it has gone beyond optics. Every effort channelled towards discrediting a government that is still trying to find its feet is in itself incredibly dangerous to the Nigerian people. Every effort directed at sabotaging Nigeria’s security and sowing fear highlights the many dangers facing Nigerians as citizens of a country where insecurity is rife.
The two monarchs were killed in rural areas. That in itself serves as a pointer to a problem that won’t just go away. The entire country may be insecure, but it is the rural areas that have borne the brunt of this insecurity. Deadly attacks have concentrated there, displacing thousands and destroying countless means of livelihood. Crucially, the attacks also sow fear by showing that Nigeria’s rural areas which used to be an oasis of serenity and security have since become unrecognizable.
Ike Willie-Nwobu,
