By Carl Umegboro (Published by INDEPENDENT newspapers on 29 September,2016).
Albeit the erstwhile administration of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan didn’t make sizable progress on security of lives and properties, the incumbent All Progressive Congress (APC) administration has not fared better either since inception on account of indiscriminate killings which spreads rapidly and ubiquitously in the country. With the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in mind, precisely Section 14(2b) which provides that, “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, it is commonsensical to uphold that federal government needs to be proactive and invoke intensive reviews of some of its policies towards making a headway on the “welfare and security” of the people.
Comparatively, a US President cannot consider as trivial where just a citizen is deliberately deprived of his life on account of ethnic or religious romanticisms talk less of where a whole village is invaded with lethal weapons and indigenes bloods are randomly shed as that of animals during festivals or in abattoirs.
Prior to President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration, insecurity of lives and properties was undeniably frightening with the Boko Haram sect terrorizing and destroying lives and properties belonging to Christians and non-northerners but considerably within the shores of northern Nigeria. The government was able to control the sect from escalating outside its origin and operational base in the northern areas. Atrocities committed ranged from homicide on innocent citizens, corpers, children, women and abduction of school girls. Churches remain major targets which left several attacked and bombed during worship-services with records of casualties at the scenes. As a result, most southerners resident in the north frustratingly abandoned means of livelihood and relocated for dear lives while scores of citizens are presently at various Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
Eventually, since the inauguration of President Buhari, the sect which hitherto domiciled and operated only within its originating base in the north has progressed extremely to operating in the south-east, south-south and south-west geopolitical zones with impunity. Apart from disguising as herdsmen committing all manner of mayhems against helpless indigenes in their houses even while asleep at midnights in the South-east region, a businesswoman lost her life as well as another Christian-woman on early-hours evangelism. Sadly, the failure to bring the culprits to book has continued to aid its existence and operations, even with no form of punishments if at all, ever quizzed. The President, as a political leader ought to have convened a town hall meeting with his tribesmen in the North towards addressing the anomaly amicably since nepotism has unconsciously become a part and parcel of our societal deal. It is regrettable that despite the fact that Niger-Delta militants are fighting for a justified course, though in uncivilized manners, nevertheless, the groups have not failed to accord reverence to sacredness of human blood while disorganizing the economy. A question for the federal government in view of plethora of its constructive promises awaiting fulfilment is who will be the beneficiaries if citizens from other tribes are massacred like goats and cows in the abattoirs while government agencies vested with powers of checkmating lawlessness and crimes watch and do nothing?
No doubt, to reform the economy in line with the change mantra is outstanding, however, the objectives will be defeated if security of lives and properties which is the primary purpose of government is deficient with murder of citizens commonised, politicized and even celebrated in the name of tribalism or religion. By primacy, security precedes welfare; hence any government that fails to provide adequate security for its citizenry is a certified failure irrespective of soundness of political manifesto and economic policies. How do we justify the diversification of the economy to agriculture while farmlands are deliberately destroyed and its owners are incessantly butchered alive as public meats by the Fulani herdsmen with no one taking responsibility? In other countries of the world, the President ought to have been summoned to give account of the several heads of innocent citizens that were lost in any of these scenes, unfortunately, the legislators vested with oversight functions prioritized the ‘padding and unpadding’ of the nation’s budgets, and in extension, which female colleague to put to bed; married or not. As a counteractive mechanism, the present federal workforce should be reviewed as to reflect federal character such that no ethnic group arrogantly positions itself as the tribal group in power against autocratic tendencies. At 56, Nigeria cannot afford to continuously claim a ‘nascent’ democracy status.
Umegboro, public affairs analyst, social activist is the publisher, Pinnacle InfoGallery BLOG.
