Nigeria is rolling in the gutter. It’s been in that stench for some time now, especially since the last eight years of the tall man from Katsina.
There was never a government so confused, so inept, as his. He scared the sitting President away and, having grabbed power, he never knew what to do with it until he gratefully dumped it on the man whose ‘turn’ it was.
Ironically, the blood of the baboons he threatened to unleash if he was denied peaked in his time and got bolder. It was like the recruits for the plot refused to be disarmed when the easygoing man from Bayelsa quietly let them have their way.
Boko Haram did not return our Leah and others they had been encouraged to steal. The fiends got more daring, even gunning for the very heads of their friends.
We were relieved to witness May 29 last year.
Sadly, we could not even heave an expected sigh of relief when news began to filter in that the outgoing government had handed over an empty shell. Even our crude had been mortgaged for loans we had no evidence of what they were expended on.
The new government, which came on the mantra of Emilokan (my turn), found it difficult to explain to Nigerians what their turn was to do. Is it their turn to save or damn them as seemingly evident? Pray, what is in the package?
Nigerians have only seen a continued trek on the pernicious road of profligacy and lootocracy. They cannot yet comprehend what hit them and why over N180 million should be budgeted for the construction of a mere borehole in a country where many are hungry.
This is not a strange occurrence though. That was why the President had to assent to this weird budget whereas he should not: because it has been the norm for politicians. He dared not toe a different route lest they slip on their banana peels.
Of course, you never know where the water from the borehole would be imported from. Would it be mined from this same coarse Nigerian earth? You never know; it could be an antidote to our multifarious diseases so that these same politicians would stop wasting our lean resources on medical pilgrimage to the United Kingdom or France.
Nevertheless, one wishes they would at least save our land from the ceaseless bloodbath that makes nonsense of our humanity.
Imagine wasting 17 soldiers on a touted peace mission in Okuama, Delta State, just like that like chickens. Nobody has even told us who invited them to the peace mission. It is hoped that warlords did not invite them into illegal private wars as alleged. Whatever, how could the country lose such a number of prized men like that? Imagine the carnage around the country and yet we carry on as if nothing is amiss because it is yet to hit our doorsteps.
I pity the foolish youths who allow themselves to be used and dumped by politicians and buccaneers. They would ship their loved ones to safety but push the ‘useless dregs’ of society to do the mean work for them. They deliberately emasculate these youths and preserve them for use every four years when they unleash them on society to snatch ballot boxes, kill and maim. But it never occurs to these misused individuals to ask their sponsors to bring their children to lead the attack.
Unfortunately, the ripples of the misadventure are long in abating. Having armed these hoodlums on their way to power, the politicians don’t demobilise and disarm their goons. They become too content with the spoils of office to bother. They would secure themselves but the evil armies they created now vents their anger and frustration on a hapless society, turning the guns on everyone and everything. Kidnapping, robbery and sundry crimes have become rife, making society very unsafe and unwholesome.
What is there to be proud of in this country, Nigeria? You are here this second but may not be here the next. Not because your maker has called you home but because some demented servant of Satan has determined to cut your life short for no just reason.
Nigeria has degenerated into a minefield of death; a thick forest littered with the bones of its children, which it has devoured. At every provocation, or none at all, blood flows unrestrained into the murky waters. People have sold their conscience to the devil and the only way to serve this god is to shed innocent blood.
The country is contending with multiple security issues, ranging from the intractable Boko Haram insurgency to its kindred spirit called killer herdsmen. The insurgents, we are told, have been defeated many times, technically or otherwise, yet they are still a security threat.
The herdsmen feed people’s sweat to their cows and kill the owners, if they protest. Everywhere, from the East to West, North and South, there are bloody trails all over.
The new entrants, alias bandits, are all over the place, besieging Southern Kaduna, Niger and Zamfara states, and everywhere. The Zamfara debacle is worsened by the unrelenting waste of human lives mostly orchestrated by an organised syndicate of illegal miners.
Yet no serious efforts have been made to halt this, to regulate the solid minerals sector. Whereas all eyes are on the oil from the South, which belongs to ‘all’, the solid minerals in the North belong to northerners, and those fingered for their pilfering are rewarded with high political offices.
The Chibok schoolgirls are still in captivity several years after their abduction, and Sister Leah Sharibu is also held by the Boko Haram Frankenstein. The uninspiring singsong of governments, ensuing from a broken tom-tom for a very long time is verbose, empty promises. Yet many more pupils are being kidnapped daily.
The government is taking Nigerians for a ride. However, the current government must rid itself of the vestiges of the one before. It must not be forgotten that some innocent children, men and women are trapped in the wild of wired gangsters bereft of sense and reason. It must make our roads and farms safe again.
The blood of innocent Nigerians is wantonly splashed on the national conscience, smudging it. It is very reasonable to expect that one of the first steps the President must take, as we go to the Next Level, is to tackle the insecurity menace so that Nigerians can sleep with both eyes closed.
That is not to say he should mortgage Nigeria to proxy bandits. There seem to be bandits in the bush and bandits in the city. Those pushing to lead negotiations with bandits could be part of the larger picture. They know the bandits and where they are. They should provide the necessary intelligence needed to bust the heinous gang, if they are patriotic and not clout-chasing or seeking a bite of the accruable largesse from the ransoms paid. Leaving them loose makes them bigger than other criminals.
Talking about negotiation, does anyone know the grouse of the bandits? Apart from criminally enriching themselves through ransom-taking, what is the subject of negotiation? It is preposterous to negotiate with a recalcitrant criminal whose agenda is solely to steal, kill and destroy.
Sadly, even some security operatives are compromised. Reports that some of them escort ransom payers to the kidnappers’ den are worrisome and must be investigated.
Only force can crush this madness. This has been exemplified in the heroic rescue of 137 schoolchildren abducted from a school at Kuriga in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State on March 7, 2023, and taken hostage.
Nigerians must stand up for the gallant officers who made this happen on Sunday, March 24. It shows that with the right motivation and input, victory over evil is closer than we think. Now those who hope to reap from the proceeds of needless negotiation have gone kaput.
There seems to be a sinister plot against President Bola Tinubu’s government and he must pull all the strings to make sure the string is torn asunder. He needs international collaboration to deal with this menace. He must do this, and do it now. May his ‘turn’ make the desired difference in the country so that posterity would remember him in peace.