Each time I ruminate on why nations rely on their youths, what immediately comes to my mind is the recruitment of the youth into security organization and other agencies. No country can overlook the importance of its youths. No wonder the creator specifically said that we should serve him in our youthful days.
In Nigeria, like in every other country, the youths are always the backbone of the nation. The United Nations believes that “to identify a youth, age is the easiest way to define this group, particularly in relation to education and employment, because ‘youth’ is often referred to a person between the ages of leaving compulsory education and finding their first job.”
They are resourceful, vibrant, energetic, ambitious and hopeful. These attributes can either be used positively or negatively. That is one reason for the establishment of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, but it has not helped the country to better organize Nigerian youths.
The disclosure by the Ministry of Education that the number of out-of-school children stands at 10.1 million means an increase of more than three million from last year. Also, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that Nigeria’s unemployment rate by the second quarter of 2020 was 27.1%, indicating that 13.9 million Nigerian youth were unemployed. To better understand the gravity of the time bomb in our hands, a rough estimate puts the total number of unemployed youths in Nigeria as the combined population of Liberia and Rwanda. Yet, Nigerian leaders are not showing any practical concern or moves or plans to take these unemployed army of youths out of the streets. The political promise of President Muhammadu Buhari to provide jobs for 10 million youths now sounds like a broken record. Even if the Federal Government has failed to provide jobs, what about the state governors? The question is, why are governors, with abundant raw materials in their states, not taking the initiative to establish factories to absorb these youths? Why is the country not providing the necessary convenient atmosphere for youths to avail themselves as budding entrepreneurs? Today, because government at every level has failed, Satan has provided evil jobs for many of these idle youths.
Every part of the country now boasts of armed youth gangs. Snce government cannot provide jobs for them, the devil has engaged them as brigands. The result is that we have an abundance of bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and local cult gangs littering every state, in addition to foreign armed herdsmen and Boko Haram terrorists.
Many of them are products of devilish politicians who recruit, arm and deploy these youths as political thugs. Painfully, the likes of Gani Adams, Sunday Igboho, Nnamdi Kanu, Asari Dokubo, leaders of Eastern Security Network and many other warlords are some of the youths who have grabbed leadership by force and now government and members of the public have accepted them as leaders in the society. They make pronouncements and the people obey. The government created the opportunity for them.
To reverse the situation, government must live up to its responsibility and take over the rulership of the people. Using the barrel of gun will not solve the situation, except through dialogue.
More touching is the spate of attacks on police stations, thereby changing the narrative where, instead of the police chasing criminals, the reverse is the situation. Even the Buhari government alarmed the citizenry by disclosing that it was overwhelmed and the only solution at its disposal was to redirect the nuzzle of the gun at the people. Governments across the globe have increased their determination to provide employment and create very conducive environment for their youths. Many have asked why the Federal Government promised an Utopia of jobs for the youths, adding that it would remove 10 million unemployed youths from the streets, instead what we have is the reverse and many youths are being killed.
——————————————————IGP Baba’s missionary journey
Missionary journeys are, ordinarily, associated with religious groups who use such opportunities to spread the gospel. It usually encompasses what is described as a journey arranged to propagate a specific message to a selected group of people. Such journeys become a benison to the listeners who, after rapt attention to the propagator, assimilate the message with the intention to swing to the messenger. In fact, missionaries are game changers. They help those who have derailed to be be recalled, like the recalcitrant cow that steps away from the group only to be “whipped” back into the fold. Last year was a watershed for the almighty security agency, the Nigeria Police. Pitifully, its ego was bruised and its almightiness was seriously challenged. It all started in 2017 when the social media was awash with a trending theme known as “#EndSARS” and the question in the security circle was, “What is #EndSARS?”
Even the police couldn’t decode it, as the Inspector-General at the time, Mr. Idris Ibrahim, hurriedly handed over without providing any explanation to his successor, Mr Muhammad Adamu, who, despite the raging agitation of determined Nigerian youth activists who sought the abolishment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), did little about it.
Unfortunately, in October 2020, an unsurmountable horror enveloped the country, which accounted for the death of scores of policemen plus the wantom destruction of police properties, while guns were carted away.
IGP Adamu, who was good in rehashing old security ideas by previous police leaders, could not lay hands on any; so he resorted to borrow the US version of SWAT as the solution to the protest against police brutality. Many could not believe their eyes seeing police personnel scampering for safety. They were hiding their uniforms and anything that could give them out as policemen. Many were slaughtered and were made a public show. Nigeria Police was shamed under IGP Adamu. However, the big APC government broom eventually swept him off the exaulted seat ignominiously, opening the door for the appointment of Usman Alkali Baba.
Since his appointment on April 6, 2021, he has exhibited restraint not to project himself as one who is desperate to handle the saddle. Observers believe he would not venture to wear the same egoistic coat as his predecessor, by exhibiting some traits of humility and milk of human kindness, added to his understanding of human rights.
The IGP whom many police officers have come to regard as their father, was quoted recently during his missionary journey across the southwestern states, when he urged personnel of the police to be professional in handling criminals, adding that suspects and convicted criminals are entitled to human rights.
(To be continued)