The picture of the present state of security in Nigeria leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Nigerians are living in fear and are not free to move around whether night or day without that inherent fear for their safety. Most people now sleep with one eye open as threats ranging from boko haram insurgents, kidnappers, armed robbers and hired assassins are always lurking at the corner.
Our highways have been overrun by bandits and if for any reason ones car develops a fault on our roads, especially in a lonely part, then you are in trouble as you stand a very high risk of being robbed or kidnapped.
At the beginning of the Buhari administration, he promised to eliminate the boko haram insurgents within the first three months of taking over power. Today the opposite is the reality, as this insurgents have overran territories in the Northeast and control several local government areas in Borno and Yobe States.
This same administration was quick to label the Independent People of Biafra, a secessionist group from the Eastern part of the country as terrorists, but treat boko haram insurgents with kid’s gloves. This administration has even supposedly rehabilitated some boko haram members and coopted them into the Army. What a country!
The prices of foodstuff and other commodities have skyrocketed and to top it all, the government has increased the price of petroleum products and electricity. Where is the hope for the common man? We hear in the news of the government’s new penchant for borrowing and one begins to wonder what they used the recovered Abacha loots for? At a time other nations are providing stimulus packages for their citizenry due to the loss of jobs and a stall to economic activities occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global lockdown, our government is busy making life more difficult and unbearable for the poor masses.
The offshoot of these indices is a growing rate of crime. An unemployed mass of youths who have no hope of securing jobs go into crime and other social vices. Like the saying goes an idle mind is the devil’s workshop and little wonder that most of our youths are resorting to kidnapping, 419(yahoo), prostitution and drug trafficking to eke a living.
We need to as a matter of urgency retrace our steps and set things right in our dear nation. At the present state of things, the future looks bleak indeed. Our leaders need to mend their ways before it is too late. We must endeavour to save the sinking Nigerian state.
Chief Dr Yomi Oduselu Hassan
Ekwueme 1 of Akumazi Kingdom
Chief Dr. Yomi Hassan
