Some Thoughts on Terrorism, Unemployment and National Security Looking at what is happening in Nigeria today, it is impossible to remain silent. Our country stands on the precipice. We are literally reduced to issuing messages of condolences, but such messages; even though offer some feelings of solidarity and hope, are not capable of solving our problems. At a critical time like this, it is important we emphasize our shared humanity, and that as Nigerians, our destinies are inter-woven in many different ways. It is also important to jettison our political differences and support each other to confront those issues that threaten our very existence as one nation. The success of any government is not the success of the political party in power alone; it is the success of all Nigerians. Likewise, the failure of any government is not the failure of the ruling party alone, it affects us all. Therefore our support for the success of any government in power is not conditioned on political or personal allegiances, it is a duty borne out of pure patriotism and national sacrifice. That however, does not mean we should refrain from speaking the truth to power no matter how inconvenient. It is our constitutional obligation as responsible citizens to ensure that government lives up to its responsibilities. Pointing to the enormity of our challenges does not make one a pessimist, our pessimism if any, is informed by the stark reality staring at us which even the strongest advocate of this regime cannot ignore. Two days ago, we were mourning the tragic killing of defenseless civilians in some parts of Kaduna State when we were struck by another unfortunate tragedy of the Immigration Test stampede at different venues across the country. Prior to that, there were indiscriminate killings in Benue, Katsina and Plateau States. Today, another attack in Taraba State killed scores of innocent civilians. These patterns of attacks point to a systematic attempt to create chaos of nation-wide proportion, something clearly beyond the capability of any single group. The truth is our security system has failed in its two basic responsibilities: pre-empting terrorism through reliable and actionable intelligence, and preventing attacks through rapid and effective counter-measures. Recently, our fight against terror appears to be turning around with the successes recorded in Maiduguri, but we are yet to make any major breakthrough in unmasking the forces behind this insecurity. Sometimes ago, the government threatened to expose the sponsors of terrorist activities in Nigeria, but nothing is heard ever since. This bodes ill for our efforts in eradicating terrorism. Terrorism thrives on secrecy and anonymity to inflict disproportionate fear among citizens, and put doubt on the capability of government to provide security. Exposing the brains behind it, bringing them to book, and declaring those at-large wanted will strike at the very heart of terror, unmask its veneer of invincibility and provide room for better cooperation by the citizenry. Failure to do so only serves to promote conspiracy theories and the unfortunate allegations of government complicity, thus striking at the core issue of trust between the government and the governed. Nigerians have every legitimate reason to worry about the capability and sincerity of their government in the fight against terrorism. Because if the government claims it knows those behind our present insecurity and failed to bring them to full accountability, then by virtue of its actions or inactions, the government is guilty of undermining national security. This is more worrying if we remember the government’s past attempt to exonerate a terrorist group from a crime it has consciously taken responsibility for in order to spite political opponents. And when only recently that an official of the presidency was caught trying to plant malicious misinformation in the media to discredit a whistle-blower and distract Nigerians from seeking accountability over the missing $20 billion. It is unfortunate that this is the situation we find ourselves. This is not the Nigeria we aspire for. But behind this dark cloud we must begin our search for a silver lining; which is our shared destiny in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The cause for this country is the cause for all Nigerians. Those challenges that we face are not the challenges of one political party, one region, religion or ethnic group. They are challenges that confront us all. And the struggle against them is not the struggle for a single day, a single year, or a single generation, it is the struggle for posterity: fueled by our determination to bequeath to the next generation a tomorrow that is better than today. We have echoed several warnings on this platform about the burgeoning youth bulge and its threat as a demographic time-bomb of socio-economic discontent waiting to explode. We have pointed at the nexus between unemployment and insecurity and even advocated for approaching our present problem of insecurity through job creation. Some rightly argued that it is not the primary role of government to provide job for everyone. It cannot even afford to do so. It is duty is to provide the ideal atmosphere that is conducive to investment and employment generation. With rising insecurity, power failure, decrepit infrastructure and lack of transparency in governance, that investment-friendly and job-generating atmosphere is neither forthcoming nor realistic. The corollary is that, our unemployment and insecurity problems will inexorably persist. As long as we allow our prejudices to take precedence over reasons, as long as the political class considers impunity as right and substitutes responsibilities with privileges, as long as the good people of this country continue to feel grievously oppressed by the hybrid class of I-don’t-give-a-damn politicians and conscience-less corporate vultures; the future will augur very badly. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari May God save Nigeria.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:21:54 +0000
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