Insecurity & Prophet of Doom!

In the last blog, I said that I shall be shedding more light to the sudden rise of insecurity in our dear country Nigeria. The Blunt truth about it is that the news of rise in insecurity is nothing but a product of media hype!

Boko Haram is No Longer Making the Headline
Ever wondered why the talk about the Bokos are no longer making the headlines? The Insurgents are still around but are no longer getting the kind of attention they used to get in the past. This is partly due to the military activities of Nigerian Armed Forces that continue to deal with them. But, there's another reason, people of the North East and Nigeria at large are no longer buying into the hype, so, there's need for a change in tactics. There's need for the creation of a new security threat!
It all began with some pockets of banditry in Zamfara and Kaduna states that are already plagued with the so called "Herdsmen" attacks and kidnappings...there are also reports of cattle rustlings in Kaduna. But, right now, the most trending is the "Killer Herdsmen".

There are No Killer Herdsmen, It's a Media Hype!
It's no news that politicians own media houses...of course, you don't expect such media houses to carry any news that shall tarnish the image of their bosses do you? Rather, they shall serve as willing tools for the promotion of their pay masters' interests at all times. This is why the AIT would not spare any derogatory piece of information about Buhari in its efforts to discourage people from voting Buhari to power. Nnamdi Kanu had used the Radio Biafra to create a religious following in the South East before he fled shortly after his release on bail. My brother, I can go on and on!
It's not like the clash between the farmers and cattle herders just began a few months ago...it has been there for decades! All talks about the 'Islamization', 'Fulanization' and the 'Killer Herdsmen' are all the brain child of such politicians in the opposition such as Obasanjo, Fani Kayode and Reno Omokri who are all PDP members!
Today, if a goat is stolen in your family compound, it is the 'evil work' of the Fulanis, when there's a armed robbery, it's the Fulanis, when there is a murder...be it high or low, the Fulanis are the Prime suspects! Habba!!!
These are all traits of 'fake news' and ethnic bias! The Champions of these troubling news, especially the Prophet of Doom (OBJ) are all PDP members and they are all out to down play whatever positive achievement that the current administration have made. When there's news of insecurity all over, who cares about the availability of good roads and other public utilities? Absolutely nobody!
They are trying to make the country ungovernable. They figured out that unless they do so, they would stand no chance against the APC by 2023. But, just like in the case of Jonathan, if they create a long time chaos, they stand a good chance to win no matter how well Buhari would have done with other sectors of our national life. You know why? Because, nothing is useful without safety and security of lives and properties!

Looking On the Bright Side!
Nothing in this world is 100% good or Bad. It's always the mix of the two. We, however, classify those things with more evil as evil and those with more good as good. This issue of insecurity in the land gives us a golden opportunity to learn more about our citizenship of a chaotic country as Nigeria. This shall be the focus of the next blog post. What we can do as citizens to end the seemingly gigantic security issues we have. 

 See you soon!

Understanding The Problems of Nigeria

The last post was a kind of an intro to this post. The way I see things right now is that Nigerians are yet to understand what it means to be a citizen of a country...come to think of it, have we ever understood it???

Ethnic Clashes and Bias has Always Been Part of Us!
Honestly, ethnic bigotry has always been there from the word go! We never gave Nigeria a chance as we've always been at each other's throat from the very beginning. Even during the struggle for independence, we didn't agree on a particular stance. While a part of the country was not interested, as at that time in independence, the other regions were fighting tooth and nail for independence. The British, I believe, noticed this and saw the opportunity to create chaos and did create it by putting those that are ready and those that said they aren't together as a nation. In the end, what do we have?
Nigeria became one with those that said 'No' to independence taking a leading position while those that proposed it follow. But, really, that's not the problem. Ready or not, those that said 'no' are now part of the great new Nigeria. The Problem is the lack of patience and tolerance that can make us all come to the negotiating table to dialogue and compromise just to forge ahead as a nation.
Yes, they fought for independence, the more reason, in my opinion, why they should be more willing to compromise and move the nation forward. The people of Southern Nigeria, were at the fore front for the struggle for an independent Nigeria. While the South West tend to understand and had moved forward, the South East are still there trying to make a political statement about attaining a political goal that takes something much more than a miracle to achieve without the help of the other regions.
 In 1966, there was a coup that involved military officers all of Southern Nigerian origin which toppled a national government that was headed by a Northerner. Of the 5 Majors that led the operation, 4 were from the South East while the remainder was from the South West. My brothers, if you ask me, Nigeria's political boohoo-w aha began with this infamous coup that saw to the assassination of both military and civilians from all over the country except for those from the South East. We are still suffering from the unfortunate incident till date.

Is Disintegration An Option?
The Answer to this question is a BIG fat 'NO'! The Fact that we are yet to be there doesn't mean that we won't get there! The war that broke out as a fall out of the 1966 coup has gone much further to widen the gap between us. But, sincerely, is this the true cause of our woes as a people today? I beg to disagree!
For the fact that the rich of this country, Nigeria, get to shake hands over cups of tea and laugh heartily in Abuja means that the problem is not really political grudges and ethnicity that's tearing Nigeria down. On the Contrary, the real problem is POVERTY & GREED!
Just before the recent general elections, something really funny happened. General Obasanjo was in the Media criticizing Buhari as though if he had the chance to sit with him, he would tell it to his face that he has failed and should resign. But the very next day, the same Obasanjo was at the Villa to attend a meeting that includes former Presidents and he was seen shaking hands like old close friends with the same Buhari he criticized in public barely 24 hours earlier!
I remember one guy from the East expressing his concerns about the safety of the life of the President in the hands of Obasanjo! So many are like this innocent Nigerian who thinks that those at the top are quarrelling that much. Well, the Blunt truth is that whenever you hear of such words as 'Islamization', 'Fulanization' and 'Nepotism' is used by the Elites of Nigeria, please, ignore it, don't take it seriously. It's there way of whipping up sentiments to drive home their personal demands. They have made themselves the mouth piece of their ethnic groups and tribes...more like godfathers that must be appeased at all times. The fact that we act as though they speak for us gives them more leverage to hold the whole country to ransom whenever they so wish and we would be there supporting them BLINDLY!

Take, for instance, the issue of the killer herdsmen. Do you know how it all started, I mean, this is not the first time we are experiencing these type of clashes, how come it is taking centre stage today and why is it that it seems impossible to resolve? My brother, that's another Government Magic! Insha Allah, I shall elaborate on that in the next blog post, do keep a date with me!

The Conspiracy Theories Of Nigeria

Ordinarily, the herdsmen saga shouldn't have escalated this far if the Northern governors have done the needful. Now that it's the Federal Government's palava, my advice to the Federal Government is to get things done very maturely and not dance around aimlessly!
In my opinion, I think the Federal Government should re-organize the North for Agriculture. Instead of spending Billions on Ruga or any other settlements that the Governors are not willing to accept, I think they should create forests that'll be ever green up North so that the Fulanis won't be kicked around as they are now! I can only imagine how frustrated they are by the rejection they get from fellow Nigerians down South when I read that they wouldn't mind to settle in the deadly forest of Sambisa! What do you think if that happens?
I think the Bokos would be fed fat again to resume strikes against us. This is going by what they say...as per being concerned only with the welfare of their cattle.
It's gonna be like Nigerians abandoned them and the Bokos may show up and strike a deal of protection in exchange for intelligence. Then you shall experience more successful and well coordinate  strikes up north from the Bokos...that would be back to square one. Is that what we want???
We must be very careful with what we want and ask for. We shouldn't let petty politics and sentiments over ride our sense of judgement. All these conspiracy theories we formulate or are formulated for does nothing but slow down the process of integration.
It's kind of embarrassing to hear people still talking of a particular ethnic group leaving their land for them. Where is our senses of brotherhood, how can you tag a whole tribe dangerous without hard evidence???
Let's grow up people! We need to wake up to our national life and responsibilities. We are one and must see ourselves as such despite the difference in culture at all times! Unless we do, we can't progress and shall continue to suffer!
God willing, the next post shall be more elaborate! Do have a lovely day! 

It's June 12, Happy Independence Day!!!

Finally, June 12 is Democracy Day!
It's exactly 26 years today that the then, Head of States gave the Nigerian nation, perhaps, the greatest shock of their national life! The fairest and the best of elections in Nigeria has been annulled!!!
The first time I heard the announcement that June 12 shall be declared the Independence day, I was very much at peace that finally, the right  thing is going to be done. Honestly, the May 29 we had adopted all these years, to me, has been a kind of conspiracy against the Truth. Thank God, we are past that now.But, this post won't be complete without a brief historical background of the June 12 date.

IBB

The June 12 Elections
It was at the peak of the demand for Democracy that the then, Head of States, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) had no choice but to organize and run an election exercise which was between the defunct National Republican Congress (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Alhaji Tofa was the candidate of the NRC while Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (a.k.a. MKO) was the candidate of the SDP. The Election exercise took place and MKO overwhelmingly won the Election. In fact, Alhaji Tofa lost in his hometown to MKO. It was a landslide victory in favor of the SDP candidate.

Alhaji Tofa

But to the shock of the Country, IBB annulled the elections and refused to handover power. To add salt to sore, he handed over to yet another Military Colleague, in the person of General Sanni Abacha.
To cut the long story short, the Frustrated President-elect declared himself the President after series of appeals to the Abacha who kicked out the Interim Government of Shonekan that IBB installed instead of MKO, the President-elect. Abacha stood his ground and arrested MKO for declaring himself president. He died in custody. This ofcourse gave rise to NADECO activism which continued to demand for Abacha to give way for Democracy.

MKO

Looking On the Bright Side...
Having said this, I want to believe that you now have a good idea of how important the June 12 is as far as democracy is concerned in Nigeria. You would, of course, now appreciate why everyone is excited that Democracy celebration has been shifted to June 12.
One cool thing I appreciate about this change of date is the fact that it is coming from a Fulani and not a Yoruba or Southerner. To me, I think it's a good omen. It means that Nigeria is progressing in terms of our 'Nigerianess'! This is a position that have been occupied by 2 Southerners before Buhari, one was actually the townsman of the late MKO and neither deemed it fit to declare June 12 Democracy day let alone naming a National monument in his memory. All these have happened through a Northerner not a Southerner, that, my friend is PLUS!
My prayer, is that we should continue to progress and tolerate one another. I pray that by this time next year, we should progress significantly in all areas of national development from the acceptance of one another and the country as our own. Ameen.

Happy Democracy Day!
Long live Naija!!
God Bless Nigeria!!!

National Security & YOU (Part III)

In the last post, we discussed how the involvement of people in government can aggravate the issue of terrorism. This is done majorly by the leakage of security intelligence to the Enemy. No matter how equipped your army might be, the enemy would always defeat them or continue to thrive and cause great harm if your plans and secrets are open to them. In the Art of War, this is the job of spies.
On several occasions have I heard of how people in government hope that the crisis should continue because of the financial benefits they derive from it. Frankly speaking, there are many sides to the issue. What we shall be discussing today is how we can help to bring it to its conclusive end.

Poverty Must Be Tackled and Eradicated
The Yorubas has an adage that says "Bi ebi ba kuro ninu ise, ise buse". The literal meaning of this is that hunger is the biggest problem with poverty. This is buttressed by the English proverb that says "A hungry man is an angry man". From the two proverbs aforementioned, it's clear that all the security challenges that we face today is due to the fact that people are hopelessly hungry. In other words, if we must overcome poverty, food security is a must.
In case you haven't noticed, the better part of our income goes to food in Nigeria whose production is pretty low compared to its consumption. If you doubt my analogy, please point to any Boko Haram member that's from among the Rich. How many are the kidnappers or Niger Delta militants that hale from wealthy families that you know? I don't know any. You'll be doing a great favor if you'll give one in the comments below.
It's only the poor man's child that spare heads an insurgency, militancy and robbery gangs. They do this because they have known hunger and want to spend the rest of their lives without it and they don't want their children to suffer as they have suffered. Salaries cannot take workers home not because they are small but because food is expensive. Should a bag of rice go for N1 000 and that of beans for N500 and maize N200, no one would be agitating for salary increase. This is a topic for another day, but one thing I want us to take home from here today is that hunger, is the root cause of the security challenges we face today.

Nigerians Must Go Back To Farm
Although, he paid lip service to it, but, General Obasanjo was right when he said that we should go back to farm. According to available data, in 2018, importation of Agricultural products amounted to around N230 Billion. What that means is that in 2018 a whooping sum of about N230 billion was taken out of our economy due to the importation of food!
Should this money be retained in the country you can imagine how many jobs it would create and how much wealth that would be created in the process! This money can be re-invested to produce even more food and much more income. I hope you are following?
I know, as usual, we shall be thinking that this is the responsibility of the government not ours. This is where we get it wrong. We need to start getting it right if this menace must stop. Go back to farming. Pick any of the so many that is available to you be it animal rearing or crop farming. You can do something even if its that little space in your compound...get started with growing vegetables for yourself and your neighbors. Own a farm today and you would have done your part in eradicating hunger and security challenges as a whole.

Charity is A Must For All and Sundry
Charity organizations are expected to be funding the IDP's. When I say charity organizations here, I'm not referring to all those international organizations that are currently scattered all over the North. You don't even know who is who up there right now. This shouldn't be, Nigerians must learn to look out for one another. You and I can help to fight the many battles that are currently plaguing the country should we be GENEROUS enough to start raising funds to adequately fund the IDP's and the less privileged up North. Sincerely speaking, my brothers, we need to do something about the plight of the Alimajiris coz they serve as a fertile soil for the propagation of crisis and riots. We must learn to be more generous with feeding, clothing and sheltering them. If the government is not doing that, we can always organize ourselves into charity groups to do that...if not for anything, we should do it for the sake of our general well being as a society.

Charity goes a long way to put crime and crisis at bay. The Bokos for instant can be dealt a serious blow should the people of the North organize themselves to fund the war against the insurgency. If the Insurgency must be defeated, three to four things must be done as a matter of urgency.

(1) Ordinary People Must Organize Themselves Against the Insurgency: 
     This does not mean you should take up arms and head on to the Sambisa, no. What it means is that we should come together and strategize effectively to fight the insurgency. As earlier said, we must be ready to pool resources together to fund volunteers that are ready to go to the field.

(2) Local security Outfits Must Be Created to Argument the Efforts of the Armed Forces
     Vigilate Groups should be employed and adequately armed to man strategic positions in the remote villages that are soft targets for the Bokos. It has been noticed that hunger is a big factor in fighting the insurgency. Most times when they strike the small villages around the Sambisa and the main towns, it's for food...they only make it seem otherwise but that's the truth. If the vigilantes are well funded and adequately armed, vigilante groups can help starve the Bokos to submission.

(3) Vulnerable Groups or Members of the Society Needs to Be Protected
      Alimajiri boys are the most vulnerable as far as the Bokos are concerned. The Alimajiris should be protected from the Bokos with the provision of a decent shelter, clothing and food for them until they are done with their education. after the completion of this education, we must be ready to empower them with one form of skilled labour or the other. If this is not done, the Bokos would recruit those innocent, harmless and vulnerable boys and convert them to veracious weapons against us!

(4) Deliberate Efforts Must Be Made to Castigate them Via All Forms of Media
     Unfortunately, we have those that are sympathizing with the Bokos and are rendering all forms of help to them secretly. Some are doing this because they believe they are fighting a just cause others because they see them as victims of security brutality. Whichever the case might be, the bottom line is that some people in the local areas where they (Boko Haram) operate still give substantial support to them. Such people that offer this vital support to them can be reached via the media. Islamic clerics must be sponsored to dispel their minds, re-orientate them and make them see the Bokos for exactly what they are. Sponsored programs must be aired consistently on radio and TV stations to explain as to the reason why the Bokos should be disbanded for good.
If this is effectively done, the bokos would loose their support and starve without any end in sight. when this happens, the insurgency shall die a natural death! Insha Allah!

The insurgency has created a huge case of desperation where we have tons of widows and orphans that need as much help as they can get. We must be Patriotic enough, irrespective of our affiliations, to help out as fellow Nigerians. Courtesy demands that we do! 
This is how much time and space would allow me say about the state of our National Security. As you might have found out, there are a lot of ways by which we can contribute to ending the crisis ASAP despite the involvement of corrupt people in government. They are also in this current administration because they are part of the Civil Service which no administration can be free from. The best we can do is to curb their excesses and that's why the Boko Haram is no longer as potent as they used to be!
God Bless Nigeria!
Ameen!!!
 

National Security & YOU ( Part II)

The Late General, General Sanni Abacha, has been reported to have said: "If an insurgency lasts for more than 48 hours, the government has a hand in it!" You know, I saw this online right from the beginning of the Boko Haram epidemic and I took it really seriously. The General was right, but, I misunderstood a vital part of his statement which was the 'government' part of it.

Ordinarily, in Nigeria, when we talk about the government, what comes to mind straight away is the Federal Government. To the average Nigerian, the government is the federal government. When this happened, as in, when I saw this statement of the General, it was President Jonathan that was in power. Just like any other Nigerian, my mind went straight pointing at the President. However, I have always had my bias against President Jonathan. In my opinion, he's like a meek sheep leading a pack of wolves!
So, I knew that he's not directly involved, but, I was certain that some people in his cabinet are actively involved. Just as I was trying to find out about that, there came the General Azazi's case!
General Azazi in the middle of the heat of the confrontation of the Military with the Bokos, was forced to let the cat out of the bag. He blamed the Boko Haram palava on the PDP which happened to be the ruling party.

Before you could say 'Jack', Azazi got sacked as the Chief of Defense staff. He eventually died in a funny air crash in a matter of a few months after his sack from work! Another funny and rather embarrassing part of the whole story is the fact that investigation into the air crash was summarily done and closed very quickly. No one was caught or punished. Now, it was clear that some members of the ruling party have their hands soiled in the Boko Haram insurgency. This has just confirmed the sayings of General Sanni Abacha. Now, that was then, let's fastfoward to the present shall we?

Today, we have a retired General as against a 100% civilian in the Aso Rock, yet, the Bokos are still operating up North. Yes, under the General, things have improved a great deal, but they (the Bokos) are yet to be defeated...100%. The IDP's are still suffering in their various camps as we speak. Judging by General Sanni Abacha's statement about insurgency, one would expect that the Bokos would have been defeated in totality but they are still there...although, they're no longer as strong as they used to be but they're still there!
The total defeat of the Bokos seem impossible and some people are already spreading the bad news. If you'll ask, I'll say that they can be defeated totally. They and the so many others that are springing up recently all over the North can be defeated in totality. How? You may ask...hmmm...why don't you join up for the next blog post for the answer?  
Please, do share this blog post with your family and friends on your social media accounts? This is National security and we all have a role or the other to play in ensuring the security of lives and properties.

National Security & YOU

I'm picking on this topic today because of the misguided mindset of the majority of Nigerians on this matter.If you ask an average Nigerian as per who is responsible for security, over 90% would answer that it's the government. I wasn't really moved by the widespread ignorance until I started hearing the so called security experts heaping the whole thing on the government too! It's so shocking to me!
I'm not a security expert, though, but, I feel like there's more to security than us depending on the Armed Forces only for security.
Simply put, security is the state of being free from danger and threat. Having defined the term security, discussing it extensively would be easy.
From the above definition of security, it can be clearly seen that security is everybody's business and not that of the government alone as most people tend to believe. The funny thing about security today is that we are not securing ourselves against wild animals or beast but against fellow human beings which makes the topic more interesting!

In the next few posts on this blog, I shall try to explain what went wrong and how we can fix the problem for good. Our task would be made extremely easy if we would acknowledge the fact that sticking to the books alone is not helpful .We must learn to think out of the box....as in we must learn to adapt to the reality on ground.

The Security Challenges of Nigeria
Personally, I think the Nigerian security challenges are man-made. They are entirely preventable. I shall illustrate with example.
The most prominent of all the current challenges we have in terms of security today is the Boko Haram insurgency. How did it all begin?
According to most sources, they were originally a religious movement that have been around for a while. A particular source said the religious movement was approached by a politician who sought their support and they gave it in exchange for a better societal welfare package. Unfortunately, as usual, they, the politician failed them and they, in retaliation started preaching against the politician's regime who in response had used his political powers to crack down on the group. Things got totally out of control when the politician used the Police against the embittered group. Before you can say 'Jack', the group had resorted to carrying arms and things deteriorated so quickly that the Military was called in to interfere. The group took up the full features of a terrorist group when their spiritual leader in the person of Muhammad Yusuf was murdered in Police custody extra judicially.

From what I've illustrated above, you can see that the case of the Boko Haram was mismanaged by our Armed Forces in collaboration with the political class. I want to believe that should the said politician have been brought to justice and those responsible for the death of Muhammad Yusuf were made to face the full wrath of law, Nigeria and Nigerians would have been saved the needless crisis we have at hand.

Our Sense of Security is Poor
 The unfortunate part of the whole thing is that we Nigerians have heaped all the faults of our security flaws on the government. We don't think we have any role to play in securing our communities. Whereas, in the real sense of it, security is primarily our responsibility not the government's.
The Bokos are still relevant because of the several successes they have recorded over the years. A similar group was uprooted in the South West on the country. This group was known as 'Badoo'. How were they uprooted? It's simple, the residents of the area where they operated stood against them. The affected communities formed some sort of task force that fished out members of the dreaded group until it was no longer a good idea to join forces with them. They didn't wait for the Police or the government, they did it themselves! Why can't we have the same happen up North?
We must stop the nonsense! We must secure ourselves before we expect someone else to come to our aid. Let every community put up their own local security systems. It can be as cheap and simple as employing the services of Vigilante groups and it can be expensive and sophisticated to the point of using CCTV cameras and employing the services of a more corporate and professional security outfits that are springing up all over. It all depends on the budget of the community. Every community must organize themselves and act as one indivisible force. Such a community is an ideal community which would hardly suffer.

Know Your Neighbor
In some cases, the cause element of insecurity is the lack of knowledge of one's neighbor. Now, I'm not asking you to spy on your neighbors. What I'm saying in essence is that you should be able to socialize and interact freely with virtually everyone in your community. In a situation where you have a new resident who is not known to socialize, you have a duty to report such person to relevant authorities in the community that would send a delegate to find out the necessary information about the new entrant. This is what happens in a well organized community. Now, it doesn't have to be a GRA this is can happen downtown too. This, in itself is security for the community. When you combine this with night watch, you would have dealt with all forms of security threats almost 100%!

I would stop at this juncture for today. This is a burning issue today and I would love to hear from you too. It is not just the Problem of the North but that of Nigeria to which we must find a solution to as Nigerians. Please leave a comment or 2 below or connect with via:
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