Last week what I feared most happened after all. It is a phenomenon known in the writing circle as the «writer›s block” . It is something that envelopes a writer, a state in which he is willing to write but can’t place his thought on any topic in particular.
It could be as a result of fatigue or low morale, a consequence of crusading for change but having a situation where everything fails to change. Nothing, I can tell you could be more frustrating than to work for change, expecting to see signs yet nothing appears to change.
The character of the ruling class is going down everyday and it is rightly becoming of great concern to the majority of citizens. We claim to subscribe to democratic practice but today far more citizens can understand if what we have in practice is democracy or something else entirely. The judiciary which should at the commanding heights is beginning to lose direction. The legislature too. The reign of strong men is gaining ascendency and for those who know history, no society runs on this trajectory and stays stable. Useful pillars go down leaving in the aftermath very dare consequences.
Anyway, let›s get back to our focus today: insecurity in the land. In the last 15 years or more, the country has been plagued by a very high degree of insecurity, a kind if anyone was told 40 years ago would hit the country, nearly all would swear it can’t happen here. It has not only happened, it is here with us making life and living very miserable.
People carry guns against the state and making transversing our roads similar to reckless adventure. Dare devil beings are attacking people, maiming and killing with reckless abandon. Our country records more deaths than would have been done if the country were for instance involved in an external war. This has lasted more than 15 years and the question is why is this so.
A friend of mine made the same inquiry to a relation who recently retired from service at the highest level of the judiciary and the answer my friend got shocked him to the marrows. His relation told him,» The fight against insecurity has become a big business.»
His evidence to support the assertion was the huge budget provision dedicated to fighting insecurity each year. «Some people must have evidence of how the huge funds are deployed and what other way than to tactically allow the anomaly to fester.
Some people have told me they love crisis. They say they thrive better under chaos. We all know so many fellow citizens make huge gains, they profit so much from our state of underdevelopment and the disorder it induces.
We have crude oil but have been unable to do the refining inside the country. What would one call such a practice? Bring the example back to the question of insecurity, why is it that on the surface it would seem governments throw in all to stem the scourge yet the results never match the efforts?
Something as simple as giving the menace its correct name appears very difficult to do. Some say we have a case of miscreants dislocated by a failing economy, yet the same “miscreants” can purchase and own very sophisticated weapons. Others insist it is a case of banditry. Mere thieves having armoured vehicles and displaying the best of war armaments? These felons have military knowledge, ability to recruit members, to feed and sustain them. As you read this, it is as if none is captured and interrogated; no one has an idea why a group of citizens chose to take up arms and to inflict grievous pains on citizens. No one including the government is telling anyone what the felons’ objectives are and what they actually want. The nation just keeps throwing money on a challenge it has no hands on.
The commonest challenge currently is having strange people of other tribes invading the backyards of others and forcibly establishing their homes in those places. The Fulanis in the country have invited their brothers from across Africa to come to Nigeria and have home. The northern borders were thrown open and everyone in the Sahel is encouraged to stroll into Nigeria to create a home.
The map of the country was well studied and areas clearly designated. Human allotments duly made and those who have responded to this evil plan are daily ferreted with all kinds of vehicles including those owned by governments to locations deep down in the other parts of the country.
An indigene of my local area told me they were going to the farm when they came across one fellow who looked very much like a northerner who couldn›t speak English or any Nigerian language, he missed his way and couldn›t identify where he was. They locals said they were very shocked. Who brought him to the point was the question that agitated their hearts.
Another one in a town revealed how himself and family encountered strange fellows on their way to their village. “We left Aba very late, getting close to our village around nine in the night our Toyota Sienna vehicle broke down, as we were contemplating what to do, children emerged from the bush to beg us water, my brother said to us be calm and allow me handle the situation, he gave them water and they returned into the bush and few minutes after men looking like the Fulani emerged from the bush, gave us numbers to call bike operators and assuring of safety and that of the vehicle, left the vehicle and returned for it in the morning and it was intact. They told us they were leaving the location for another one in our boundary with Akwa Ibom state.”
There appears to be a conspiracy against the country. The plain truth is that there are Nigerians with assistance from foreign countries pushing agenda that is against the health and wellness of our country. This is what is plaguing us. The most intriguing is the fact that those who should fight it are exactly propelling and pushing the evil agenda. A journey between the devil and the deep black sea. This is what it is. The consequences are often very dare, everybody gets burnt up. I hope those pushing the buttons know this much.
Credit:The Sun