News Star newspaper

Opinion

Are the masses  in this country safe?

For any government to be relevant, security of life and property must be its watchword. This is the primary function of any government as stipulated in section 14, subsection 2(b) of the 1999  constitution. "The security and welfare of the people  shall be the primary purpose of government."
On May 29, 2007, the president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, declared without mincing words while delivering his inaugural speech that "I will govern this nation with the fear of God. He said further that the areas that called for urgent reaction were security, transparency, and the rule of law. From the above undisputable fact, it becomes vividly clear that the statement of our dear president shows that the security of  our nation is doomed.
Laconically speaking, we don’t need to be clairvoyant to know that all is not well security-wise in the land. The stories around us are indeed galling. The rate of crime in Nigeria is pathetically horrible; from highway  robbery to carjacking, breaking into the house and tormenting the innocent citizens, ritual killings, raping, fraudulent acts, (Yahoo-yahoo boys), kidnapping and demanding for ransom, (Niger\Delta militants), cultism (Okija Shrine), political banditry, prostitution, child trafficking and hired  assassins. Many people in the country are sad. They are mourning. They are in grief. They  are shedding tears that may remain indelible till eternity because death has been imposed on their loved ones  who are victims of circumstances. In the last few months , the country has been under  tormenting siege  of armed robbers and assassins  who go about with their demonic mission  wreaking havoc on the masses. Thousands of people have been killed in their prime, those who are lucky to stay alive have either been maimed, traumatized, brutalized or dehumanized . They attack banks at will, rape young girls in the process of robbing banks without any interference, subjecting the masses to fear and trembling.
Almighty God, who will police this nation ? I read in one of the dailies sometime ago  a glaring headline, WHO WILL POLICE THE POLICE ? Police which connote department of government, body of men, concerned with keeping of public order. With a decrepit police force, whose structure creaks in every joint in the country, it seems to be a failure because it has lost its focus, integrity and temerity. A situation where the authorities  in the police hierarchy can not prevail on men and officers of the force not to take bribe, change or swing  cases, rob, steal and torture innocent Nigerians is highly disgusting and animalistic.  In early 60’s, checkpoints were designed to detect the influx of criminals and intercept them. But for about 15 years ago, it has metamorphosed to a place where indiscriminate killing and maiming of hapless road users  are being perpetrated. Oluwa Gba Wa O. (God should save us)  There were cases where the drivers were killed with their passengers dispossessed  of their property, while their helpless bodies were  falsely paraded  as corpses of robbers killed in gun battle with the police. This is the era of the biblical term called ‘Ichabod’ meaning  Police’s glory has departed ! Some months ago, Mr. Mike Okiro, the Inspector General of Police, said his boys do not have ammunition to fight crime. He even said he does not know the number of police officers in the country. What a carricature ! May I tell him that recruiting 10 million officers  with sophisticated weapons will not put an end to crime in Nigeria. What people want is food on their table. Year in year out, Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions across the nation  keep on turning out graduates into the already saturated labour market. Until we address the issue of unemployment, our security will be in a shambles. "An idle mind is the devil’s  workshop, while an hungry man is a dangerous man." I want to conclude by proffering  some suggestions that can be the lasting panacea to this menace that has  thrown our dear nation into the dustbin of bad history.
·        Bad leadership leads to corruption.
·        Corruption leads to poverty.
·        Poverty leads to idleness.
·        Idleness leads to criminality.
·        Criminality leads to hooliganism.
Looking at the above scenario, bad  leadership is the bane of our economic growth .They don’t care for the masses. Our leaders are corrupt and their corruption causes  poverty. Pa  Rewane was driving a Mercedes Benz car, a few years  before his death. He stretched out about N100 to buy newspapers, somebody just snatched  the money at Maryland junction and said "I have not eaten and you are buying newspapers!" Pa Rewane said "don’t worry". He called the person selling bread  and said, "please give him enough". If not that Pa Rewane was tactful, there would  have been an altercation that day. The point is that this man in question cannot fathom why someone would be talking of newspaper  when he has not eaten. All he wanted was bread.
In 1789, a revolution broke out in France. The citizens  unanimously went to the king and said, "We have not eaten ! We are  hungry". The king responded," Go and  take cake"! "We  don’t have bread and you are talking of cake". In the same vein, let the government order for bomb to combat crime, it will end in futility. The government of Umaru Yar’Adua should work towards reducing poverty in the country before  talking about security.  Poverty has rightly been described as the cause of indolence while the latter is the root cause of all vices. In international finance circle, a person is regarded as being poor if he/she lives on less than one US dollar (about N120) per day. Something urgent needs to be done to ensure the security of life and property of Nigerias.
OLAYIWOLA ADEDAPO FIRE
  National- Cordinator, Operation Save The Oppressed, Ekiti State.

Restoring peace to Ebira land

DADA AHMED
The 2003 and 2007 electioneering in Kogi was marred by widespread violence. The same was the case during the 2008 gubernatorial rerun election.
The incidence of political violence in the state, especially in Ebira land, has left a tale of woes in its wake.
Many people lost their lives, while property valued at millions of naira were destroyed.
Observers note that political violence has been the trend since the dawn of democracy.
They say that Kogi is supposed to be a shining example of tolerance for the other states of the federation.
For them, Kogi is a confluence state where Rivers Niger and Benue meet and, as such, its citizens should flow in unity in spite of their diversity.
Although the ugly scenario of violence and political intolerance seem to have subsided in the East and West Senatorial districts of the state, it is not so in the Central area where the Ebira are the dominant ethnic group.
Many victims of the violence say their regret is not so much about the alleged malpractice that trailed the various elections.
Their worry is about the magnitude of its negative effect on human and material resources of the state in general and Ebira land in particular.
Pa Aturu Jimoh, 70, claims he lost all he laboured for in his life and adds that he and his family find it difficult to start life anew.
The tense and violent electioneering has affected the socio-economic and political life of the people.
For instance, there is a downturn in commercial activities in Okene, Ogaminana, Ihima and Obehira where markets and other commercial outlets have been deserted by traders.
This is because of insecurity of lives and property as the traders fear their wares could be looted by hoodlums anytime there is a fresh crisis.
February. 25 is a day the people of Ogaminana, a popular commercial town after Okene, will not like to remember.
This was a day the people were visited with an orgy of violence as some youths challenged trucks ferrying iron ore concentrates from Itapke and demanded payment of royalty on the product before passage.
The arrival of a team of police on the scene sparked off the violence, leading to the death of a policeman and the resultant burning of houses and other valuable property.
To some analysts, the Ogaminana crisis may equally have had a political undertone as the youth are said to have insisted that the iron ore concentrates belong to Kogi and the area, hence their demand for payment of royalty for their exploitation.
Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed, a victim of another crisis in Okene, now squats with his relations in Lokoja.
‘’The political crisis in Kogi can be described as terrible; the devastating effect of it in Ebira land is beyond anybody’s imagination.
‘’In my 65 years of existence on this planet, I have never seen a crisis that consumes a father and his son at the same time and almost an entire family.
‘’In some cases, property worth millions of naira were destroyed with ignominy,’’ he laments.
Malam Ahmed Ogembe, a U.S.-based indigene of Ebira land, says he and his kinsmen abroad would have loved to return and invest at home but for the fear of political crisis in the area.
The native says people now see Ebira land as crisis-ridden and ‘’an unsafe abode for people to live peacefully and contribute to the development of the land’’.
The violence in Ebira land, some analysts say, has brought about heightened hatred and acrimony among the people, and threatened the political stability there.
Lokoja-based political analyst Haruna Adamu blames the political instability in Kogi, especially in the Central Senatorial District , on intolerance by some leaders, their followers, youths, as well as unemployment and perceived marginalisation of the area.
A report on the Ogaminana crisis says that the community’s leadership itemised the scope of destruction to include 15 persons killed, including at least two children, as well as the loss of 50 automobiles, 98 houses and 115 motorcycles.
For observers, this crisis marked the climax of a spate of violence that forced many people of Ebira land to flee for safety.
Those who dared to contend with the bloody phenomenon say they did so under constant fear of insecurity to their lives and property.
Mohammed says that the eruption of political crisis in Ebira land contrasts sharply with the concept of Ebira as an ethnic group.
Ebira means ‘’good manners", he says, and adds that the crisis was "alien to the land and its citizens’’.
But what is the state government’s reaction to the crises in its domain?
In fulfilment of its administration’s statutory responsibility of protecting lives and property, Gov. Ibrahim Idris inaugurated the Chris Alli Peace Committee to unravel the causes of the violence with a view to finding a lasting solution to it.
Submitting the committee’s report after two months of sitting, its Chairman, retired Maj.-Gen. Chris Alli, expressed optimism that the violence would soon be a thing of the past.
Alli said his optimism arose from the enthusiastic response by many indigenes in submitting memoranda to the committee.
He added that many litigants had expressed their intention to withdraw all legal suits filed in respect of contending issues arising from the election results.
Receiving the report, Idris commended the committee for doing a good job and pledged that government would study the document and make its pronouncement through a White Paper.
In addition, the government set up a committee headed by Mr Ado Okino, a former member of the House of Representatives, to examine the trends of events in the crisis as well as consolidate efforts at restoring peace to the area.
But how are the Ebira people responding to the government’s peace initiative? Analysts say the people are not leaving everything to the state government alone to solve.
For instance, elders, opinion leaders and members of some of the warring clans have been holding fence mending and peace meetings to end the lingering crisis.
They say time has come for the Ebira to sheathe their swords for peace to reign again in their land.
A consensus arising from such meetings is that all is not well with Ebira land, hitherto noted for its relative peace and thriving commercial activities.
For them, enough is enough.
Ending the crisis, they contend, will revive the economy of the land which has nose-dived, as well as restore peace to various homes and make political leaders fight a common cause for the people.
Ahmed is of the News Agency of Nigeria.