NIGERIA’S INSECURITY AT 61, A MARK OF LEADERSHIP FAILURE—ANALYSTS
REPORTER: CHRISTIAN NWANGENE
Growing level of poverty, harsh economic conditions, acute unemployment, perceived injustice and marginalisation, as well as leadership failure are some of the factors analysts say contribute to frustration and anger leading to unrest, insecurity and violence in the country.
Those who spoke with Radio Nigeria on the security situation as Nigeria marked 61st Independence, advised the Federal Government to urgently work out measures that would creatively engage the youths and address injustice, saying unless government acted fast, the quest to put the country on the path of progress would be a mirage.
In the sixties and seventies, Nigerians reasonably experienced some level of good leadership.
Then, the country was said to have had selfless and visionary leaders who were driven by patriotism and spirit to offer citizens quality leadership with a well coordinated development plan for the country.
But as the days went by, the situation changed, mediocrity and sycophancy were elevated against competence while capacity, skills and experience were sacrificed on the altar of favouritism, nepotism, regionalism, ethnicity, religious and political leanings.
This was allowed to linger so long without commisurate commitment by newer crop of leaders to improve on the legacies of the heroes past, or advance them to meet contemporary society.
This brought about disenchantment, disaffection and mistrust among the people.
With unemployment at all time high, and inadequate plan to engage teaming Nigerian youths, the feeling of dispare creeped in, thereby serving as a fertile land for the growth of insecurity in the country.
Kidnapping, armed banditry, massacres, abductions, and, of course, terrorist attacks and secessionist agitations dominated the arena.
No week had passed without some horrifying insecurity experiences or the other.
The security situation in the country took a turn for the worse recently as unknown gunmen continued to murder prominent people in cold blood, especially in the South East, while abduction for ransom also rose in the north and other parts of the country.
Also, bandits continued to ravage communities just as herdsmen continue to pursue farmers and people out of their farms and ancestral land.
In an interview with Radio Nigeria, a former labour leader, Comerade Chinedu Nyia Nwobodo, argued that government had not demonstrated enough capacity to lead the country out of the dilemma it found itself.
Comerade Nwobodo, stated that a deliberate effort should be made to address alarming unemployment in the land, while ensuring that moribund industries were revived to meaningfully engage the people.
Mr. Nwobodo also argued that the current unitary police system was not working.
According to the labour leader, the structure of the police should be decentralised and State police be established.
He explained that localising the police would make them more effective for the reasons that the indigenes would know the terrain as well as the people better.
Mr. Nwobodo said under this arrangement, the local police and the local people could relate with one another with greater trust and with the happy result that security could become a shared responsibility as well as better assured.
Comerade Nwobodo, berated the political class for living expensive lifestyle while the people live in abject poverty.
He canvassed social justice, and fairness play as solution.
Also, a community leader and security expert, Chief John Ngene Egbo, said there was the need to rethink Nigeria, arguing that the current political arrangement is hindering the country from moving forward.
Chief Egbo, stated that the current structure needed to be negotiated to give more power to constituent parts of the country.
This is to enable them to use their resources with a view to encouraging healthy competition and broadening the space for mass participation in wealth creation.
According to Chief Egbo, political leaders needed to create a country where individuals can find fulfilment in life, even as they tread the narrow path of honesty, hard work and sincerity.
Chief Egbo said the country was drifting into anarchy, saying that the country’s unity had never been tested the way it was being done now.
He stated that at this point, Nigeria needed men and women of integrity and character who would do everything to put things right, instead of dragging it into anarchy.
He called for genuine efforts by the government to create the enabling environment that would promote industrial revolution, and job creation.
A public affairs analyst, and legal practitioner, Mr. Chukwunoso Daniel Ogbe, said the current security situation in the country was heartrending, emphasizing that the menace of insecurity in the country was a sign of leadership failure.
According to Ogbe, if there is a road map to fully engage young people, it would be difficult for them to used as weapon of destruction and violence.
He pointed out that for as long as the prevailing insecure environment subsisted, the country would continue to reap its unpleasant consequences.
He stated that it was high time the authorities in Nigeria saved the nation from the scourge of widespread insecurity and the attendant adverse effects, especially divestments by both foreign and domestic investors, saying that Nigeria needed enormous investment inflows rather than outflows to rebuild and grow the economy to reduce unemployment and poverty in this land.
Mr. Ogbe equally said unless Nigerians were allowed to choose their leaders through transparant democratic process, a leader that would enjoy the goodwill of the masses, the insecurity in the country would continue to fester.
He said people were disenchanted in the leadership of the country and needed a breath of fresh air.
According to Mr. Ogbe, to retrieve the country from the satanic strong-hold of the devouring insecurity, it is essential that a good leadership anchored on respect for the rule of law and due process emerges.
