Every patriot currently has gloom written all over him. The defence minister told us a few days ago that the country is ‘bleeding.’ Indeed, Nigeria is sick, very sick. Perhaps, was it the sickness of one part, the body can manage and pull along. The sickness, unfortunately, is for the entire body. Is it the North or the South, the East or the West, that is not ill? But we ought to be a nation in the season of its bloom.

For more than a decade now, the North has been haemorrhaging and in the doldrums, sort of. Thought to be “one of those” crises that will soon pass, the Boko Haram insurgency has yoked the North East with a more devastating effect on the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, in that order. Borno State is the worst hit with most parts of its northern, eastern and western territories under the heavy presence of Boko Haram. Maiduguri, the state headquarters, currently breathes through only one nostril – the Maiduguri-Damaturu road. Even that is at the risk of being closed by them. The other four or five roads leading into or out of the ancient town are Boko Haram-patrolled most times.

Yet the insurgency is threatening to remain with us till God knows when. Well, it took no less than the former chief of army staff, retired General Tukur Buratai, to tell us that “There is the likelihood of terrorism persisting in Nigeria for another 20 years.”

The activities and effects of the insurgents have been treated deeply by yours truly and many other writers at various times. Boko Haram recalcitrance has affected the economy and social harmony of the areas it is dominant. Because of the insurgents’ incessant attacks, farmers and livestock rearers now find it almost impossible to continue with their occupations.

The North Central has become a kidnappers’ colony. It is a traveller’s nightmare. From Rijau, Birnin Gwari, Gwanin Gora, Rijana through Kaduna and down to the suburbs of the Plateau, one travels at one’s risk. Even four-star generals are not safe. They killed one at one time and that was that. Herdsmen kill at will and sack villages, burning everything down to ashes. Kidnappers are also having a field day. Are some of them, especially the herdsmen and kidnappers, another face of Boko Haram getting them much needed cash? We have been querying this for years now.

Even though sanity has returned to the Abuja–Kaduna road and the Jos axis, people are yet to relax psychologically.

Bandits, too, kidnap and pillage villages at will. In some of these villages, people seek permission from these bandits before any wedding ceremony. The bandits can also come to a wedding gathering and demand for the bride to be given to them. Anyone who refuses does so at the expense of his life. It was in the news some time ago that they went to a man and asked him to “borrow” them his daughter for a week. The man had to comply because there was no one he could report this humiliation to. Even if there was, who would come to his aid? Bandits have to issue permission to farmers to farm and also to harvest. It is that bad.

The North, which prides itself as the food basket of the nation, now cannot even meet its needs comfortably, not to talk of that of the nation. The activities of Boko Haram, bandits, and kidnappers have conspired to keep those who till the land at home, dead or as refugees elsewhere away from home. As a result, the nation faces the possibility of food scarcity for its ever-burgeoning population.

Add to all these woes is the threat of instability in the Chad Republic, our northern neighbour. The death of long-serving autocratic ruler, Idriss Deby Itno, killed from wounds sustained at the battlefront while fighting to defend his country from Libya-based rebels under the name of Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), has made situation in that country uncertain.

Some Nigerians saw him as a dictator who came to power through the barrel of the gun, sustained it that way and so they did not give a hoot because he died through the barrel of the gun as well. And they disparage him. Perhaps we may tell them to ask Libyans and Iraqis what they now prefer: Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein who assumed and sustained power through the barrel of the gun – and died through it – or their current conditions. Your guess is as good as mine.

Deby left a stronger and more united nation than he met but, above all, he was Nigeria’s ally in the fight against Boko Haram. We must forever remain grateful to him for giving the insurgents good hiding and, many times, bloody noses.

Any instability in Chad now would give us a serious headache. In 1980, beginning from March that year, Borno took in the influx of Chadian refugees in their tens of thousands. It was because of crises generated by the country’s 17-year civil wars and struggle for power. Then, the Chadian Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT) led by guerrilla leaders Goukouni Weddeye and Abdulkadir Kamougue was being challenged by another guerrilla leader, Hissene Habre.

I was in Government College, Maiduguri, class two going to three and already a Scout Master. The army, police, customs, immigration officials and we – Boy Scouts, Boys Brigade and Red Cross – all teamed up to help the refugees at their camp along Dikwa road in Maiduguri.

They were well-fed, well catered for, and surely there was no fear of crimes, save for the occasional pick-pocketing now and then.

Now, more Nigerians are looking for what to eat, where to get sheltered. We cannot adequately take care of our internally displaced people and we now look over our shoulders more than ever before because of deadly crimes. Our sworn enemies, Boko Haram, can infiltrate the refugees and cross into the country. However, not only Borno, nay, Nigeria itself cannot afford a single refugee on top of our hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons.

But this is just the North. Yet, unfortunately, the gloom, instead of the bloom, is not limited there. The bleeding is everywhere.

Do we see what is happening, or pointing at what’s going to happen, especially in the South East? Do we think the burning of security forces’ offices, killing them and even breaking of prisons are just happening by chance? And perpetrated by “unknown” gunmen or hoodlums? The ordinary citizen may be forgiven if he thinks so, but it is unpardonable for leaders to assume so. An Igbo proverb goes thus: “The owl cries at night, the child dies in the morning…who does not know who killed the child?”

Can our security agencies not link the “command” to “kill police officers” during the #EndSARS protests that turned into riots to the formation of the Eastern Security Network? Where were the security agents when the ESN got formed just after, and video clips of thousands of its recruits at training went viral?

The security agencies need to be proactive because the things that are happening now could just be teasers. We must fear the South East being plunged into another messy situation the nation is trying to stop in the North East. The country can ill-afford that; our military does not need any other distraction. The government must work deliberately to reverse what looks imminent by appeasing anyone with grievances, perceived or real.

The South West has its issues but the region will not resort to arms, save for some accomplished thugs muddying the waters. It is adept at arm twisting and browbeating to achieve its political goals.

Therefore the average southerner, from Shaki to Ogoja, Oron back to Ilaro need to know the “true truth” as opposed to the “false truth” – the narrative their political leaders want them to take as the whole truth. The “Fulani” (read: the North) have no thought of taking over their lands. No agenda to “Islamise” the country and, as sure as the rains will fall, no Northerner harbours the intention to kill them.

Their leaders want them kept isolated in their cocoons through perpetual ignorance that breeds asphyxiating and debilitating fear rather than allowing them to make rapprochement with their brethren north of the Niger. To their selfish leaders, a bleeding nation has advantages.

But making the average southerner see the “light” is achievable through large-heartedness and justice. After all, Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio said in his book, Bayan Wujub ul-Hijrah alal Mukallafi, that a kingdom (nation) can endure with unbelief, but it cannot endure with injustice.

Those God has entrusted with power must make those without it feel they are also stakeholders in nation-building. No people will want to run away from a union as long as they believe they are treated justly. After all, even in America where we copied our system of governance from, there is a disparity in the number of presidents produced between the North and South, but hell has not been let loose.

Lest I Forget

The House of Representatives last week resolved to investigate the “export of 7,000 refrigerated penises” from Nigeria to China. On March 19, this year, World News Daily Report (WNDR), a satirical website with the slogan “facts don’t matter”, wrote that Chinese authorities have seized a cargo ship that sailed from Nigeria with 7221 penises.

The WNDR describes its output as being humorous or satirical. “WNDR assumes however all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and the fictional nature of its content,” it claims.

I thought they had media aides that would advise them about such websites.

Credit:sundiatapost

Bandits have attacked Christian worshippers at a church in Manini Tasha village, Kuriga Ward in Chukun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
 
A report by Leadership newspapers online said the attack took place on Sunday morning and that one person,  identified as a medical doctor, was killed while an unspecified number of wworshippers were abducted by the attackers.
 
An eyewitness, who narrowly escaped the scene at Haske Baptist Church in Manini village, Mr Yakubu Bala, told the newspaper that the bandits, who were heavily armed, stormed the church and  sorrounded the worshippers at about 9am.
 
He explained that the bandits came in their number, heavily armed and began to shoot sporadically at the worshipers, who scampered for safety in different directions.
 
“Dr. Zakariah Dogo Yaro, a medical Doctor with the Kaduna State Ministry of Health was shot dead and unspecified number of people kidnapped while so many worshipers sustained varying degrees of injuries.
 
“As am talking to you now, we have not seen some of our villagers who ran into the bushes while the shootings were going on.
 
“We don’t know what’s happening that we are facing this kind of scenario in our peaceful communities. Most villagers are threatening to leave their homes because of the constant attacks on so many villages in Chukun local government,” Yakubu lamented. (News Express)

Bashir Magashi, Minister of Defence, has said he does not support the idea of killing bandits.

Magashi was quoted as saying in aTwitterpost on Thursday by Lauretta Onochie, aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on social media.

According to Onochie, the defence minister stated that bandits are innocent until proven guilty.

He, however, said armed bandits will be eliminated.

“I don’t share d idea of killing bandits. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty But if we see a bandit, armed with dangerous weapons, his surroundings will be cleared along with him We cannot just watch them kill us without responding,” he was quoted as saying.

Mahashi’s position opposes the recent resolution of the 36 state governors, who unanimously agreed that all bandits in the forests should be eliminated.

The minister had in February told Nigerians not to “be cowards” but stand up to armed bandits.

He also recently told troops fighting insurgency to be courageous, saying they would not die by bullet if it is not their time.

A new law passed by the Lagos state house of assembly and signed by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor, will establish an anti-corruption agency that has the “exclusive” rights to probe cases of corruption that have to do with the state, according to PUNCH report.

The agency when set up will take over cases relating to Lagos from agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The law entitled ‘Lagos State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission Law’ was signed by Sanwo-Olu last week, according to the newspaper.

Investigations by the EFCC into the stewardship of Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode, both former governors of Lagos, are said to be in progress.

There is also a petition at the EFCC against Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor who is believed to be nursing a presidential ambition, over alleged corruption. Not much has been heard about it.

Mudasiru Obasa, speaker of the Lagos assembly who oversaw the passage of the bill, has also been accused of corruption. The speaker was grilled by the EFCC in 2020 and had all his accounts frozen through a court order.

They all denied any wrongdoing.

Section 13(3) of the new law says: “The commission shall upon the commencement of this law take over the investigation of all anti-corruption and financial crime cases involving the finances and assets of Lagos State Government being investigated by any other agency.”

Section 13(5) provides that, “the commission shall have the power to the exclusion of any other agency or body to investigate and coordinate the investigation of corruption and financial crimes cases involving the finances and assets of the state government.”

The new agency is empowered to probe any offence under the criminal law of the state in relation to corruption and financial crimes, abuse of office, offences relating to administration of justice, obtaining by false pretences, cybercrime, fake news, interception of emails and fraudulent dealing with property debtors.

The law did not bar the house of assembly or any court from probing corruption cases.

The law also empowers the new agency to probe unexplained wealth.

Credit:thenigerialawyer

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Saturday said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari must seek help as Nigeria is at war.

Soyinka spoke while reacting to the brutal killing of three of the abducted students of Greenfield University, Kaduna.

The Nobel Laureate, in a statement, said Abukakar Atiku had summed up the nation’s feeling – “this most recent savagery against our youth is heartbreaking. More than the heart is broken however, more than millions of individual hearts that still lay claim to bonds in a common humanity.”

Soyinka lamented that the already over-stretched sinews of moral restraint had been snapped off the casing of nation being, and that nothing was left but the collective wails of impotence.

“Not for the first time, what many hoped was a Natural Law of Limitations has been contemptuously, defiantly breached. We need to remind ourselves of hideous precedents. We must remember Chibok. And Dapchi. And numerous antecedents and after, unpublicized, or soon relegated to the sump of collective amnesia. The wages of impunity never diminish, on the contrary, they distend,” he said.

Soyinka stated that one’s greatest fear, with this latest feat of cowardly savagery was that the nation must brace itself for a Beslan scenario, yet strive to avoid Nigeria becoming Africa’s Cherchnya.

According to him, those who had been proven weak and incapable must learn to swallow their vain pride and seek help.

“Again, this is no new counseling, but of course the dog that will get lost no longer heeds the hunter’s whistle. I envy no one the task ahead, terminating the toxic harvest of past derelictions.

“Blame laying is for later. Right now is the question of – what needs to be done, and done urgently. We keep avoiding the inevitable, but that very unthinkable now hammers brutishly on our gates, the blood ransom arrogantly insatiable.

“This nation is at war, yet we continue to pretend that these are mere birth-pangs of a glorious entity. They are death throes. Vultures and undertakers hover patiently but with full confidence,” he stated.

Soyinka added: “The dogs of war stopped merely baying years ago. Again and again they have sunk their fangs into the jugular of this nation. The plague called COVID has met its match on the earth of some nation space once known as Nigeria.”

The Nobel Laureate said he grieved with the bereaved, but mourned even more for the youth so routinely sacrificed, burdened with uncertainty and traumatized beyond youth’s capacity to cope.

“To this government we repeat the public cry: Seek Help. Stop Improvising with Human Lives. Youth – that is, the the future – should not serve as Ritual Offering on the altar of a failing State,” he said.

Credit:thenigerialawyer