When killings and abductions can occur at farms, on our highways, in schools, on airport grounds, even in our homes, then it may be time to ask our leaders why they currently have their jobs.
The importance of such question cannot be understated, because we the people deserve to know why it has become so difficult to just exist within Nigeria as a law abiding citizen. As day-to-day individuals continually deal with an overabundance of hardship born out of the current state of the economy, would it be fair that the same set of people should have to fear for their lives in almost every part of the country ? Why are some of our leaders acting like they cannot feel the heat from the fire of chaos currently trying to raze the Nigerian state or are we the ones just overreacting? Is this a case of exaggeration?
These questions, more than ever before, desperately need answers because it looks like we have all agreed to ignore the elephant in the room. Issues ranging from various attacks in imo state on government property and the governor’s personal assets to the booming business of kidnapping and killings in kaduna state really makes it hard for anyone to sleep with both eyes closed.
What are the new service chiefs doing and how have we quickly gone from frying pan to fire in our quest to restore peace in our nation. If we have to wait for four to six months for the new security heads to begin to make strategic changes in the engaging insurgents like the Senate Chief whip, Orji Kalu recently said during a televised programme, then one may need to ask what these career security officers had been doing with their time before being appointed as heads of our security agencies. If we have to wait for almost six months for them to begin to really act, then we also need to know if they got their current jobs just on based on seniority or due to a proven track record of being competent problem solvers.
Does anyone really believe that we have the luxury of time with regards to safeguarding the country?
How does a country that already has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school-children in the world go about encouraging parents to send their children to schools when such places have become easy targets for criminals to enjoy?
What happens to a country that seeks to boost economic growth but cannot guarantee safety on highways where goods and services have to use or even at farms where the food we eat comes from?
If the cardinal duty of any government is to first ensure the safety of lives and properties of citizens, can anyone confidently say that our leaders have done their best so far as we continue to record avoidable abductions and killings every other day in this country?
Our leaders must recognize that for Nigeria to take its deserving position in the committee of nations, the issue of insecurity must not be allowed to linger any longer.
This administration must therefore act with urgency, if indeed protecting Nigeria from the clutches of evildoers is as important as we want to believe it is.