By Chiedu Uche Okoye
Nigeria could be likened to a cat with nine lives as it emerged from a protracted civil war, bloody religious uprisings, and political troubles not dismembered. However, some countries, which are heterogeneous as Nigeria, had disintegrated. Eritrea pulled out of Ethiopia after fighting political battles with Ethiopia; and Sudan split into two, with South Sudan emerging from it. But can Nigeria continue existing as one indivisible and united country for a long indefinite time?
As to that, nobody can correctly hazard a guess. However, the bloody happenings in Nigeria are auguries of impending apocalypse in Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is gripped by the jugular by Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, the Fulani cattle herders’ murderous deeds, kidnappings, inter-tribal conflicts, and other sundry crimes. These security challenges, which are undermining our national unity and cohesion, are asphyxiating life out of Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is inching close to becoming a fragile state.
For example, the deadly Boko Haram insurgents, who want to create an Islamic theocracy in Nigeria, hold sway in the North-East of Nigeria. Unfortunately, there is no let-up in their blood-letting campaign. They kill people by detonating bombs in public places teeming with people. More so, till now, hundreds of kidnapped school girls are still in their captivity. The Federal government, which is charged with eradicating crimes in Nigeria, has abysmally failed to stem the tide of the Boko Haram insurgence.
Until recently, bandits turned vast areas of Zamfara into ungovernable places. They would kill people with reckless abandon. Thankfully, now, the government is reining in the activities of the bandits in the North West of Nigeria.
In addition to the afore-mentioned security challenges besetting Nigeria, the ubiquitous Fulani cattle herders, who have sanguinary proclivities, have embarked on a killing spree in many parts of Nigeria. They do kill members of their host communities, especially farmers. In addition to this, they desecrate the sanctity of womanhood by raping women, indiscriminately. Sadly, they’re seldom brought to justice as one of their own is presiding over the affairs of Nigeria.
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To make matters worse, there are suspicions that members of security outfits in Nigeria are complicit in crimes, which are committed by armed robbers and kidnappers in the country. The Hamisu Wadume’s arrest and subsequent release by soldiers at a checkpoint has become an eye-opener for us. Our soldiers and policemen’s aiding and abetting of crimes in our country signposts the fact that Nigeria is fast turning to a fragile state.
While Nigeria is chafing and groaning under the yoke of insecurity, President Buhari is pussyfooting as to tackling our crippling national problems. Has he re-invigorated our economy to create job opportunities for millions of unemployed Nigerians and lift them out of excruciating poverty? The answer is a categorical no. Consequently, Nigerians have embraced suicide as a way of escape from economic hardship. And the negotiated new minimum wage, which would give workers new lease of life and improve their living conditions, has not been implemented.
It is this state of things that Mr. Sowore planned to call attention to with his “Revolution Now” before he was arrested. Sowore has been clamped into detention and charged with a treasonous offence. Is it in our statute book or constitution that organizing protests is a treasonable offence? Muzzling opposition voices with high-handedness is an anti-democratic practice. It portrays Nigeria as a police state. It is an unconscionable act for the government to abridge the citizens’ right to freedom of expression and assembly.
We should remember that President Buhari had proscribed these groups, namely Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) for self-serving reasons. His preference for Sunni brand of Islam as against IMN’s Shia Isl
